Court Avenue Brewing Company is kicking off festivities this weekend to celebrate its 20-year anniversary. The Court Avenue mainstay was a key part of the area’s growth and development, and is owned by Scott Carlson, a 2007 Business Record Forty Under 40 honoree. The company’s official anniversary is Oct. 16, but it’s celebrating this weekend with an event on Saturday and an anniversary party featuring music and a special lineup of beer on tap. Said Carlson in a 2013 interview reflecting on the dark times of the restaurant scene in the ’90s: “We opened the brewery in 1996 expecting it to look like it does today, only in 1998. We saw great potential in Des Moines; Des Moines just wasn’t quite ready to reach that potential.” As one of the pioneers in the restaurant and brewing scene, Court Avenue Brewing is now one of more than 15 metro area brewers that have sprouted up in recent years. In fact, next weekend also marks the one-year anniversary of Fox Brewing, which was the first local brewery opened in West Des Moines. It is holding its anniversary celebration on Sept. 10.