As European interest in American craft beers begins to mirror the mania for them stateside, the Duvel Moortgat Brewery of Belgium on Thursday announced a deal to buy the Boulevard Brewing Company, a craft brewery in Kansas City, Mo.

The acquisition of Boulevard will give Duvel, pronounced DOO-vel, ownership of a large United States craft brewer that is well known in the Midwest and produces a wide variety of beers under its own name and others. Boulevard’s brands range from 80-Acre Hoppy Wheat Beer, described as citrusy with a slightly sweet flavor and light bitterness, to Dark Truth Stout, an “inky” beer with hints of chocolate, coffee and fruits.

“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, said in a telephone interview 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.”

As defined by the Brewers Association, a craft brewer must produce no more than six million barrels a year (a lower limit was dropped when the Boston Beer Company, maker of Samuel Adams, exceeded it). Any ownership stake by a non-craft alcoholic beverage company must be less than 25 percent. Otherwise, a brewery cannot be a voting member of the association.