In Kansas City, the craft beer movement grew so much last year that the KC Beer Blog calls 2013 “The Year of Beer.”
The post by Jay Aber cites some intriguing numbers to support his case.
The city started last year far behind the nation in the number of breweries per person but ended in a more respectable position.
Nationwide, the number of breweries has climbed from 89 in the late 1970s to 2,538 last June. That amounts to 127,300 people per brewery.
Kansas City started last year at a paltry count of one brewery per 226,700 people.
But during the year, the Green Room, Big Rip, Cinder Block, Rock and Run and Bourgmont breweries either opened or started beer sales.
Soon this year, KC Bier Company and Martin City Brewing Company will be selling beer in the metropolitan area.
By then the number of local breweries will have gone from 9 to 16, bringing Kansas City in line with the national average on people per brewery.
You can drink to that but not too much.
The blog notes, “it looks pretty pathetic compared to our neighbor, Denver, which sports 62 breweries.”
But there are more and more brewing competitions in Kansas City the future of craft beer here appears strong.
Boulevard sold out to Duvel last year but some could see that as not such a bad thing. The Europeans are thirsty for American craft brews, the blog notes.
“The world has recognized America as producing the most innovative and best new beers,” Aber says.
“Right now is most certainly the Golden Age of American Brewing.”
And in 2013, he said, Kansas City moved toward being a great American beer city.
Who’s talking