BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Starting up your own brewery doesn’t sound like it would be an easy task, but Jack Lamb, 26, the founder and CEO of Aslan Brewery, is making just that seem like an easy task by not only starting his own brewery, but by making it what he claims to be the first and "only 100% all organic brewery in the Pacific Northwest."
Lamb is originally from Seattle, and is the youngest of three brothers. Jim, 29, is the middle child and Mick (the eldest) would be 32 years old, but he passed away when Lamb was 18. Lamb did not comment on how this happened.
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Lamb came up with the idea to start Aslan with two other friends at The Green Frog, a popular place in downtown Bellingham with drinks, music, and food.
“I came to Bellingham to run away from the cubicle life I saw myself living...the traffic...the money-driven culture...things are more real up here," said Lamb as he discussed why he came to Bellingham. "I have stayed because of how beautiful Bellingham is."
Aslan Brewery, a 15-barrel brew-house and restaurant located at 1330 N. Forest St., opened on May 14, 2014, in Bellingham, Washington. It is the only all-organic brewery in Bellingham that also caters to vegans, vegetarians, and people who are gluten intolerant.
Aslan means "lion" in about six or seven different languages, and was a great name to choose for the brewery. Lamb, however, was not the one to choose the name. Instead, he wanted his head brewer Frank Trosset to choose the name.
"Knowing that we were going to be an organic brewery, we needed a very natural, organic and dominant beast," said Lamb. "We needed the best of the best and this (a lion) is the king of the jungle."
Although having an all-organic brewery is more expensive (about three to four times more), Lamb still believes that it is the right thing to do. Instead of it costing about 12 cents to make a pint of beer, it costs Aslan about 40 cents – due to the organic ingredients.
“I only buy organic produce, I only buy organic stuff,” says Lamb, “because why would you want to put things in your body that have chemicals that could hurt you?”
But despite having to spend more on ingredients, Lamb says that margins are still doing great.
That seemed to be a common theme with Lamb: He always seems to do the right thing, no matter how unconventional, different, or selfless it may be.
Before the interview began, there was a Mercedes-Benz van parked outside that Lamb said he would have loved to own, because you could travel and live in your vehicle at the same time. Just the thought of adventure and freedom seemed to entice him.
“Jack is a really funny, good and caring person who loves candy and beer,” said Brittany Jones, 25, a server at Aslan. “He is always super active and wants to go play.”
Lamb also enjoys Bellingham because of the nature. He loves the mountains, the water and trails. More than anything though, he loves that you can bike just about anywhere in Bellingham and avoid traffic.
Although all of this is true, there is still a very passionate and serious side to him, which is useful when you are the CEO of your own business. It is especially useful when combined with his more mellow playful side to create a great working environment for his employees and Aslan in general.
“He’s a very mellow guy. He’s very laid back when you look at him. When you get into a business world of running something, he is very on-point and doesn’t miss a thing,” said Evan Bogart, 22, a server at Aslan. “When he’s serious, he’s very serious, but he’s still such a nice guy that it’s hard to be like, ‘Oh, that’s the boss man!’ But he handles everything so well, and so smoothly, that it kind of makes it easy to see him that way.”
It is impressive that Lamb and all of his employees/partners are under the age of 30 and have come as far as they have. That is in fact something that Lamb prides himself on.
“Our youth and our energy is something that sets us apart,” said Lamb, with a passionate look in his eyes, while discussing the employees of Aslan. “We’re all under 30, and we’re all just ready to fight and to work hard.”
The fact that Aslan employees are so young isn’t just a coincidence. Lamb not only wanted to create a nice and safe spot for everyone in the public spectrum (since all ages are welcome at Aslan), but to also make sure that his employees had a steady income that would help them out.
“What made me want to start a brewery was my friends,” said Lamb. “(They are) talented people without jobs who deserve jobs, and knowing that they had good heart and motivation and purpose in the world, yet no one kind of gave them a chance.”
Lamb knew that if he could get something going, then he could help a lot of people out. Aslan now has 35 employees who only have this job to get them by.
Megan Lee, 24, Lamb's girlfriend, also described him as a person with a good heart right off the bat.
"Jack is a very generous person who is always looking out for other people, and wants others to be more comfortable than himself and to be put before himself," she said. "One day it was our dishwasher's birthday and Jack wanted to make him feel special, so Jack spent the whole entire day with him and took him out to dinner. He's really such a great guy."
To anybody who ever wanted to start something of their own or turn a dream into a reality, Lamb even had a few words to say to you:
"Just keep going and keep stepping forward. Sometimes you're being blinded by whatever, but just keep moving your feet and place yourself in the right situations. A lot of times you don't know what to do next or you don't know the answer, but you place yourself in the right situation time and time again, it will happen. Persistence and optimism are key."
