Pyramid stacks up gold medals

October 5, 2006: Pyramid Breweries of California is celebrating after its flagship Pyramid Hefe Weize, fruit ale Pyramid Apricot Weizen and summer seasonal Curve Ball Kölsch each took home gold medals at the LA County Fair beer competition.

Fifty judges from the LA home brewing community, most of them certified beer judges, selected Pyramid Hefe Weizen best American wheat ale or lager with yeast and Pyramid Apricot Weizen best fruit beer, while Curve Ball won for best Kölsch-style ale.

The fifth annual beer competition operated by the fair and the California Fermentation Society featured 36 breweries and 200 beers battling for medals in 60 categories.

The LA County Fair is the largest in the nation, attracting more than one million visitors each year. This year visitors had a chance to sample Pyramid’s gold medal selections and other winning beers, with proceeds benefiting various charities.

"Southern Californians are embracing our American-style unfiltered wheat beers," said Scott Barnum, president and CEO of Pyramid Breweries.

"These awards are a big deal for our team and our momentum in this market. Only in LA could you earn top honours and introduce more than one million people to a new style and taste that’s become hugely popular up and down the West Coast.”

l Pyramid is a leading brewer of speciality, full-flavoured beers and sodas under the Pyramid, MacTarnahan’s and Thomas Kemper brands. The independent company owns two alehouse restaurants adjacent to its full-production breweries under the Pyramid Alehouse and MacTarnahan Taproom brand names in Berkeley, California, and Portland, Oregon, respectively, and three alehouse restaurants in Walnut Creek and Sacramento, California, and Seattle, Washington.