A Pyramid Scheme

June 20, 2013 By Ben | Filed in Breweries, Reviews

Pyramid is a brewing stalwart hailing from the Pacific Northwest with its origins dating back to the mid-80s. Having weathered the many ups-and-downs in the market over the past (nearly) three decades, their beers have remained remarkably consistent and they have a steady stream of seasonal offerings. While a fan going waaay back (their tasty Apricot Ale was one of my ‘gateway’ beers into the craft beer world back in college) it wasn’t until moving to the Bay Area that I learned they had a small chain of Ale Houses on the West Coast (and, randomly, two within 20 miles of each other here—one in Berkeley and one in Walnut Creek).

Pyramid Alehouse

Berkeley’s Ale House is located just off the I-80 on Gilman Avenue in a lightly industrial area a few blocks from San Pablo Avenue. A popular destination as well as production brewery, the location is a full city block in size and has an industrial charm complete with a blend of brick, steel, and ivy on the Ale House side. The interiors have a clean, modern vibe and they feature an outdoor patio and a small upstairs dining area above the larger dining area and long bar. They have a well-stocked company store at the entrance and TV’s surrounding the dining area (airing all manner of Bay Area pro sports and nearby Cal games).

Pyramid Alehouse interior

The menu is good and reasonably priced, with a fairly standard variety of pub fair offering, featuring a wide selection of sandwiches, burgers, pizzas and various entrees (and great chicken wings as I noted in an earlier post). They offer happy hour Monday-Friday and feature daily/nightly specials that range from ‘Keep the Glass’ night to ‘Spare the Air Saturday’ (where you can get a discount on your bill if you ride your bike in or take the BART/a bus). They also do bingo on the first Monday of every month and a weekly trivia night. And for all you parents out there who like to enjoy a cold beer with a meal they also have a good kids menu and are very kid-friendly (even allowing them to play bingo!).

Pyramid Alehouse beer board

The beer selection is fairly immense featuring every single Pyramid beer on the market, including seasonals and special Ale House-exclusives, and just about every Portland Brewing beer available (their sister brewery). The selection covers nearly every style of beer and it’s fun to explore with a flight or even half-pints. Being a hop head, I love that they always have 4-5 IPAs on tap (and their recent seasonal, the Discord Dark IPA, was terrific).

Pyramid beer