Here’s to hoping Snohomish County beer drinkers are thirsty.

Scuttlebutt Brewing is expanding its production facility near downtown Everett, hoping to eventually brew three times as much beer as it currently produces.

A longtime tennant’s recent departure opened the opportunity for the 20-year-old brewery to take over an adjacent portion of the building at 3310 Cedar St., that its production facility currently occupies. The brewery will gain 1,600-square-feet in space to bring their total to 7,100-square-feet.

“We’ve always been very disciplined with our growth,” said Scuttlebutt head brewer Matt Stromberg. “We don’t want to grow too fast. This is a great opportunity for us to continue that growth.”

Stromberg said he expects to move the brewery’s fermenters to the new space, hoping to increase the number of 60 barrel fermenters from five to 15. Most of all, though, Stromberg sees the elimination of waste as the biggest improvement from the added space.

“Everything in our system goes in a circle,” Stromberg said. “Beer is brewed here, bottled here, stored in a cooler here and goes out the door here. Efficiency is big for us. (The changes) will help with the labor; help with the brewing process.”

That improved efficiency could see Scuttlebutt go from brewing 7,600 barrels per year, like they did in 2014, to 24,000 barrels per year. Redhook Brewery brewed the most beer in the state of Washington last year, producing more than 150,000 barrels.

Scuttlebutt owner Phil Bannan Sr. said the increase in production helps Scuttlebutt get more beers to local, national and international consumers.

“We can increase our penetration in the local markets while also expanding the footprint of our other markets,” Bannan said.

Scuttlebutt is distributed in much of Washington and is in Total Wine and More stores in 18 states, including California and Florida. Internationally, Bannan said Scuttlebutt is in Canada, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, United Kingdom and more.

“We sell a lot of porter in Florida. I can’t figure that out,” Bannan said, laughing.

Scuttlebutt officially takes over the new space in April. Stromberg said they’ll need to go through the inspection process with the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture before the brewery can start moving any equipment. Stromberg guessed that the expansion wouldn’t be finished until August.

Scuttlebutt moved its production operation from the waterfront to its current location in 2007. The brewery operates a restaurant on the waterfront.

Aaron Swaney: 425-339-3430; aswaney@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @swaney_aaron79. Follow the Hops and Sips blog at www.heraldnet.com/hopsandsips.