KC Bier Co. Named 2026 Large Missouri Brewery of the Year
From the editor: KC Bier Co. built its name on traditional German-style bier, so the funny part of this Missouri haul is that two of the golds went to an American IPA and a Belgian tripel. Add a GABF gold for Winterbock a few weeks ago, and Kansas City has a legit lager destination on its hands.
(KANSAS CITY, MO) – On Monday, November 2, 2026, The Missouri Craft Brewers’ Guild designated Kansas City Bier Company the 2026 Large Missouri Brewery of the Year. Thirty Missouri breweries submitted 226 beers in 25 categories. KC Bier Co won five medals, including 4 gold medals for:
- Dunkel Gold 5.0% Munich-style Brown Lager
- Let’s Go Lager Gold 3.5% German-style Light Pilsner
- Never Say IPA Gold 5.8% American-style IPA
- Farmhaus Gold 7.75% Belgian-style Tripel
- Helles Lager Silver 5.1% Munich-style Golden Lager
KC Bier Co is dedicated to brewing traditional German-style bier; however, brewery founder Steve Holle was pleased that Farmhaus and Never Say IPA took gold medals in non-German-style categories. Holle commented, “We import all of our malt from Bavaria, which I find has a very soft, mellow character, yet a very flavorful finish. The malt provides our traditional brews with an authentic German character, but the malt may also be the intangible that the judges attributed to the drinkability in our American-style IPA and Belgian-style Tripel.”
Just 3 weeks earlier, KC Bier Co received national accolades by winning 2 medals at the Great American Beer Festival, the largest beer competition in North America. Winterbock won gold for Doppelbock and Hop Spritz won bronze for Hop Water. Holle said, “Winterbock is our most award-winning beer. It has won gold at the GABF in North America and silver at the 2 largest international competitions, World Beer Cup, and European Beer Star held in Germany. Locally, Winterbock also won gold at the Missouri Beer Cup in 2025.”
