At Aslan Brewing Co., it's no secret that we are fans of traditional beer styles. Over the years, we've been inspired by and explored beer recipes from all corners of the world. During this exploration in 2019, we came across an incredible nonprofit in town named the Bellingham Sister Cities Association (BSCA) and reached out to them with an idea. We were interested in brewing a Japanese-Style Rice Lager and wanted to see if we could name it in honor of our sister city in Japan, Tateyama. The BSCA was all on board, and we partnered with them around the release and promotion of Tateyama.
2019 Tateyama Release Celebration
Coincidentally, a few Tateyama residents just happened to be in town to compete in Ski to Sea. We had the lucky opportunity to celebrate the release with them and exchange beer between our two cities. We couldn't have asked for a better experience and support from the BSCA!
After the release of Tateyama, the BSCA presented Aslan with a plaque of sorts thanking Aslan for this partnership. It featured the Tateyama can and included six empty spots for our other remaining sister cities… nudging us to turn the one-off project into an entire series.
It took us a little longer than expected, but last month we finally released the second beer in our Bellingham Sister Cities Series, Punta Arenas! Located in the Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica region of Chile, Punta Arenas is home to the oldest brewery in Chile, Cerveza Austral. For our inspiration, we based the recipe on their flagship Helles Bock. We also wanted to tie this beer into historical brewing in Chile as a whole. An essential part of beer history in Chile is Chicha; a fermented corn drink not too different from beer (although it is un-hopped). As a nod to this traditional use of corn in fermentation, we used corn as a large portion of the mash.
The City of Punta Arenas, Chile
Outside of beer collaborations, the BSCA is an active organization with a very storied history. To learn more about the BSCA and how it started, we sat down with BSCA leaders Ross Grier and Scott Blume to get the full rundown.
In 1956, in an effort to lessen the chance of future world conflicts, President Dwight D. Eisenhower proposed a people-to-people program between the United States and other nations that would involve people and organized groups at all levels of society. The program was originally housed under the National League of Cities. This became Sister Cities International in 1967. The general idea was "if you become friends, then you stop being enemies. When you get to know people, there is usually more in common than is different," says Ross.
The City of Tateyama, Japan
In 1958, a Japanese company based in Tateyama was doing frequent commerce in Bellingham, and that relationship evolved into our first official sister city. Over the years, six additional sister cities have been added.
Most of our sister city partnerships start out as a person-to-person relationship with another town, and if there is enough interest, it can become a more formal relationship. To become official, both cities sign a written agreement, elevating the partnership to a civic level. People come and go, but the city-to-city relationship stays.
One of the more interesting origin stories was between Bellingham and our now sister city in Nakhodka, Russia. This relationship "came about because the Bellingham Cold Storage family was doing business with a Russian Fishing company. It was the only commercial joint venture between the US and Russia through the middle of the Cold War. Later on, the third generation of these families ended up marrying each other. Dude, it's like a movie!" says Ross.
Mary Hooker (BSCA Punta Arenas City Chair), Seth Fleetwood (Bellingham Mayor), and Pinky Vargas (Bellingham City Council Member) celebrating the release of Punta Arenas
Today, sister cities give residents of Bellingham the ability to have a connection with cities all over the world, and there are many ways to get involved, small or big.
It's still too early for in-person gatherings with the BSCA, but they've got some exciting Zoom events over the next couple of months, including a Mongolian New Years celebration, a Sister Cities beer virtual class, an international art exchange with South Korea, and a Japanese Gardening class.
If you are looking to really get involved, "homestays are where citizen diplomacy happens. You get to know people one on one, even if you can't communicate with them verbally," says Scott.
The first thing to do is become a member for $25 on bsca.org. That will get you updates on upcoming events and additional ways to get involved.
A huge thank you goes out to Ross, Scott, and all the folks over at Bellingham Sister Cities Association for their partnership on this series. We are very stoked to explore more sister city beer projects in the years to come!
