Pike Pub & Brewery

Pike Pub & Brewery

The Pike Brewing Company was created in 1989 by Charles Finkel, founder of Merchant du Vin. The original brewery (then known as The Pike Place Brewery) was housed in a narrow 2,000-square- foot storefront in the LaSalle Hotel building at the base of Seattle’s historic Pike Place Market. The first keg of Pike Pale Ale was tapped on October 17, 1989, at Cutter’s Bay House restaurant, culminating "the world’s shortest non-motorized parade" along Western Avenue in downtown Seattle. On hand was Pike co-founder John Farias, and special guest Franz Inselkammer of the Ayinger Brewery of Bavaria, Aying, Germany. Demand for the beer was brisk from the beginning, having received rave reviews from some of the industry’s leading writers including Michael Jackson, Roger Protz, and Bill Owens. After several years of limited production due to our diminutive brewery size, we began construction of our new pub and brewery facility at 1415 First Ave. in Seattle, just two blocks from our original location. Our new 15,000 barrel brewery opened in April 1996, with the opening of the Pike Pub following in September.