Garden Path Fermentation is coming to Bellingham! We will soon be opening The Great Northern Bottle Shop & Lounge in the heart of downtown and are looking for 1 or 2 experienced individual with a passion for the products we make and sell and a commitment to outstanding front-of-house service to join our growing team.

About Garden Path Fermentation

Located in the beautiful Skagit Valley in Northwest Washington, with its uniquely fertile soils and cool, temperate climate, Garden Path Fermentation is one of very few producers in the world that’s able to make beer, wine, cider, and mead, all using ingredients sourced from our own backyard, and may be the only one to do so using only native yeast fermentation.

In addition to the products that we make in-house, our onsite tasting room and bottle shop also features beer, wine, cider, mead, and other fermented beverages from small, independent, philosophically-aligned producers from around the world, including many that cannot be found anywhere else in the region.

Our own production process draws on old-world brewing and winemaking techniques from a variety of traditions, which we reinterpret and adapt to take advantage of our abundant local resources, including Skagit-grown and locally-malted grain, Skagit-grown fruit, much of which we tend to ourselves, locally-cultivated honey, and organic hops from our friends’ nearby farm. Fermentation takes places in oak barrels of varying sizes, including a large, open-top foudre, and each unique batch is hand-blended to taste and is a singular expression of time and place that we can never recreate.

A garden path is a beautiful way to get somewhere you may not have expected to go. Our products–the results of careful selection, blending, aging and curation–will take you on what may be an unanticipated journey that we hope you enjoy!

You can learn more about us here or by visiting our Skagit Valley production facility, tasting room, and bottle shop at 11653 Higgins Airport Way, Burlington, WA 98233.

About the position

Primary responsibilities include providing world-class service to customers and guiding them in their selections of beer, wine, cider, mead, and other beverages for both on-site and off-site consumption. It’s essential that all team members have an in depth knowledge not only of our own products and processes, but also of the extensive range that we carry from other small, independent, like-minded producers around the world. In addition to serving customers, front-of-house employees are also expected to perform routine side work, such as cleaning, organizing, stocking shelves, doing inventory counts, and helping to prepare for future shifts.

While the majority of shifts will be at The Great Northern Bottle Shop & Lounge, located at 1319 Commercial St. in Bellingham, employees may also be asked to cover front-of-house shifts at our Skagit Valley location at 11653 Higgins Airport Way in Burlington and there may be additional opportunities to assist in other areas of operation.

We’re a small, close-knit group that enjoys spending time together both inside and outside our work hours. Team members are expected to help and support one another and to work together to build a shared community grounded in the principles of collaboration, communication, and compassion.

Compensation & benefits

During tipped shifts, employees are paid minimum wage (currently $15.74 per hour) plus tips, however, we guarantee all employees minimum total pay of $16.50 per hour during their initial training and $18.50 thereafter. When working shifts that do not include tip income or where tip income falls short of the difference between the employee’s base pay and their guaranteed minimum, Garden Path Fermentation will make up the difference with the understanding that employees who are not busy with front-of-house service will be productive in other ways. We also offer monthly health insurance reimbursement up to $3 per hour worked per month toward the cost of an accredited health insurance plan, paid time off for both part-time and full-time employees, profit sharing, sampling and employee purchase allowances, parking, and the ability to make additional in-store purchases at our cost.

Applicants should send a cover letter and current resume to jobs@gardenpathwa.com.