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Craft Brewery
Pike Brewing Company:
Celebrating 30 Years as a Craft Beer Pioneer
By: Becky Garrison
W hy is Seattle-based Pike Brewing Norway, as well as several small American brew-
eries. Jason Parker, co-founder of Copper-works
Company still standing 30 years after
its 1989 founding when a growing
ficulties in convincing Americans to give craft beer
number of craft breweries in the Distilling and Pike’s first brewer, points to the dif-
Pacific Northwest are either shuttering their doors a chance. “Back then, nobody knew how to drink a
or being bought out by global conglomerates? quality beer, so Charles had to edu-cate each per-
son bottle by bottle.”
According to Pike’s co-founder and co-chair of its
board, Charles Finkel, “There’s an unbelieva-ble Finkel would enter a restaurant and ask to see
amount of competition out there with a challenging their beer menu. Inevitably, the waiter would
business climate, but we’ve done our best to have re-spond, “We don’t have a beer menu, but I can
a sustainable business model. We work really hard tell you what we have.” The waiter would recite
and have a good team of people.” names of commercial beers like Budweiser, Coors
Light, and Rainer. Then Finkel would reply, “Oh,
Following his lifelong passion for imported beers, just bring me some jug wine.” When they noted
Finkel founded Merchant du Vin in 1978, so he they don’t serve that type of wine here, he would
could introduce consumers to craft beers from respond, “Yes, but you serve that type of beer.”
England, Scotland, Germany, Belgium, France and Following this exchange, he would set out some
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