Pyramid Breweries, Inc., is a brewing company headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It produces beer under the Pyramid brand at two

breweries A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of bee ...

and several brewpubs in Washington, Oregon, and California. It was founded in 1984 as Hart Brewing, and is currently owned by

North American Breweries FIFCO USA is an American brewing company based in Rochester, New York. Established as North American Breweries by New York City investment firm KPS Capital Partners to manage its brewery acquisitions (Genesee Brewing Company, Pyramid, and Magi ...

, a subsidiary of the Costa Rican company Florida Ice & Farm Co.

History

Hart Brewing was founded by Tom Baune and Beth Hartwell in 1984 in

Kalama, Washington Kalama (kaw-law-maw) is a city in Cowlitz County, Washington, Cowlitz County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. It is part of the Longview, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,959 as of the 2020 United State ...

. A pioneer of

craft brewing Craft beer is a beer that has been made by craft breweries. They produce smaller amounts of beer, typically less than large breweries, and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as having an emphasis o ...

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 Fruit beer is beer made with fruit added as an adjunct or flavouring. Fruit beer is a beer made from malt-scented strawberries, plums, raspberries, and cherries. It's an additive- or flavoring-containing form. Initially manufactured in Belgium, f ...

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. Pyramid eventually stopped brewing in Kalama in favor of other locations, but maintained its headquarters in Seattle. In 2004, Pyramid acquired

Portland Brewing Company Portland Brewing Company was a brewery in Portland, Oregon. A pioneer in Portland's early craft brewing scene, it was known as MacTarnahan's Brewing Company from 2004 to 2013 before resuming its original name. It was closed by the Costa Rican comp ...

, makers of the MacTarnahan's brand. In 2008, the company was itself purchased by Independent Brewers United, the parent company of Magic Hat Brewing Company of

Burlington, Vermont Burlington is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the seat of Chittenden County. It is located south of the Canada–United States border and south of Montreal. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 44,743. It ...

. Magic Hat maintained the Seattle office and the Pyramid and MacTarnahan's facilities and products.Pyramid Breweries to be acquired by Magic Hat
/ref> Two years later, the joint company was acquired by

of Rochester, New York. In December 2012, the parent company was purchased by Cerveceria Costa Rica, a unit of the Costa Rican company Florida Ice & Farm Co. Pyramid's Snow Cap Winter Ale reached number one on the list of the top 100 beers b
Cold Cans podcast.

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, alehouses, and closures

Pyramid ran three brewpub restaurants dubbed "Alehouses": one near the brewery, one in Seattle, and a small outlet in the Oakland International Airport. The Alehouse in Sacramento, California, closed its doors in March 2013, the

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

location closed in 2015, and the Walnut Creek location closed in early 2016. In 2019, the Seattle Alehouse settled a class action lawsuit for $450,000 over unpaid hours and wage theft. Less than a year later, on May 1, 2020, Pyramid Alehouse announced it was permanently closing the Seattle location, citing a lack of “high volume sporting and entertainment events” in the wake of the Covid-19 Pandemic that, before, would “off-set the much slower restaurant business during non-peak times.” On January 8, 2021, Portland Brewing Company announced that the brewery would cease all operations.

References

External links

Pyramid Breweries Inc.
{{portalbar, Beer, Companies Food and drink companies established in 1984 American companies established in 1984 1984 establishments in Washington (state) Manufacturing companies based in Seattle Food and drink companies based in Seattle Beer brewing companies based in Washington (state) American beer brands