Palmetto Brewing shut down last week after 32 years and bid farewell to patrons and staff with a heartfelt thank you on social media.
“To all who raised a glass with us, brought their out-of-town guests, celebrated milestones, or simply sat at the bar to unwind after a long day, we thank you,” Palmetto wrote in a June 24 Facebook post announcing its last day.
“To all of our hard working employees past and present who have endured the hot struggle, you are the soul of this place and we thank you. We also want to thank everyone in our community for your continued support – through the ups and downs, the changing times, and most recently, the challenges that led us to this bitter outcome.”
In 2025, a craft brewery shutting down is not unusual, but the circumstances around Palmetto’s demise raise questions.
A driving factor behind the closure is $7.4 million in unpaid debt stemming from the brewery’s acquisition in 2021, the third since its 1993 founding.
North Carolina-based Catawba Valley Brewing acquired Palmetto in 2017. The two breweries were then acquired by Made By The Water (MBTW) in 2021.
A portfolio company backed by family office Wiregrass Equity Partners, MBTW has floundered since merging with New Orleans-based Faubourg Brewing (formerly Dixie Beer) in 2022, which shut down in 2024.
At the time of MBTW’s acquisition of Catawba Valley and Palmetto, the companies “personally and unconditionally guaranteed the payment of all indebtedness of borrow to lender,” which included a note for $6.9 million, which Catawba Valley lent MBTW to cover the sale, with the expectation it would be paid back in time, according to a Post & Courier report.
The debt has reached $7.394 million in principal, $21,056.49 in interest with a daily interest rate of $2,339.61, according to a writ of execution filed in Buncombe County Court.
After several extensions, MBTW made monthly payments from October 2023 through January 2025 totaling $820,542.19, according to a sworn affidavit from Catawba Valley president and co-founder Jetta Pyatt. The affidavit reveals that both parties had agreed MBTW’s confession of judgment “would not be put on record for so long as [MBTW] strictly complied with all the terms and conditions.”
Darin Phillips – listed as manager of four entities connected to MBTW: Catawba Palmetto LLC, Wiregrass Equity Partners, MBTW LLC and MBTW HQ LLC – signed a confession of judgment acknowledging the debt and terms in October 2023. It was filed to the Buncombe County General Court of Justice in April 2025, slightly more than a month after Pyatt’s affidavit.
MBTW has shuttered several taprooms and facilities, including its New Orleans production brewery and nearly all of Catawba Valley’s taprooms. When MBTW acquired Catawba Valley, it had six taprooms and five breweries. Today, it operates one taproom in Asheville, North Carolina.
The aftermath of MBTW’s decisions has been well-documented in local media. The Louisiana Illuminator weighed company claims about crime and utility outages at Faubourg’s New Orleans facility against reports from former workers. Mountain Xpress tracked job losses following the closure of Catawba Valley’s Morganton brewery. After closing its Charlotte taproom, MBTW said Catawba Valley would be relocating within the city, but never did, according to Queen City News.
A hearing for Catawba Valley’s motion for order in aid of execution is scheduled for July 20 in Buncombe County Court.
Last year, MBTW’s production declined 26%, to an estimated 18,675 barrels, down from its peak of 51,000 barrels in 2022, according to data in the Brewers Association’s May/June issue of the New Brewer magazine.
Requests for comment to MBTW and Catawba Valley were unreturned as of press time. Websites for both Wiregrass Equity Partners and MBTW are offline.