New Belgium expanding distribution to New York

FORT COLLINS — New Belgium Brewing will expand into New York in May, bringing the Fort Collins-based craft beermaker’s products into a 44th state.

The company has signed agreements with 14 wholesalers for distribution throughout the Empire State, including eight Anheuser-Busch distributors: Try-It Distributing Inc., A. Cappione Inc., Eagle Beverage, Sanzo Beverage Co., Arthur R. Gren Co. Inc., Tri Valley Beverage, Lake Beverage Corp., and Rocco J. Testani Inc. The pacts also include two independent distributors — T.J. Sheehan Distributing Inc. and Craft Beer Guild Distributing of New York LLC — and four that distribute Miller and Miller-Coors products: John G. Ryan Inc., Manhattan Beer Distributors LLC, DeCrescente Distributing Co. and McCadam Distributing.

“New York is a big one for us,” said Rich Rush, New Belgium’s Northeast and Canada division sales director, in a prepared statement. “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.”

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The move means New York City area consumers will be able to buy New Belgium beers on both sides of the Hudson River, since the company began distribution in New Jersey this month. Connecticut will come online later this year, said New Belgium spokesman Bryan Simpson.

New Belgium waited until it had sufficient brewing capacity to enter that market, he said, but now can do it thanks to expansion of its brewery in Asheville, N.C. That facility now can produce a half-million barrels annually, he said, compared with 1 million barrels in Fort Collins.

New Belgium’s beers also are available in the District of Columbia and parts of Canada and Sweden.

Other states not yet in the New Belgium pipeline include Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Oklahoma.