A version of the following article appeared in the June 15, 2026, edition of The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with local business-y news and insights for Charlotte, N.C.
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Club West Brewing fined $500 for failing to file financial reports
Club West Brewing, which was formerly known as Sycamore Brewing, reopened in March along the Charlotte Rail Trail. (Ledger file photo by Ava Mikeal)
by Tony Mecia
New South End brewery Club West has agreed to pay a $500 fine to the N.C. ABC Commission to settle charges that its predecessor company failed to file required financial reports.
According to documents from the ABC Commission obtained by The Charlotte Ledger, state ABC auditors notified Club West on Feb. 23 that it had not filed its state financial and inventory reports for 2025 and needed to file them by March 6 to avoid penalties.
The documents show that Club West did not file the forms by March 6, so state regulators charged the brewery with a civil violation. In May, the brewery agreed to settle the charges for $500, and the ABC Commission signed off on the settlement last week.
In fairness, the beginning of 2026 was probably a busy time at the brewery, which was formerly known as Sycamore Brewing. Sycamore was Charlotte’s largest brewer by volume until December, when co-founder Justin Brigham was charged with sex offenses involving a 13-year-old girl, and the company’s business dried up almost overnight when the charges became public. Patrons stayed away from its South End taproom, and retailers stopped carrying its beers.
In March, the Sycamore taproom reopened under a new name — Club West Brewing — and Brigham’s wife and co-founder said the brewery had been sold to the company’s director of brewery operations, Brad Bergman.
Bergman has not replied to messages from The Ledger in recent weeks, and he did not reply to an email asking about the fine.