GRAND RAPIDS, MI — Founders Brewing Co has inked a distribution deal in the Lone Star State.

Starting April 8, Founders will begin distributing beers through Ben. E. Keith Beverage Distributors in Texas, marking the farthest westward craft beer drinkers can find brews from the Grand Rapids company.

Founders plans to include all of its year-round and seasonal ales as draft product in the first shipment for the April release. Bottled beers will be released in May, and specialty releases will be available following the release schedule from there.

“Texas is an up-and-coming market, and we’re impressed with what we’re seeing there,” stated company CEO Mike Stevens. “We’ve been getting more and more inquiries from Founders fans in Texas over the past couple of years.”

The brewery recently dipped a toe into the international market by signing a distribution deal to ship its Centennial IPA to Ontario, Canada.

Founders is also engaged in negotiations with distributors in Florida and Maryland, with Delaware, Tennessee and West Virginia previously eyed for 2013 expansion as well.

The brewery is in the midst of a $26 million expansion project at its Grand Rapids taproom and production facility. When it's complete, the new space should yield the brewery an additional 165,000-some barrels of annual production capacity, which would boost Founders’ total annual beer output to about 340,000 barrels per year.

Related: Expansion positions Founders for national impact

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