LinearLayout bottomSheetViewgroup = (LinearLayout) findViewById(R.id.bottomSheet);

bottomSheetBehavior = BottomSheetBehavior.from(bottomSheetViewgroup);

bottomSheetBehavior.setState(BottomSheetBehavior.STATE_EXPANDED); //this line

package uk.ac.qub.quibe.misc;

import android.content.Context;
import android.support.design.widget.CoordinatorLayout;
import android.util.AttributeSet;
import android.view.View;

/**
 * Created by mcp on 15/03/16.
 */
public class ExpandedBottomSheetBehavior<V extends View> extends android.support.design.widget.BottomSheetBehavior<V> {

    public ExpandedBottomSheetBehavior(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
        super(context, attrs);
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onLayoutChild(final CoordinatorLayout parent, final V child, final int layoutDirection) {
        SavedState dummySavedState = new SavedState(super.onSaveInstanceState(parent, child), STATE_EXPANDED);
        super.onRestoreInstanceState(parent, child, dummySavedState);
        return super.onLayoutChild(parent, child, layoutDirection);
        /*
            Unfortunately its not good enough to just call setState(STATE_EXPANDED); after super.onLayoutChild
            The reason is that an animation plays after calling setState. This can cause some graphical issues with other layouts
            Instead we need to use setInternalState, however this is a private method.
            The trick is to utilise onRestoreInstance to call setInternalState immediately and indirectly
         */
    }

}

app:layout_behavior="android.support.design.widget.BottomSheetBehavior"

app:layout_behavior="uk.ac.qub.quibe.misc.ExpandedBottomSheetBehavior"

public class ExpandedBottomSheetBehavior<V extends View> extends
    android.support.design.widget.BottomSheetBehavior<V> {

  public ExpandedBottomSheetBehavior(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
    super(context, attrs);
}

  @Override
  public boolean onLayoutChild(final CoordinatorLayout parent, final V child, final int layoutDirection) {
    return super.onLayoutChild(parent, child, layoutDirection);
  }

  @Override
  public boolean onInterceptTouchEvent(CoordinatorLayout parent, V child, MotionEvent event) {
    try {
      return super.onInterceptTouchEvent(parent, child, event);
    } catch (NullPointerException ignored) {
      return false;
    }
  }
}

final View bottomSheet = findViewById(R.id.bottom_sheet);
bottomSheet.getViewTreeObserver().addOnGlobalLayoutListener(new ViewTreeObserver.OnGlobalLayoutListener() {
        @Override
        public void onGlobalLayout() {
            bottomSheet.getViewTreeObserver().removeOnGlobalLayoutListener(this);
            bottomSheetBehavior = BottomSheetBehavior.from(bottomSheet);
            bottomSheetBehavior.setPeekHeight(300);
            bottomSheetBehavior.setState(BottomSheetBehavior.STATE_COLLAPSED);
        }
    });