Last week, I received a card from a pal who lives in Bellingham, Washington, with a sticker featuring a denim-clad, red-bandanna-ed raccoon on skis that said “Bruce Springskiing.” In her note, my friend Liz wrote that a beer of the same name from Kulshan Brewery always made her think of me, her college buddy who loves the Boss. I immediately decided I needed to get to know Kulshan better, so here we are.
Behold: this week’s A Round With … featuring Dave Vitt, founder and CEO of Bellingham’s own Kulshan Brewing. In the Brewbound Insider-exclusive Q&A, Dave shares how Bellingham’s beer scene has evolved, how the Kulshan team keeps coming up with unique taproom events and how to stay positive in challenging times.
Here is our conversation, which has been lightly edited for clarity.
How has Bellingham’s craft beer industry changed since you opened Kulshan in 2012?
Dave: When we opened Kulshan’s original location 13 years ago, the brewery scene in Bellingham looked quite different than it does today. We were the third brewery to open after Boundary Bay and Chuckanut breweries, and both had carved out a solid following for their beers which were quite different in style.
Within a few years, about 12 or more opened, and some of those sadly did not make it. Bellingham now calls itself a “Beer Town,” which of course we love. We have so many great breweries now, and they’re all doing something unique. Unique beers, food and events … it’s fun!
Kulshan has a packed event calendar with stuff like Hype the Homies, an event where people can pitch their single friends as potential dates, weekly cribbage tournaments, a special trivia night to support Washington’s national parks fund and even an Easter keg hunt. What is your team’s secret to coming up with fun and differentiated events?
Dave: One of our core values as a company is “Passion and Fun.” We figured out a while ago that doing events that we weren’t stoked about was no fun. We’ll take ideas from anyone on the team, and if we agree that it sounds fun and will bring people in who will also think it’s fun, then we give it a try.
Hype the Homies was a great time and successful because it was something that no one had done here before. It involved the community and provided a familiar space for folks to mingle with other like-minded people. Sometimes you’re sitting there having a beer with a friend and you come up with a ridiculous idea and then you just try it. You can’t be afraid to fail, or you at least need to be able to accept failure, just in case it happens.
Bellingham is just 20 miles from the Canadian border, and nearly 100 from Seattle. What challenge does being that remote present?
Dave: Honestly, Bellingham doesn’t feel that remote. It’s always been a small town hidden between Seattle and Vancouver, but it’s starting to feel like people have discovered it. It’s such a beautiful place (when it’s not raining and snowing and windy) with so many recreational opportunities right outside our doors that most of us cherish the fact that there’s a little distance between us and the big city.
In reality, folks from Seattle find themselves here in less than two hours. Our wild areas are precious, and being close to the mountains and the sea is why many of us live here. Whether it’s skiing, mountaineering, rock climbing, mountain biking, paddling, boating, flying or trail running, Bellingham is all about outdoor recreation and it’s the best place in the world for it. Many of us are looking for the solitude that goes along with all of that.
Tell us the inspiration behind Kulshan’s name.
Dave: “Koma Kulshan” is the indigenous people’s name for Mount Baker. It’s a 10,000 ft. tall, glacier-covered volcano that dominates the landscape and inspires awe and curiosity to those lucky enough to see it on a clear day.
Growing up here, the name Kulshan always had a place in my vocabulary, and the mountain itself has a very special place in my heart. It’s the place where our eyes gravitate, where we seek recreation, and challenge. It’s something we respect, are curious about, and it’s where we look for solitude and find beauty.
It’s been a navigational waypoint for people throughout history, and it gives us a sense of home and magnitude. To me, the mountain is the center point of the North Cascades and is special to everyone who lives around here.
I am unabashedly in love with the name of your seasonal, Bruce Springskiing – what’s the story behind the beer, and what other fantastically named beers can you tell us about?
Dave: Huge Bruce fans here at the brewery, especially our head brewer, Wes! There’s nothin’ better than some Bruce, a beer and a little spring skiing.
We do a collab beer with a local shellfish farm called “Shucks on the Beach.” Our flagship IPA is “Bastard Kat,” which was named after an actual cat. “Early to Bed, Early to Shred” was fun, the tongue-in-cheek collab we did with our friends at Icicle Brewing.
We’ve had some fun names over the years, but it can be tough to find a name that someone else hasn’t already used. Sometimes a good one just falls in your lap.
Has Kulshan had any wins lately that surprised you?
Dave: I was surprised to learn recently that Kulshan has won more GABF [Great American Beer Festival] medals in the last five years than any other brewer in Washington. The same goes for the Washington Beer Awards. I guess we’re making pretty good beer. We’ve done really well with our German Gose, and our Helles.
When you win one GABF medal, you’re proud, but you think maybe it was luck. When you win another medal for the same beer, then you have to accept that the beer might be that good.
Business-wise, what’s keeping you up at night?
Dave: This could be a whole article, but uncertainty is a good word to describe it. Rising costs are a big one. Demonization of alcohol. Unfriendly legislation. Over-taxation. Raw material availability. The list could go on forever, but as a business owner our job seems to involve shouldering all of this stress, which is tough.
I have an amazing team of people that help us get through all these challenges every day, and if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t do this anymore. We’ve been in business for 13 years now, and it does not get easier. The more you build your company, the more is at stake, the more people rely on you, and the harder it is to keep everyone on the same page.
It’s interesting to look at your business through the eyes of an employee. They’ve put trust in you to provide them a stable job to provide for their family and for you to operate in a way that aligns with their values. It’s a big responsibility.
Where are you finding silver linings right now?
Dave: I almost always find the silver linings in our community. Whether it’s the people in the community that surround us, in our employees or out in the industry, our people keep this thing going. When someone says “This is my favorite beer” or “I love what you’ve done with your new patio area” or “This is the best place I’ve worked” – those are the silver linings.