The Portsmouth Brewing Co. in Portsmouth is adding Peerless Pale Ale to its bottled beer lineup. Peerless joins Portsmouth Pilsner and Red Bird Ale in bottles.

Portsmouth, which also operates a brewpub, started bottling in October 2011. The venture has been so successful that the brewery is adding two 20 barrel fermenters next month and will expand distribution into Cincinnati starting next year, brewer Emily Uldrich said.

Portsmouth is now distributed in Piketon, Waverly, Chillicothe, Greater Columbus, Ironton and South Point.

"It was a hard decision for us to choose between distributing to Columbus and Cincinnati originally, but we just didn't have the capacity to supply both," Uldrich said in an email. "We are aware of the huge craft beer market in Northern Ohio, but we have an affinity with Cincinnati, as we are huge Bengals and Reds fans, and they are another historic Southern Ohio rivertown."

The tentative plan is to add another 20 barrel fermenter next year. "We'll have to make the tough decision of where to go next when that time comes," said Uldrich, a Dayton native.

Speaking of next year, Portsmouth Brewing will celebrate its 170th anniversary. The brewery was founded in 1843. The current version opened in 1995 as a brewpub in the original brewing facility and Portsmouth touts itself as "Ohio's Oldest Brewery."

The brewery is planning a "Birthday Bash" on New Year's Eve, with special discounts on the samplers of the six Portsmouth beers on tap.