START-UP BUSINESS OF THE YEAR
Not Your Typical Beer Garden By Sherri Huleatt ost start-ups hope that their first year—let alone their first few months—brings in a steady handful of customers. If they’re lucky, a new company will make enough to support another employee. That’s what makes Twin Sisters Brewing Company’s story so mind-blowing. Within just five months of a Summer 2018 start-up in Bellingham’s Sunnyland Neighborhood, Twin Sisters brought in $2 million in revenues and supported 120 employees (75 during the Winter). To say business is booming would be an understatement. Even with, seemingly, a brewery on nearly every Bellingham corner, Twin Sisters has quickly and firmly made a name for its brand. Co-owners Loren DeMuth and Terri Green started the business out of a desire to create “a truly unique beer garden in the Bellingham community,” DeMuth said. What began as the owners simply wanting to build a taproom with food trucks blossomed into a sprawling one-acre brewery that can accommodate up to 400 people. It now includes a full restaurant (called the Bellingham Beer Garden), a separate tasting room, a dog-friendly outdoor beer garden, and plenty of room to host private and business events. The brewery took 12 months to complete and was built mostly by DeMuth’s and Green’s other business, Custom Design Inc. (CDI), which specializes in building high-end hospitality and interior spaces. The owners’ more than 30 combined years of interior architectural experience shines through. The brewery’s craftsmanship is stunning, both inside and outside. The interior boasts custom iron and woodwork, with high-vaulted ceilings and an arched,
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Co-owners Loren DeMuth and Terri Green.
wooden tunnel leading into the restaurant. The exterior offers a large, family friendly lawn space with outdoor seating, games, a space to host local concerts, and twinkle lights to set the mood. “Customers always comment on how much they love the space, and the quality shows,” DeMuth said. The menu features dishes made from scratch and almost entirely locally sourced ingredients from Whatcom, Island, and Skagit Counties. It also offers about 30 beers on tap (both those made in-house and by other local brewers) and craft cocktails for non-beer drinkers (if you can find one in Bellingham). “This is not your typical brewery and restaurant,” DeMuth said. “Having all that we offer in a single location is truly unique. Where else can you can bring your kids and dogs, have a great from-scratch meal with craft beer and cocktails, and enjoy an expansive setting with multiple interesting spaces?” He explained how the couple created the Bellingham Beer Garden to have a park-like atmosphere that’s not on a busy street, with views of the surrounding foothills and lots of sun. Some of the brewery’s success comes from recruiting brewmaster Tom Eastwood, a Bellingham beer aficionado with more than a decade of local brewing experience. He helped craft unique twists on local beer staples, including an Amarillo Pale Ale, Ginger Adams Amber Ale, and “Stouting Thomas” American Imperial Stout. Going forward, Twin Sisters’ hops…er, hopes, to continue growing as a community fixture, hosting more events and barbeques, and increasing the use of its banquet and event spaces. DeMuth’s advice for other start-ups is simple: “Do it right and don’t cut corners.”
Photo by Scott Book
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