Magnanimous Shutters Taproom to Make Way for Sun Lab
Tampa, Florida-based Magnanimous Brewing will vacate its Bradenton taproom on June 30, and Sun Lab Brewing will move in on July 1, marking the brand’s first brick-and-mortar location.
Magnanimous wrote on social media: “Though we have had a great time in Bradenton and made some fond memories, the time has come for a new addition to the Bradenton community.”
Sun Lab will mark the Bradenton taproom’s third brewery occupant. Magnanimous acquired the location from Darwin Brewing in 2021 and opened in 2022.
In February 2024, Magnanimous opened a taproom in Tampa’s Seminole Heights neighborhood, which was a former 7venth Sun location. The brewery also occupies a taproom in Tampa Heights.
In 2023, Magnanimous produced 3,000 barrels of beer, according to the May/June issue of the Brewers Association’s (BA) New Brewer Magazine.
Sun Lab co-founders Keith Fekete and Sam Kayata have operated the business for several years as a contract brand without an official home.
Combined, they have more than two decades of experience in craft beer, according to Sun Lab’s website. Fekete spent nine of his 14 years in the industry as sales director of Elmsford, New York-based Captain Lawrence Brewing. Kayata has brewed professionally for eight years, and was most recently head brewer at Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey-based Carton Brewing.
Big Storm Shutters Orlando Taproom
Clearwater, Florida-based Big Storm Brewing closed its taproom at Orlando’s Kia Center earlier this month, bringing the former multi-taproom operator to one location, according to the Orlando Business Journal.
The brewery announced it had signed a 10-year lease for the taproom, inside the home of the NBA’s Orlando Magic, in 2020.
Big Storm’s Ybor City location ceased operations on June 16 amid a lawsuit for $387,770.82 in unpaid rent from its landlord.
In addition to that lawsuit, Big Storm is a defendant in a lawsuit from an investor, who is accusing brewery owner L.J. Govoni of embezzlement and money laundering. Govoni has denied the allegations.
DC’s Atlas Brew Works Opens Alexandria Location
Washington, D.C.-based Atlas Brew Works opened a new taproom in Alexandria, Virginia, last week.
The new spot is Atlas’ third and is located within multi-use retail and residential development Carlyle Crossing.
Atlas opened in 2013 and produced 6,574 barrels of beer in 2023, an increase of +1% compared to 2022, according to the BA. The brewery’s output declined -33% in 2020 amid the on-premise closures of the COVID-19 pandemic, but has since rebounded, with +31% and +33% growth in 2021 and 2022, respectively.