Pyramid Breweries

Pyramid Breweries, Inc., is a brewing company headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It produces beer under the Pyramid brand at two breweries and several brewpubs in Washington, Oregon, and California. It was founded in 1984 as Hart Brewing, and is currently owned by North American Breweries, a subsidiary of the Costa Rican company Florida Ice & Farm Co.

Pyramid Breweries, Inc.
FormerlyHart Brewing
Industry
Founded1984
FounderBeth Hartwell
Headquarters
Seattle, Washington
,
United States
Number of locations
5
ProductsBeer
OwnerFlorida Ice & Farm Co.
DivisionsPortland Brewing Company
Websitehttp://www.pyramidbrew.com

History

Hart Brewing was founded by Tom Baune and Beth Hartwell in 1984 in Kalama, Washington. A pioneer of craft brewing in the Pacific Northwest, Hart's signature beer was Pyramid Pale Ale, which it followed with Pyramid Wheaten Ale in 1985. In 1994, Hart debuted the Apricot Ale, a fruit beer that quickly became its most prominent brand. The company opened new facilities and greatly expanded its production, and changed its name to Pyramid Breweries in 1996. It also started experimenting with other styles, which won a number of brewing competitions in the U.S. and abroad. Eventually it grew to become one of the five largest craft brewers in the country.[1]

Pyramid eventually stopped brewing in Kalama in favor of other locations, but maintained its headquarters in Seattle. In 2004, Pyramid acquired Portland Brewing Company, makers of the MacTarnahan's brand.[1][2] In 2008, the company was itself purchased by Independent Brewers United, the parent company of Magic Hat Brewing Company of Burlington, Vermont. Magic Hat maintained the Seattle office and the Pyramid and MacTarnahan's facilities and products.[3] Two years later, the joint company was acquired by North American Breweries of Rochester, New York.[4] In December 2012, the parent company was purchased by Cerveceria Costa Rica, a unit of the Costa Rican company Florida Ice & Farm Co.[5]

Pyramid's Snow Cap Winter Ale reached number one on the list of the top 100 beers by Cold Cans podcast.[6]

Beers

Pyramid once featured beers including, ales, lager, weizens, ciders, porters, and IPAs. Nowadays, Pyramid offers six year-round beers, including Hefeweizen, Apricot Ale, Thunderhead IPA and Outburst Imperial IPA. Pyramid also offers seasonal beers, including Curve Ball Blonde Ale, Oktoberfest and Snow Cap Winter Warmer, along with seasonal variety packs and limited release beers.

Facilities and Alehouses

Pyramid operates a brewery in Portland, Oregon. It also runs three brewpub restaurants dubbed "Alehouses": one near the brewery, one in Seattle, and a small outlet in the Oakland International Airport.[1] The Alehouse in Sacramento, California closed its doors in March 2013,[7] the Berkeley location closed in 2015,[8] and the Walnut Creek location closed in early 2016.[9] On May 1, 2020, Pyramid Alehouse announced[10] it was permanently closing the Seattle location.

References
  1. Oliver, Garrett (2011). "Craft brewing". In Oliver, Garrett (ed.). The Oxford Companion to Beer. Oxford University Press. pp. 681–682. ISBN 0195367138.
  2. Foyston, John (February 16, 2004). "MacTarnahan's of Portland Will Be Sold to Seattle's Pyramid". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Hearst Communications. Retrieved March 15, 2012.
  3. Pyramid Breweries to be acquired by Magic Hat
  4. Rochester, North American buys Magic Hat, Pyramid and MacTarnahan's
  5. "Cerveceria Costa Rica to buy North American Breweries". Oct 26, 2012. Retrieved May 21, 2013.
  6. "39 - Pyramid Snow Cap Winter Ale". Cold Cans. Retrieved 2018-01-09.
  7. Sacramento's Pyramid Alehouse closes its doors Archived 2013-03-07 at the Wayback Machine
  8. Pyramid Alehouse’s Berkeley Location Shuts Down
  9. Pyramid Alehouse in Walnut Creek has closed
  10. Jones, Kendall (2020-05-01). "Pyramid Brewing announces permanent closure of the Seattle Alehouse and Brewery". Washington Beer Blog. Retrieved 2020-05-02.
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