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Boulevard President Sells Majority Of Company To Belgian Brewery

Laura Spencer
/
KCUR-FM

The Kansas City Business Journal reports that Kansas City-based CEO of Boulevard Brewing Co., John

McDonald has sold the majority interest in the company to Belgian brewery DuvelMoortagat.

McDonald started Boulevard in 1989 and brought the company to national acclaim. McDonald told the Kansas City Business journal that he turned 60 this year and needed to figure out what he was going to do with the brewery.

"Since then, we've been down a lot of different paths, talked to a lot of different people and looked at a lot of different opportunities," McDonald told the journal.

The New York Times reports the sale is evidence in the growing European interest in American craft beers.

“I see here in Europe that consumers are getting more and more interested in American craft beers,” Michel Moortgat, one of three brothers who own Duvel, told the New York Times from Belgium. “In the future, with this partnership, we will be able to develop the taste for those beers more substantially here and in other countries like Japan and China.” .

Read more from the Kansas City Business Journal, or from the New York Times.

A California native, Briana comes to KCUR by way of KMUW in Wichita, Kan. and KUSP in Santa Cruz, Calif.
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