Boundary Bay Brewery & Bistro has signed a lease for 4,000 square feet of space at 1103 Railroad Ave., next door to its current location, and plans to use the space to increase production.

The brewery has been operating at maximum capacity for a few years, brewing about 185,000 gallons of beer a year.

“Right now we’re at maximum brewing capacity and we’re having a hard time just meeting demand in Whatcom, Skagit and King counties,” spokesperson Amy Jones said. “We never have enough beer.”

The current facility has five fermenters, each capable of holding 17 barrels of beer. (A modern beer barrel is equal to 31 gallons.) Plans for the new space include three larger fermenters that would each be capable of brewing 51 barrels of beer — which would more than double production.

The additional capacity would allow Boundary Bay to expand its distribution and serve more clients. The goal is to cover everything from Vancouver, B.C. to Portland, Ore., Jones said.

“We sent a few test batches up to Vancouver (B.C.) this summer and it was met with a lot of success,” she said. “And Portland has been asking us for years. But we were brewing so much and it never really made it out of the state.”

Boundary Bay won’t move into the new space until the beginning of the year, giving time for the current tenants to find new locations.

“We are excited to expand,” brewery owner Ed Bennett said in a press release. “We are eager to increase our brewing capacity as well as our distribution and the expanded brewing facilities will help us reach our goal of continuing to be a strong regional brewery here in the Pacific Northwest.”