Big Storm Brewing Co. has purchased the assets of Darwin Brewing Co. in Bradenton, Florida.
The Clearwater, Florida-based craft brewery announced the acquisition today of Darwin, which produced around 2,400 barrels of beer in 2020.
“Darwin Brewing Co. has a solid reputation for brewing the highest quality beers with an eye towards innovation and food pairs,” Big Storm co-owner L.J. Govoni said in a press release. “We are excited to grow this hyper-local brand throughout Florida.”
Darwin was founded in 2012 within a Latin American gastropub called Darwin’s on 4th, which later shuttered in 2015. In 2013, the brewery expanded operations a year later with the addition of a 15-barrel brewing system. However, within the last year, Darwin ceased operations.
In the announcement, Govoni signaled that Big Storm would be looking to create a brewpub experience for Darwin, saying the company would spend the next year searching for a “new home” that would “allow the brand to find some of its original roots regarding a culinary experience.”
As for Big Storm, the company opened a brewpub at the Amway Center in downtown Orlando in November. Next year, the company will open a 11,000 sq. ft. taproom and restaurant in a former Hamburger Mary’s restaurant in Ybor City — Big Storm’s fifth taproom location in Florida. Big Storm also operates locations in Clearwater, Odessa and Cape Coral.
Big Storm, which was founded in 20212, sells beer in four states outside of Florida: Ohio, New Jersey, North Carolina and Texas.
This isn’t the first time that Big Storm has acquired craft beer brands. In 2017, the brewery’s parent company, Seaboard Craft Beer Holdings, acquired Cape Coral Brewing and Fat Point Brewing.
In February 2020, Big Storm took a minority stake in Blood Brothers Bloody Mary Mix, a Clearwater-based brand founded in 2015.
Seaboard received a $2.5 million term loan in October 2020 from Briar Capital Real Estate Fund, according to ABLAdvisor and reported by Beer Marketer’s Insights.