An Alabama-based brewery is expanding its operations into a new state.
Back Forty Beer Co. will spend about $500,000 this year to double its brewing capacity and begin canning operations at its facility in Gadsden.
The Gadsden Times reports the company will soon begin expanding in to Tennessee. It's already distributed in Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and Florida.
Back Forty Beer was honored Wednesday as the state's Small Manufacturer of the Year.
Chief executive Jason Wilson says the expansion will likely begin in the fourth quarter and will increase brewing capacity to about 20,000 barrels a month.
Alabama's craft brewing industry has grown rapidly in recent years since lawmakers loosened state restrictions.