New Realm to brew, distribute Bold Mariner’s Frogman Lager, CPO IPA

New Realm Brewing Co. will brew, distribute, sell and market Bold Mariner Brewing Company’s Frogman Lager and CPO IPA under a licensing agreement that gives the Norfolk beer names a wider runway just as Bold Mariner heads toward shutdown at the end of May.

The deal took effect Feb. 26, and New Realm said it will fold both beers into its existing production, logistics and distribution systems. For Bold Mariner, the arrangement is less a handoff than a continuity plan. The brewery’s founders, Michael and Kerrie Stacks, will remain involved in shaping the beers’ future and keeping an eye on quality and consistency, even as another brewery makes the beer.

That matters in craft beer because the liquid has to travel farther without losing its identity. Frogman Lager is one of Bold Mariner’s most decorated beers, with gold medals at the 2019 and 2024 Virginia Craft Beer Cup and a gold in the 2022 Australian International Beer Awards, plus a bronze there in 2024. The lager has already found drinkers far beyond Norfolk, including in Sweden, the U.K., the Middle East and Africa. The licensing model gives it a bigger platform without forcing Bold Mariner into a full physical expansion it no longer needs to chase.

Bold Mariner, founded by Kerrie and Michael Stacks in 2015, opened in November of that year after the couple worked with Old Dominion University’s Veterans Business Outreach Center. The company later moved to Ocean View and operated at 1901 East Ocean View Avenue, where the brewery became part taproom, part neighborhood anchor. Michael Stacks is described by the company as a Navy veteran and a third-generation U.S. Navy veteran, and Bold Mariner has said a portion of local beer sales supports the Navy SEAL Foundation while the brewery also organizes monthly beach cleanups.

New Realm already has a Virginia footprint, with locations in Suffolk and Virginia Beach, making the partnership a regional fit rather than a cold start. Jeremy Barnes, New Realm’s chief financial officer, framed the deal as a long-term bet on trusted brands and the health of craft beer in Virginia and across the Southeast. For Bold Mariner, the transition keeps Frogman Lager and CPO IPA in circulation while preserving the founders’ fingerprints on the beers that built the name.

New Realm will mark the handoff with an official beer release party and keg tapping on May 15 from 6 to 10 p.m., the first official pour under the new arrangement. In a craft market where a small brewery can disappear as quickly as a limited release, this kind of licensing deal offers a different ending: the beer stays, even if the brewhouse changes.