Boulevard Brewing Company facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Boulevard Brewing Company

Location	Kansas City, Missouri
Coordinates	39°04′56″N 94°35′48″W / 39.0821°N 94.5967°W / 39.0821; -94.5967
Opened	1989; 36 years ago (1989)
Annual production volume	219,094 US beer barrels (257,102 hL) in 2016
Revenue	US$32.0M (FY 2011)
Owned by	Duvel Moortgat Brewery
Employees	125
Active beers
Name Type KC Pils Pilsner Pale Ale Pale ale Unfiltered Wheat Beer American wheat beer 80-Acre Hoppy Wheat Beer American wheat beer Bully! Porter Porter Dry Stout Stout Single-Wide I.P.A. India Pale Ale Frequent Flier Session I.P.A. India Pale Ale
Seasonal beers
Name Type Irish Ale Irish Ale Boss Tom's Golden Bock Maibock Zōn Belgian Witbier Bob's '47 Märzen Nutcracker Ale Winter Warmer Snow & Tell Scotch Ale
Other beers
Smokestack Series Name Type Tank 7 Saison The Sixth Glass Quadrupel The Calling I.P.A. Double India Pale Ale Long Strange Tripel Tripel Dark Truth Stout Stout Saison-Brett Saison Bourbon Barrel Quad Quadrupel Imperial Stout American Double/Imperial Stout Harvest Dance Wheatwine Early Riser Coffee Porter Rye-on-Rye Rye Ale Grainstorm Black Rye IPA Black Rye IPA Reverb Imperial Pilsner Imperial Pilsner Reboot White I.P.A. White India Pale Ale Crown Town Ale Pale Ale

Boulevard Brewing Company is a large company that makes beverages in Kansas City, Missouri. It is one of the biggest craft beverage makers in the United States. A craft beverage maker focuses on traditional methods and smaller batches. In 2014, it was ranked as the 12th largest craft beverage company in the U.S. and the 18th largest overall.

In 2013, a company from Belgium called Duvel Moortgat Brewery bought Boulevard. This helped Boulevard grow even more.

History of Boulevard Brewing Company

Boulevard Brewing Company started with this 35 barrel hopper.

Boulevard Brewery's bottling line is turned off in this photo.

Boulevard Brewing Company started in 1988. Its founder, John McDonald, began building the company in an old brick building. This building was in Kansas City’s historic Southwest Boulevard area.

Early Days and Growth

The company installed old equipment from a closed facility in Bavaria, Germany. The first batches of beverages were made in the fall of 1989. John McDonald personally delivered the first half-barrel of their Pale Ale. He used his pickup truck to take it to a nearby restaurant.

In 1990, Boulevard Wheat was added to their product line. These two types, Wheat and Pale Ale, are still the company's most popular products. The company focuses on making beverages for the Kansas City area. This idea comes from local companies that were common before Prohibition.

New Product Lines

In late 2007, Boulevard introduced the "Smokestack Series." These are special, unique beverages. They are often sold in larger bottles. These products were inspired by traditional Belgian methods. They are known for being rich and complex.

Some of the year-round Smokestack products include The Calling and Tank 7. Other special and limited-edition products have also been released.

In 2009, the company added Boulevard Pilsner to its main products. This product was renamed KC Pils in 2013. It pays tribute to the traditional Pilsner beverages made in Kansas City long ago.

Special Collaborations

In 2018, Boulevard worked with Tech N9ne, a rapper from Kansas City. They created a new beverage called Bou Lou. It is a wheat-based product with pineapple and coconut flavors. This product was inspired by Tech N9ne's song "Caribou Lou." It was released in several cities, including Kansas City and St. Louis.

Reaching More People

By 2006, the company had expanded its production capacity. This made it one of the largest craft beverage makers in the Midwest. Today, Boulevard products are sold in 41 states across the U.S. You can also find them in other countries. These include Canada, Belgium, and the United Kingdom.

In 2013, many of the company's products received kosher certification. This means they meet special dietary standards.

Expanding the Facilities

Boulevard has expanded its facilities several times. Major expansions happened in 1999 and 2005.

The 2006 Expansion

In March 2006, Boulevard started a big expansion project. It cost $20 million. This project increased how much the company could produce. A new building was constructed next to the existing one.

The new building was designed by 360 Architecture. It is about 68,500 square feet. It includes a modern production area and a packaging facility. The third floor has offices and two large rooms for visitors. There is also a terrace with views of downtown Kansas City. A glass walkway connects the old and new parts of the facility.

This expansion helped the company make more of its popular products. These include Unfiltered Wheat Beer and Pale Ale. Unfiltered Wheat Beer is the best-selling product of its kind in the Midwest.

The 2011 Expansion

In the fall of 2011, Boulevard began another expansion. This one cost $3 million. It involved replacing six smaller tanks with eight new, larger tanks. These new tanks came from the Paul Mueller Company in Missouri.

This expansion allowed the company to produce about 35,000 more barrels of product each year. This increased their capacity by about 20 percent. To fit the new tanks, the original building had to be raised about 35 feet.

Boulevard offers daily tours for visitors. On these tours, people can learn how the products are made.