New Belgium Brewing, a Colorado-based craft brewer, is planning to expand into New York in May, thereby marking its expansion into 44th state of the US.

The firm has signed agreements with 14 wholesalers for the distribution across the state.

Among the wholesalers include eight Anheuser-Busch distributors, four Miller/MillerCoors houses and two independents.

New Belgium Northeast and Canada division sales director Rich Rush was quoted by brewbound.com as saying: "New York is a big one for us. It’s a high density, fast-paced market and there are a lot of craft-savvy customers throughout the state. We now have the capacity to make sure we can keep the pipeline full, so the timing is ideal on all counts."

The company, which is opening a second brewing facility in North Carolina, will initially provide Fat Tire, Ranger IPA, Citradelic IPA, Heavy Melon Watermelon Lime Ale (seasonal) and Rampant Imperial IPA.

New Belgium’s other offerings will also be available such as 12-oz bottles of its Fat Tire, Ranger, Citradelic, Heavy Melon, Rampant and Glutiny (gluten-reduced) brands. Fat Tire and Citradelic will also be available in can format.

It will begin shipping of Slow Ride Session IPA, 1554 Black Lager and Lips of Faith beers from August.

The company’s latest expansion into New York follows its recent announcement of expansion into New Jersey.

Separately, New Belgium Brewing has tied up with Indeed Brewing Company for Beers with Vrienden to develop a honey wheat wine, Come Together.