Urban Chestnut Brewing is a defendant in two lawsuits from lenders claiming the St. Louis, Missouri-based brewery owes them nearly half a million dollars.
Both loans were made in 2013 – one for $50,000 from Lester Nydegger and the other for $100,000 from David Luetkemeyer and Pensco Trust Company. The lawsuits were filed in St. Louis County Circuit Court in May.
Nydegger is seeking $330,680.33 in payment, which includes the $50,000 original loan, $242,500 in late fees and $38,138.33 in unpaid interest, according to his complaint, which was brought against Urban Chestnut co-founders David Wolfe and Florian Kuplent on May 30.
Nydegger’s loan terms dictated annual payments on August 4 with an 8% interest rate beginning in 2014. The payment schedule called for interest-only payments of $4,000 for the first five years of the loan, with principal payments beginning at $6,250 in Years 6-9 and increasing to $25,000 in Year 10, according to the complaint. Annual interest payments were $4,000 for the first six years, and declined by $500 each year, reaching $2,000 in Year 10.
Urban Chestnut’s first payment in 2014 was 35 days late; the brewery made payments on time or early in 2015 and 2016, according to the complaint. A payment of $3,000 in late fees was made in 2016. No other payments were made.
The loan matured on July 30, 2023. Nydegger has accused Wolfe and Kuplent of breach of contract and unjust enrichment.
Luetkemeyer’s loan was also disbursed in 2013 with similar terms, including 8% interest. Annual payments were due on October 1, beginning with $8,000 interest-only payments for the first five years. Principal payments were prescribed for Years 6-9 at $12,500, culminating in $50,000 in Year 10. Interest declined by $1,000 annually beginning in Year 6, with $4,000 in interest due in the last year.
Urban Chestnut made $8,000 interest-only payments in 2012 and 2015 and “thereafter, the defendant failed to make any of the payments due under the note,” according to the complaint. The loan matured on October 1, 2023.
Luetkemeyer and Pensco Trust have accused Urban Chestnut of two counts of breach of contract and one count of fraudulent inducement, stemming from a conversation between Luetkemeyer and Wolfe in October 2023 in which Wolfe allegedly told the lender “he had nothing to worry about” and Wolfe “would honor the personal guaranty.”
Luetkemeyer is seeking a judgment against Urban Chestnut that affirms Wolfe’s claims “were fraudulent,” as well as damages in the amount of the $100,000 loan, “plus all accrued interest, late fees and costs,” and “reasonable attorney’s fees.”
Urban Chestnut’s output declined -24% in 2023, to 14,405 barrels of beer, according to the Brewers Association’s (BA) May/June issue of New Brewer Magazine. The brewery’s volume peaked at 22,500 barrels in 2019, according to BA data.
The company operates two locations in St. Louis – The Grove Bierhall and The Midtown Biergarten – as well as a brewery in Wolnzach in southern Germany’s Hallertau region.