San Diego-based Green Flash Brewing Co. plans to expand into Nebraska, with a Lincoln production facility and tasting room set to open by the end of this year.

It will be the third brewery for the Mira Mesa-headquartered company and its first in the Midwest. A statement from the brewer said Green Flash has purchased a 10,000-square-foot production facility with a restaurant in Nebraska’s state capital, where it will join a burgeoning craft beer community.

Officials said the new brewery was purchased intact from another undisclosed company that previously owned it, at a price that was also not disclosed. The Green Flash expansion into Nebraska follows last year’s opening of a new brewery and tasting room in Virginia Beach, Va., as the company seeks to bolster its position as a national brand via regional strongholds in key U.S. cities.

“We hope to become a local favorite in our new Nebraska home,” said Green Flash co-founder Mike Hinkley. “And we’re excited to be closer to our fans across the Midwest. We’ll be sending them fresher Green Flash beer, and hope they will visit us in Lincoln.”

Officials said the new facility will employ more than 20. This will be the first full-scale restaurant venture by Green Flash, with approximately 2,000 square feet dedicated to food and beer service in a space with about 100 seats.

The new facility will operate with a 10,000-barrel annual capacity, under the direction of Brewmaster Erik Jensen. The Nebraska location will brew beers of both Green Flash and Alpine Beer, the East County beer-maker acquired by Green Flash in 2014.

Green Flash Brewing was founded in 2002, and its beers are currently available in all 50 states and select international markets through distribution arrangements. It is the third-largest of more than 100 beer companies based in San Diego County, brewing more than 91,000 barrels in 2016 while employing more than 200 locally.

According to the Brewers Association trade group, Green Flash is the nation’s 37th largest craft beer brewer and the 46th largest beer-maker overall based on 2016 sales volume.

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