I recently met up with Erik at Gigantic (which is still great) and I mentioned that I’d had a Pyramid brew recently, at Bailey’s.
“How was it?”
Surprisingly good, I told him, although I couldn’t remember the style I had. In many ways, it doesn’t matter because you can’t just say that: you have to put your money where your mouth is. So I bought a sixer of the summer blonde ale, Curveball and had some more.
My opinion is a little changed: This is a solid ale that is really good for the summer months. That would be more of a knock if I didn’t expect it from this style and brand of beer. A commercial ale is meant to have a broader fanbase and summer ales generally tilt more towards the quenching of thirst over an abundance of flavors. But it’s still tastier than I would expect and I think it’s the kind of beer that could serve both as a fine standard or as a launching off point for a newbie to the world of craft beers, to get into more interesting or experimental stuff.
Either way, it’s a pleasant surprise and suggests that maybe Pyramid has upped their game a little. This is the kind of competition I can get behind.
I could not agree more with your assessment of Pyramid. Seems they decided to get after it with the release of their new labels. I was very fond of the Curveball (https://taphandle.wordpress.com/2012/06/17/happy-fathers-day/) and their India Black Ale. At their price point for 22 oz, I am not sure you could go wrong. Glad to see someone else has recognized the effort.
Given what you’ve written about them, I’ll have to try some of their other selections too. They might just be one of the better kept secrets right now.