Starting today, bottles of KC Bier Co. beers will be available on the shelves of local stores—a move that will almost instantly double sales, founder Steve Holle said.

Before, if you wanted to enjoy a glass, you would have to visit one of the 450 bars or restaurants that keep KC Bier Co. on tap. Or you could travel to the brewery’s tasting room, where you could buy a growler to take home.

Now KC Bier Co. will be available at most major liquor stores, grocery stores and other outlets here in the metro and Lawrence.

The brewery is selling three styles of beer via retail: Dunkel, its brown lager; Helles, a golden lager; and Hefeweizen, a Bavarian-style wheat ale. Those are all year-round brands, and they’ll be available in six-packs and cases.

This is all thanks to a major expansion of KC Bier Co.’s facility, which includes a new bottling line. The company is expected to go from selling 500 barrels per month to 1,000. By the end of 2016, it will have the capacity to put out 16,000 barrels per year.

Holle’s advice to other entrepreneurs planning an expansion: Growth takes time. KC Bier Co., for example, placed an order for its bottling equipment last August, and it didn’t arrive until the spring. Meanwhile, he and his team had to manage their ongoing workload with their expansion efforts.

“In some ways, the expansion was more difficult than opening the brewery,” Holle said.

Thinking Bigger Business featured Holle and KC Bier Co. on its cover earlier this year. You can find that story here.