The St. Louis Brewery, maker of Schlafly beer and St. Louis’ oldest and largest craft brewer, is searching for 40 acres of land in the region’s urban areas to acquire by the end of the year to start construction on a new brewery.

Of the nearly 60,000 barrels of beer Schlafly produces, 50,000 barrels are made at its Bottleworks location in Maplewood and at the Tap Room downtown, with the rest brewed in Tennessee, Iowa and Wisconsin.

Schlafly wants to keep its two local breweries open, and build a new production brewery in two to three years capable of brewing a million barrels, according to St. Louis Brewery’s co-founder Dan Kopman.

The boom in construction to expand craft breweries and build new ones is happening across the country. The number of breweries in the United States, 2,722 as of the end of December, is at the highest level since the early 1870s, according to the Brewers Association. That figure is up from about 2,300 in 2012.

“We are seeing hundreds of companies expanding their current facility or building new facilities to capitalize on demand that’s out there,” said Brewers Association director Paul Gatza. “It’s a tricky decision for a brewer; sure, you can expand, but that means you’re taking on more debt.”