USA, FL: Big Top Brewing Company closing one of its Sarasota locations

After opening an expansive new facility last year, and amid pending litigation, Sarasota brewery Big Top Brewing Company has announced it's closing one of its other locations, the Herald Tribune reported on October 29.

This is the final week Big Top Brewers Collective is open at its 2507 Lakewood Ranch Blvd. location, with its "last official day" Thursday, Oct. 30, according to a social media post by the business. Big Top has two other locations currently open in Sarasota: the one opened last year in Fruitville Commons featuring a restaurant, full bar and beer garden, and Big Top Live on Cattlemen Road, which — as its name suggests — regularly hosts live concerts.

Before Big Top, the 2507 Lakewood Ranch Blvd. location housed Naughty Monk Brewery, which opened in 2016 and specialized in Belgian-style beers. Then in 2021, Big Top took over the Naughty Monk space and renamed it Big Top Brewers Collective, along with transforming the craft beer bar Cock & Bull into what is now known as Big Top Live and closing Big Top's original location at 6111 Porter Way.

Big Top also used to have two locations outside of Sarasota-Manatee in Gainesville and Pensacola, but both have since closed.

Big Top is being sued by two of its lenders for more than $4.6 million in alleged unpaid loans. Berkeley Alternative Income Fund, a Mississippi-based limited liability company, claims the brewery defaulted on a $4 million construction loan, while SouthState Bank is seeking repayment of more than $600,000 from a separate 2018 loan.

In a counterclaim, Big Top argues it was overcharged interest on unused loan funds, leading to financial strain and delays in opening its Fruitville Commons location. An attorney for Berkeley Alternative Income Fund disputes this claim, saying Big Top waived its claims through deferral agreements. Legal proceedings are ongoing in the Sarasota County Circuit Court.