Cabin Fever (Boundary Bay Brewing Company)

I discovered Boundary Bay Brewing Company one rainy Saturday in the late spring of 2009.  I was with my wife several other friends on a Washington Beer Lovers (WABL) bus tour throughout Northern Washington.  We were fortunate enough to hit up several Breweries in the Bellingham area each with a plethora of awards for their recognized beers.  At Boundary Bay, my buddy and I got a behind the scenes look at the brewery and the Brew master even poured us a pint of one of the finest IPAs I have ever had, directly from the Bright Beer Tank.  Today was no different, a spring Saturday, overcast and rainy, just seated on my couch rather than bellied up to the bar.  I was up for a bold beer and was looking through the many IPAs I have in my fridge when I stumbled across the Cabin Fever.  I remember the first time I had a Cabin Fever was at the WABL Winter Beer Fest in December 2009, I have been searching for it in bottles ever since.  Needless to say I was pumped, as I had forgotten that I had bought a few bottles a couple weeks prior to share when my folks were in town visiting.  This was just the beer I was looking for, something to warm up my spirits and inspire my brewing philosophy.

THE BEER:

 A little bit about Boundary Bay Brewing Co…

 “The Boundary Bay approach to beer is to render excellent examples of classic styles. In some cases–such as with our IPA, Imperial IPA and Imperial Oatmeal Stout–we push the envelope and make a very big and flavorful brew. Like a new kind of music, it may take a few samplings to build your palette but soon you will be coming back for more.”

 Bump City Brews thoughts…

Pour:  Small head – light brown, toffee-like in color.  The body was a dark Red/Brownish when held up to natural light.  I couldn’t determine if there were particles present or not, but with a dark ale, it’s not an issue anyways.  Lacing was good too.

Aroma:  A pleasant dark cherry aroma, but fades quickly.  Also noticed a low aroma of alcohol present in the background, which is quite common for stronger ale such as this.  More malt aroma than hops present.   

Taste:  Rich, sweet burnt sugar flavor upfront.  Light cherry present as well…not cloying what so ever.  The presence of Roasted malts help balance the sweetness.  Not much flavor from hops, but some bitterness present that also helps balance the richness of this beer.  The complex flavors from the Sweetness, Roastiness, and hoppiness all balance and complement each other perfectly.     

Overall:  Rich, Cherry Sweetness, balanced with the use of roasted grains and a nice balance of bittering hops.  Chocolate covered cherries would pair nicely with this beer. 

 Although this beer is listed under the style of Winter Ale, I would drink this one throughout the year, summer, spring or fall – doesn’t matter.  I will definitely bring a few with me on the first camping trip of the year, when it still gets chilly in the evenings.  Cabin Fever is by far one of my favorite beers made by Boundary Bay, if not the entire state of Washington.  The rest of the U.S. must think so as well, considering it won Silver at the World Beer Cup in Chicago earlier this month. 

 Will I buy more of it?:  Already have!  I have set it aside, hoping to age it for a few years, curious to see what subtle flavors shine through over time. 

Vintage:  2009

BEER FACTS:

Name:  Cabin Fever

Style:  Winter Ale

Brewery:  Boundary Bay Brewing Company

City:  Bellingham, WA

Country:  USA

Container:  22 oz Bottle

Malts:  ??   

Hops:  Bittering – ??  Dry Hop – Cascade

ABV:  ??

IBUs:  ??

Date:  4.1.10

Want to pay more $ for Beer in Washington?

ME NEITHER!   

Follow these three simple steps to inform our elected officals that we disapprove of the proposed tax hike on beer in Washington State.  At this point, they are proposing to tax Macro-Breweries…no big deal, right?  Wrong!! It will just be a matter of time before our Craft Breweries that we love so dearly get taxed too!    

So follow these three simple steps:   

1. Read this –  

 http://www.washingtonbeerblog.com/beer-tax-increase-follow-up-more-information/  

  

OR JUST SKIP TO STEP 2 IF YOU DON’T LIKE READING.  

2. Copy the letter below:  

To my representatives in Olympia,   

I was saddened and dismayed to learn that the Senate included a beer specific tax to help raise revenue in the Senate Revenue proposal.   

Even though it provides an exemption for the small breweries (thank you) we still oppose this legislation as it does not address the root issue of beer being singled out as a “sin” tax. This proposal practically doubles the tax burden. It raises the tax from $8.08 to $15.50 per barrel. That is a significant hit to any industry. This situation creates a dangerous precedent. If we roll over on this and don’t oppose it or stay neutral, then it will only be that much easier for legislators to choose beer as an easy target whenever they need to raise a little extra revenue. It is also interesting to note that only beer is mentioned. If beer was targeted because it contains alcohol, why were wine and spirits excluded? Why single out a specific industry and one of the only industries adding jobs in the state?   

Why beer? Why does the brewing industry get unfairly sought after to raise money to fill government coffers. Alcohol companies already pay more taxes than most other goods manufacturing industry in the country. Currently in Washington D.C. the house and senate have bills to LOWER excise taxes on beer to stimulate our industry and our related industries! It is concerning that the opposite, adversarial approach is threatened in our home state – the state which grows 75% of the country’s hops!   

Beer has taken its fair share of the punches over the last few years with DRAMATIC cost of goods increases. There is only so far that we can be pushed before breweries start going out of business from restricted profit margins. If the other alcohol industries gain a larger price advantage, then more consumers will choose the affordable option instead of the quality choice.
We promote microbrew as a sustainable, local option and are actively trying to change beer’s reputation to a beverage to be paired with food that is intensely full of flavor and body.   

A well known blogger in our industry, Jay Brooks from California had a nicely written piece on his blog the other day concerning beer tax proposals in California. Much of what is discussed concerning California is true of Washington. I think you and your colleagues may be interested. The link is here:   

<http://brookstonbeerbulletin. com/marin- institue-wagging-their-finger-at-brewers-again/>  

Please do not support the beer tax and please encourage your fellow legislators to also not support a tax on beer. A tax only hurts our growing craft beer industry.  

Thank you for your time and consideration. 

  

3. Click on the link below enter your address to find your district, click on the senator’s name, then click on the e-mail link under the office information, re-enter your address, then paste the letter into the Email of the Senator…remember to cc the other 2 reps too, 3 ears one email.  

 http://apps.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/Default.aspx   

 Done…  

 

TAKES 5 MINUTES! JUST DO IT!