Popular Sarasota brewery hit with $4.6M in lawsuits from its lenders

A popular Sarasota brewery, restaurant and live music venue faces lawsuits from lenders alleging more than $4.6 million in unpaid loans.

A popular Sarasota brewery is facing lawsuits from multiple lenders over claims of more than $4.6 million in unpaid loans.
The brewery alleges in a counterclaim that one lender overcharged it by requiring interest payments on undisbursed construction funds.
Despite the pending litigation, all three of the brewery’s locations have remained open for business.

Sarasota’s Big Top Brewing is being sued by multiple lenders claiming that the popular brewery owes more than $4.6 million in unpaid loans, according to court records.

In separate lawsuits filed in Sarasota County Circuit Court, at least two lenders are claiming that the Sarasota brewery, its owners and an affiliated liability company defaulted on loan agreements by failing to make timely payments. The Sarasota brewery, which has three locations in Sarasota and Manatee counties, allegedly owes more than $4 million to Berkeley Alternative Income Fund and an additional more than $600,000 to SouthState Bank, according to the lawsuits.

Big Top alleges in a counterclaim against one of the lenders that it was overcharged, contending that it “sets off any claim of default for failure to pay on the loan.”

‘Our small business has been navigating a legal disagreement,’ owner says

Sarasota-based attorney Jim Burgess, who is representing Big Top Brewing and its owners, confirmed there are discussions to possibly resolve the lawsuits, but could not comment further. He also confirmed all three Big Top Brewing locations have been able to continue to do business amid the pending litigation.

Burgess noted that some of the other lawsuits against his clients stemmed from Berkeley overcharging on the construction loan, leaving his clients short of $500,000 which they needed to seek from other lenders.

Mike Bisaha, who opened Big Top Brewing with Seth Murauskas and Josh Wilson, sent a statement to the Herald-Tribune when reached for comment regarding the legal situation.

“Our small business has been navigating a legal disagreement with our lender for some time. Like many small businesses, challenges like this can have a ripple effect as we work through the process,” the statement reads. “We appreciate the understanding and support from our community while the matter is being reviewed by the court and relevant agencies.”

“We’re optimistic that a resolution is near, and we look forward to getting back to what we love most — serving our guests and supporting our team.”

Big Top Brewing disputes $4 million loan, citing excess interest and construction delays

Court records indicate that Big Top Brewing and Berkeley Alternative Income Fund, a Mississippi-based limited liability company, entered into a loan agreement on Sept. 30, 2021, for $4,036,000. The lawsuit claims that Big Top Brewing failed to make timely payments on the loan and that in January 2025, the lender provided notice of the default due to non-payment and called for the business to pay the loan back in its entirety.

Berkeley is suing Big Top Brewing, its owners and the affiliated limited liability company Sixty Seven Fifty Ventures LLC, for breach of contract and foreclosure on mortgage, among other claims.

In a counter-complaint filed on Oct. 6, Big Top Brewing states that the money was part of a loan package used for constructing the brewery and restaurant at the Fruitville Commons location, which opened in 2024 seating nearly 700 people, with 200 inside and 500 outside in the 28,000-square-foot beer garden. It also notes that the promissory note was for an initial one year period with a 9% interest rate.

The counter-complaint states that Big Top used only a portion of the construction loan, approximately $1.4 million, in November 2021 to purchase the property at 3045 Fruitville Commons Blvd. where the brewery was built. Then, due to Covid and other construction issues, they didn’t use any more of the loan until March 15, 2023.

However, the counter-complaint alleges the owners of the brewery were still required to make monthly payments of $30,400 in interest on the total loan amount, instead of the $1.4 million that was withdrawn. Burgess noted that the remaining more than $3.6 million was still in Berkeley’s possession.

“In short, Plaintiff required Sixty Seven to pay interest on undisbursed construction funds that Plaintiff had in its possession which resulted in an interest rate of approximately thirty percent (30%),” the counter-complaint states.

Big Top claims they overpaid more than $500,000 to the lender

Big Top claims that because of this they overpaid more than $500,000 to the lender which caused the depletion of funds available for construction and paying other expenses. That in turn led to them having to borrow other funds to finish the building and pay creditors, and caused them to lose revenue since the business couldn’t open sooner.

Sarasota-based attorney Steven Hutton, who is representing Berkeley, said in a phone call that the Big Top Brewing Company had plenty of time to raise concerns regarding being “overcharged.” He pointed out that after the original promissory note, Big Top’s owners signed four referral notes extending time to make payments and a deferral agreement, effectively waiving their counterclaims against Berkeley.

Hutton added that Berkeley isn’t a bank, so once the loan was closed, the $4 million was set aside for Big Top Brewing to use and not retained by Berkeley.

Hutton confirmed that Berkeley will file answers to the counterclaim in the next few days and a motion for summary judgment following that. He expects a hearing will most likely take place in early January 2026.

In another legal complaint filed by SouthState Bank filed in December 2024, the bank claims Big Top owes it $600,000 on a 2018 loan. The bank states that Big Top failed to make a timely monthly payment that was due in January 2024, as well as all subsequent payments.

The lawsuit states that SouthState Bank, which was formerly known as CenterState Bank, loaned the brewery owners $1,016,0000 under the agreement that Big Top would make timely monthly principal and interest payments. They state they sent a notice letter to Big Top in May 2024 about the default on the loan and demanded that they pay all past-due amounts within two weeks of the notice.

When Big Top failed to make the payment, SouthState and the defendants entered into a forbearance agreement, with the conditions that Big Top Brewing would make payments on time. However, the bank then sent another notice in December 2024 after Big Top failed to make a payment, with the letter demanding all payments due by Dec. 12, 2024.

The bank filed the lawsuit against the brewery on Dec. 18, 2024, claiming that they are owed more than $647,000 for the principal loan amount, interest, late fees and miscellaneous fees.

Court records indicate that at a September hearing, attorneys for both indicated they would resolve the issue within 30 days.

Gabriela Szymanowska covers the criminal justice, courts and legal system for the Herald-Tribune. Reach out with a news tip to [email protected]. Support local journalism by subscribing.

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