USA, WA: Copperworks Distilling taking over Pike Brewing’s brewhouse

When Pike Brewing opened 35 years ago, Jason Parker was the first brewer that co-founders Charles and Rose Ann Finkel hired. Many other brewers have stirred the mash at Pike Brewing over the years, but Jason was the first. Many years later, Jason Parker was one of the co-founders of Copperworks Distilling. And after decades of professional brewing and distilling, Jason Parker now has the opportunity to bring his brewing story full circle, with Copperworks acquiring the Pike Brewing brewhouse on Post Alley in Seattle, The Washington Beer Blog reported on June 18.

Several months ago, Pike Brewing stopped brewing at its familiar location at the Pike Place Market. The company opened a new, state-of-the-art brewery a few miles south in the Georgetown neighborhood near the Duwamish River — production only, no tasting room. The Pike Pub remains open, but the beer is no longer brewed at the Pike Place location. The brewery has been sitting unused for months.

Copperworks Distilling takes a brewer’s approach to crafting its spirits. It begins by crafting a high-quality beer without hops from a base of locally grown malted barley. For the past ten years, Copperworks partnered with local breweries (including Pike Brewing) for this part of the process. Then, Copperworks distills the beer in custom-built copper stills at its waterfront distillery in Seattle.

“Copperworks had always aimed to establish our own brewing facility. However, the high costs of building a new brewery and the innovative contract partnerships we have in place with local breweries have continuously postponed this plan for the future,” said Copperworks Distilling Co. Co-Owner and President Jason Parker.

“When Pike Brewing relocated its production in October 2023, the opportunity arose for us to finally have our own brewing facility… We believe this turnkey 30-barrel brew house is ready to begin production immediately, meaning we don’t have to spend the time and money to build a production facility.”

“We’ve always believed that from great brewing comes great spirits, so much so that we have that tagline on the top of every bottle we produce,” added Parker. “It’s a ‘coming home’ story, and an incredible opportunity to work with the brewery I helped start so many years ago.”

“Our team is already trained and available to do the brewing without any additional hires necessary,” said Copperworks Distilling Co. Co-Owner and Vice President Jeff Kanof. “Increased production can allow us to make more product. We can make more vodka, more gin and put up more whiskey for aging. This can be an opportunity for us to immediately be a leader in the industry as an independent craft American Single Malt Whiskey producer.”

“We see this as a win-win situation,” said Parker. “It’s a win for Copperworks having our very own brewing facility steps away from our distillery, it’s a win for Pike being able to expand its production, and most importantly, it’s a win for the Seattle community, as we keep these two companies locally owned and operating well into the future.”

With Copperworks working to modify the space as soon as the ink dries on the lease, downtown Seattle will see one less vacant storefront and a lot less waste. Copperworks will be able to reuse almost all the brewing equipment Pike is leaving behind, greatly reducing the environmental footprint that would have been involved with scrapping the equipment or building a brand-new facility elsewhere.

“Pike has long been part of the fabric of Seattle’s community, and it was important to us that we leave this production space in the most sustainable way possible,” said Charles Finkel, one of the founders of Pike Brewing. “We’re excited to herald in this new era knowing that our original location will be in good hands.”

Copperworks will be leasing the brewing facility from Unico Properties, from whom the distillery is already leasing its waterfront distillery and tasting room.

Copperworks Distilling has always intended to open an additional cocktail bar in downtown Seattle. As part of the Pike Brewing space, Copperworks plans to open a cocktail bar with small bites and a direct-to-consumer bottle shop. The new cocktail bar on Post Alley will be directly between the entrance to the Pike Brewing Company and tourists know as the Gum Wall.

“Though we’re only three blocks away from the downtown Seattle distillery, we’re looking forward to serving a completely different demographic of tourists in this new cocktail bar location,” said Kanof.

19 June, 2024