CRAFT by Under My Host® Issue No. 15 Classics | Page 164

make not only beer, but also cider, perry, mead,
wine, and other fermented goods. Our plan was
still to do so in a bucolic setting, somewhere
within the county’s abundant agricultural land-
scape, that would become an agri-tourist desti-
nation. We even had what seemed like the per-
fect site lined up.
We’d announced in June that we would soon
be leaving Austin and heading this way, but it
wasn’t until seven months later that we began
to announce the first details about our proj-
ect. “The name Garden Path Fermentation,” we
wrote on our newly launched blog, “stems from
the idea that a garden path is an indirect way to
get from Point A to Point B. It’s the scenic route
that, more likely than not, leads you somewhere
unexpected.” Thus far, those words have turned
out to be far more prophetic than we could have
imagined, as has our decision to title this series,
which we began writing shortly thereafter, “Ou r
Journey Down the Garden Path.”
If you’ve been following us, you know that our
journey has been a long one, full of obstacles
and detours, often taking us in directions that
we weren’t necessarily sure we wanted to go.
Where we are now is not entirely where we’d
envisioned ourselves or where we thought we
wanted to be when we set out. Nonetheless,
we’ve found ourselves in a beautiful place,
poised and excited to explore what lies ahead.
In early September, just a few days after send-
ing the previous installment of this series to
press, we signed a lease with the Port of Skagit
for a 5000 square foot industrial building on a
roughly 1-acre wooded lot in the same complex
as Chuckanut Brewery’s South Nut location,
Skagit Valley Malting, Cardinal Craft Brew-
ing Academy, and the Skagit outpost of Flyers
Restaurant and Brewhouse, with an option to
lease an additional 8.5 acres of agricultural land,
just over a mile down the road.
Immediately after signing the lease, we submit-
ted our TTB paperwork and an astounding three
weeks later, we received notification that our
brewer’s notice had been approved. We were
later notified that our federal winery permit
had also been approved. As soon as we com-
plete our remaining site work and purchase the
remaining furniture and equipment we need,
we’re told that we’ll receive state licensing, as
well, which means, barring any further unfore-
seen delays, there’s now a real possibility that
we could be fully licensed and operational be-
fore the end of the year. With the specific com-
bination of licenses, we’ll have, this will allow us
not only to start making our own products, but
also to start selling some of our favorite beer,
wine, cider, perry, mead, and other fermented
goods from other, philosophically like-minded
producers.
The idea that, after all this time and all the
struggles and setbacks we’ve faced, we could
actually be operating in a mere matter of weeks
is beyond exhilarating; it’s nearly impossible
to accept as real. As elated as we are to have
reached this stage, however, it is still hard not
to have some mixed emotions about opening an