Over the weekend, Junkyard Brewing posted a photo to their Instagram feed that bodes well for area beer drinkers.

The brewery posted a photo of a backhoe digging into the lot to the west of their building with a caption reading “Construction season is just getting started…” The lot previously had been used for outdoor seating (and the occasional heated game of Cornhole.)

Junkyard President Aaron Juhnke confirmed that the construction equipment on site is part of a long-awaited expansion to the brewery’s taproom space.

“(It’s been) two years in the making, it was on-again, off-again, and now it’s finally underway,” Juhnke said.

Construction season is just getting started... A post shared by Junkyard Brewing Company (@junkyardbrewing) on Nov 17, 2017 at 1:04pm PST

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Juhnke said a new single-story building will be built to fill the space and the brewery will occupy the front part of it, using it for extra seating and, possibly, special event rentals. The back part of the building will be used by their neighbors at 1st Ave Promo, he added.

There isn’t a firm date when the new construction will be completed, Juhnke said, but it will likely be finished sometime in the fall of 2018. In the meantime, day-to-day operations at the brewery won’t be affected. In fact, Junkyard patrons might start seeing improvements to the existing front patio seating area and more seating.

Junkyard also expanded its brewing operation earlier this year, Juhnke said, adding a 10-barrel brewing system to its three-barrel system.