KC Bier Co. Attains
Regional Brewer Status
Kansas City’s Largest Independent and Locally Owned
Brewery Now Among Top 3 Percent of U.S. Breweries
Jan. 10, 2020 – Kansas City, Mo. — KC Bier Co., Kansas City’s largest independent and locally-owned brewery, announces that it has advanced from microbrewery status to regional brewer status, per definitions set by the Brewers Association (BA), the national trade group representing the craft beer industry in the United States.
The brewery attained this status with its production volume of 16,526 barrels of bier in 2019 — a 24 percent increase over 2018 — which also outpaces the 4 percent national average growth rate for independent craft brewers. As a regional brewer, KC Bier Co. is now part of a class of breweries representing approximately the top 3 percent of all breweries in the U.S.
According to the BA 2018 data, there were 7,346 total breweries operating in the U.S., of which 7,116 breweries, or approximately 97 percent, are defined as brewpubs and microbreweries, while only 230 are defined as regional breweries. (2019 data is not yet available).
Steve Holle, KC Bier Co. founder and managing owner, said the brewery’s growth into regional status is a testament to its commitment to brewing high-quality and genuine German-style beers using time-honored traditional German brewing methods and only four ingredients: water, yeast, and all-imported German malt and hops.
“Our mission always has been to brew authentic-tasting German-style beer and deliver it with the same character, flavor and freshness as beer brewed and consumed in Germany,” Holle said. “We’re grateful for the consumers, retailers and our distributors who helped us achieve this milestone in only six years even through our distribution area included just one major city, Kansas and western Missouri.”
Other brewery highlights from 2019 include the brewery’s Helles Lager being named one of the 19 Best Beers of 2019 by Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine, a national trade publication; being named one of the Top 10 Small Businesses of the Year by the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce; and the brewery’s KC Oktoberfest, which drew more than 11,000 attendees to Crown Center on Oct. 4-5, was named Favorite Beer Festival in KC in VisitKC’s 2019 Visitors’ Choice Awards.
