(Houston, TX) – Things truly are getting nutty in the craft beer business.

The Chronicle reports that Karbach Brewing Co. is off to a wildly successful start.

The company is on track to produce 8,000 barrels of beer this year, which founding brewmaster Eric Warner said is about what he expected in year three. For 2013, he said, production is expected at least to double and could reach 20,000 barrels.

Silver Eagle Distributing, the nation’s second-largest beer wholesaler, just signed the company and will help facilitate the growth.

Karbach, which just opened late last summer, would earn the regional craft brewery designation from the Brewers Association by passing the 15,000 barrel mark. That would be enough to rank it in the top 150 craft breweries in the U.S..

Karbach is not alone in its fast rise either.

Last week, BeerPulse reported that Golden Road Brewing is on pace to produce more beer in its first full calendar year than any other brewery has in nearly two decades (since Nor’Wester Brewing produced 16,677 barrels in 1994). The Los Angeles-based brewer, which opened last fall, is also looking in the ballpark of 8,000 barrels this year, according to a report from the L.A. Times. [Ed. note: the Brewers Association does not officially track this record – this comes from BeerPulse research.]

It is sort of like the Mark McGwire-Sammy Sosa race all over again (if both players were in their rookie year anyway).

Let’s just hope that neither brewery is on the juice.