According to recent posts on social media, Big Storm Brewing Co. (Facebook | Website) has announced that it will be closing it downtown Orlando taproom location effective immediately.
The award-winning craft brewery, with locations in Pasco, Clearwater, and Cape Coral, signed a lease in the Amway Center back in June 2020 and opened in April 2021. Big Storm made the announcement on Saturday, June 15, sharing that it would be closing in just two days.
A reason for the closure wasn’t shared publicly, though the brewery’s location in Ybor City was evicted this same month for allegedly owing nearly $400,000 in rent. It closed on June 16. Big Storm’s location in Odessa was evicted in May, for the same reason.
The brewery’s owner, L.J. Govoni, is the son of Leo Govonoi, who recently came under fire from Florida’s Attorney General for allegedly siphoning an estimated $100 million from a charity trust meant to help disabled people, according to a recent report by WFLA Tampa. The same report alleges that the brewery was founded to “help launder and embezzle money taken from the trust,” though L.J. Govoni has not been named in the Attorney General’s complaint.
Wow, that story really took a turn!
It’s a shame that the Big Storm Orlando employees had to break the news. The main location in Clearwater has yet to acknowledge the closing. Absolutely shameful behavior.