Brewing Community Janet Lightner on the Early Days of Bellingham's Beer Scene

Janet Lightner, along with her husband Ed Bennett, has witnessed the growth of Bellingham’s brewery scene from a few humble taprooms to a full-fledge destination town for beer lovers. As Boundary Bay Brewery and Bistro’s general manager, Janet has helped instill a sense of community in the brewery’s business practices. Read on for a conversation between Janet and Craft MTN.

Does your taste in beer change with the seasons?

Yes, it definitely changes with the seasons—it also changes with the level of activity within the season. I like a lager after some activity, like a hike. Then in fall or winter, it’s nice to snuggle up to a fire, or get cozy with something richer, like Cabin Fever or Oatmeal Stout. I think it’s situational.

What’s your go-to winter beer?

I love our Cabin Fever. That beer has been with us for a really long time and is a winter classic. It won a silver medal at the GABF (Great American Beer Festival) back in 1999. It’s been around so long that I was the one creating the label for the first 22-ounce bottle, working across the street at Copy Source using clip art. I have a very strong connection to Cabin Fever from years of memories and the beer itself.

Tell us about the genesis of Boundary Bay? What was the Bellingham beer scene like back in the ‘90s?

I joined Ed (Bennett) about a year and a half into this venture. Orchard Street Brewery opened I think three or four months before Boundary. And then, Mount Baker Brewing Company opened on Cornwall (which is now where Bellingham Bar and Grill is). It was just boom, boom, boom—Orchard Street, Mount Baker Brewing Company, and then Boundary. So, we had this little flurry of beer. I was in the restaurant business at the time. I sought out good flavor for beers and in the early ‘90s they certainly didn’t come from Washington. There were Canadian beers that were more flavorful and easier to access than our (American) beers. Elysian Brewing also started right about when we did. My tastebuds always drove me toward good, flavorful beer, but there weren’t a lot of options.

When Boundary opened in 1995, I think there were 267 breweries in the entire country. We were kind of like the second wave— the first wave was very small. Everybody was super connected, everybody knew each other. Now, there’s like 9,000 breweries in the U.S. and well over 500 in Washington. It’s been amazing to see the industry grow and share the craft beer experience with customers and other breweries.

Boundary hosts a lot of community events. What’s been your philosophy over the years and your attitude toward being part of the community with your business?

We say “when you choose Boundary, you choose community” because giving back is so important to us. In 1993, when Ed started to write his business plan, he really wanted to give back to the community, so it’s been part of the plan from the very beginning. But exactly how that would manifest wasn’t written in there, so we started out pretty simple and donated to just Brigid Collins (Family Support Center) and the Arthritis Foundation. Those were our very first two benefit auctions we donated to. We’ve been with both of those organizations for I think 25 years now. So, it (nonprofit support) started out really gently and then we got feedback that beer was of great interest to nonprofits. We started to use our space for things like pint nights to donate proceeds for each pint sold to a nonprofit. In ‘99, the garden opened and we were able to let nonprofits use that without any rental fee, and still do that today. Nonprofits are kind of like the fabric or the culture of Bellingham— it’s what we’re made out of and makes the city so special. We donate to local nonprofits and schools—gift cards, merch and of course, beer. And something else I’m proud of is a scholarship for our staff. It’s in honor of one of our wonderful team members who passed away way too young—the Jordan Slagle Scholarship Fund. That’s one of my real favorites because, it’s close to home. The program lets a staff member go on to some type of continuing education, it’s not restrictive, it’s just about furthering their life and what they’re passionate about and is partially funded by our employees making a donation.

What’s been your experience as a woman in the brewing industry? And how has that experience changed since the mid ‘90s?

The change over the years has been a great relief (laughs). It was really hard—in the beginning there was Kim Jordan with New Belgium, she had a really solid status and was running that company at that time. Other than that, there was one woman brewer right outside of San Francisco. But, really, there were hardly any of us. I was ignored. And the things people would say, you would just cringe. Just cringe. The women who I could bond with were part of beer clubs. There was a strong Everett homebrew club and, to this day, when I see them I know I am heard. Ed has always been great, our brewers have always been kind, so it’s never really been a problem here but as soon as we would go to national conferences, or even regional meetings or a festival—I mean, I’ll just say, it is so much better now.

What are some ways you would like to see the brewing industry progress in the future?

Well, I really am loving the movement to just recognize people of color and the lack thereof in our industry. As we were growing and building, I was always looking around and focused on like “Where am I represented, where are my other women in the room?” And now I kind of feel bad about it because we didn’t really wake up to the fact that there’s not a lot of diversity in this room. As it grows, our industry needs to be more inclusive—the feeling of being ignored might still be there for too many. But I think the beer industry is making really good progress on being more inclusive of many things. I mean, coming from fine dining, all of the pressure and the marketing is on wine and food, wine and food, wine and food. But how many times a year do you crack a can of beer? A lot is the answer for a lot of people! To me, that says that beer is really the beverage that people like to gather with, and play with, and all of those things. With all the growth in our industry, there’s been a shift to more people drinking beer, so being inclusive, of all people is needed—these are public houses so we need to make them inclusive and accessible for all to enjoy together at the same level.