The Pitch’s "Beer Town".

As many of you have probably read, or at least heard about, there is a front-page article in the Pitch regarding Kansas City’s craft breweries. It is a very well put together article running the gamut from the 10th largest craft brewery in the US (Boulevard), to microbreweries, to brewpubs, to nano breweries, and even a story of two naked chicks making beer in their kitchen. The article covers a good variety of information and helps provide exposure to the different facets of Kansas City’s breweries.  It is a great article and I thank Jonathan Bender for writing it.

The one gripe I have with this article, and is common with the craft beer industry in general, lack of “where do you find it”. Obviously, Boulevard is readily available and most everyone in KC has at least heard of Boulevard Brewing Co. However, two nano breweries were mentioned, Stuck Truck Brews and Fountain Head Brewing Co., as well as the micro brewery Doodle Brewing Co. I am assuming the nano breweries crafts are not available to the public, but this is only my assumption. Could these brews be available publicly? For sample? This would be great information to provide in the article and could possibly provide business opportunities for the brewers.

The other day I was viewing a list of beers being offered at a local beer festival and saw Doodle Brewing Co. This is a brewery operated out of Liberty, MO of which I was completely unaware. Intrigued, I set off to discover this local brewery. I pulled up their website and was greeted with a barren wasteland of information. Nothing. No information on where to get the beer, what kinds of beer they brew, or any other relevant information for a consumer to patronize the brewery. I shot them an email and received a timely response from Nick. The brews are available in the Kansas City, MO metro area. The Pitch article mentions the Doodle Brewing Co and mentions they are available in 15 area stores. What stores you might ask? Good question.

I echo my sentiments to the local liquor stores who don’t answer their emails, how I am I supposed to buy something if you don’t tell me what you have. I digress.

A quote from the Pitch article:

“Boulevard made Kansas City a marketplace for ambitious brewers. Can craft-beer makers Capitalize on it?”

From a consumers standpoint the best advice I can give the small local breweries is tell me where to buy it. It is the information age and we have mass communication at our fingertips. The craft brew market is reliant on the consumers actively seeking information. There is a plethora of information available on the internet if craft brew enthusiasts are willing to put in the effort to search for it. Take the effort out of it on the consumers end and put that into the brewerie's/liquor store's end. There is a tremendous opportunity for craft breweries (big and small) and liquor stores selling craft to expand the craft brew market with information. The opportunity is there, it’s just a matter of telling people about it. Marketing is cheaper than ever when you consider Facebook, Twitter, and even these little things called blogs. I encourage all small breweries and local liquor stores to utilize these tools to spread the knowledge of craft beer. If you make the process of purchasing craft brew easier for the consumer, everyone will win.


A quote I heard in my college marketing class,

”Doing business without advertising is like blowing kisses to a girl/guy in the dark. Only you know what you are doing”.



Cheers!