NoFo Brew Co. names Shannon Miles CEO after planned founder exit

NoFo Brew Co. said co-founder Joe Garcia will exit the company at the end of September after seven years as CEO, and co-founder Shannon Miles will take over the top job. For drinkers, this looks more like a managed handoff than a shake-up: the founding group stays in place while NoFo moves through a period of growth that already includes three taprooms, wider distribution and an expanded North Georgia footprint.

The company was founded in 2019 by Joe Garcia, Shannon Miles and Bryan Miles in North Forsyth County, Georgia, which is where the NoFo name comes from. Since then, NoFo has grown from that original location into taprooms in Cumming, Gainesville and Cleveland, with distribution in Georgia, Tennessee and Florida, plus partnerships in the United Kingdom and Ireland. That kind of spread makes the CEO switch matter beyond the office, because the person steering the brand helps shape beer releases, taproom priorities and how aggressively the company pushes into new markets.

NoFo’s growth has not been limited to new accounts and new taps. In April 2023, the company acquired Tantrum Brewing’s land, building and assets in Cleveland, at 1939 Helen Highway, and said the deal was the first time an independent craft brewery in Georgia acquired another independent craft brewery in Georgia. NoFo said the purchase would expand production capacity, taproom operations and event offerings, which gave the Cleveland site a bigger role in the company’s plans.

The timing also follows a run of positive signals. In June 2025, NoFo said readers of James Magazine voted it Georgia’s No. 1 brewery. In January 2026, the company announced a distribution partnership with Savannah Distributing, saying the deal would strengthen its footprint across Georgia. Taken together, those moves suggest Miles inherits a brand that is already operating well beyond its original North Forsyth base and is trying to keep that momentum intact.

Garcia’s departure at the end of September gives NoFo a clean runway to complete the transition without the kind of abrupt reset that can unsettle a brewery’s regulars. The real test now is whether Miles can keep the founding culture steady while pushing the company’s next phase in markets that already stretch from Cleveland to Florida, and from a Georgia taproom crowd to overseas partners.