Illuminati: Bellingham's newest

    Our fair city of about 80,000 is now home to 11 brewing entities, making beer in 12 buildings (Kulshan has two). The most recent to open, last October, is Illuminati Brewing, way up on the north side.  Like DesVoignes in Woodinville, Illuminati makes its beer under the same roof as a related winery, Masquerade Wines. The taproom is not a pub per se,  but a cold case holds a fair assortment of artisan cheeses, a nod to the winery adage "Buy on bread, sell on cheese."

The logo is unusual, reminding one of the odd pyramid on a dollar bill

When I first stopped in, the crew was celebrating the opening weekend of the latest Star Wars movie with Millenium Falcon IPA on sale at three dollars a pint. They also participated in the state beer commision's Belgian Fest down in Seattle in January, pouring Spinal Tap Tripel, a hefty 11% abv done in the Belgian tripel ale style, and a Belgian style pale ale called Rickshank Redemption, a more civilized 5.6% abv.

(Visited 12/16/17  and 01/27/18)