Sycamore Brewing rebrands as Club West after owner’s rape charges

A rape arrest against Sycamore Brewing co-owner Justin Tawse Brigham turned the Charlotte brewery into a crisis-management case study almost overnight. Grocery chains pulled the beer, bar accounts broke ties, and the company started stripping the Sycamore name from its South End footprint.

Brigham, 44, was arrested Dec. 11, 2025 in Stanly County and charged with first-degree burglary, statutory rape of a child and indecent liberties with a child. Court reporting later said he also faced additional felony charges and that his bond climbed to more than $11 million. Local reporting said Stanly County deputies found the victim’s parents had discovered Brigham in the girl’s bedroom, and officers later found him undressed in a nearby vehicle. Deputies also executed a search warrant at his home in south Charlotte.

The business fallout followed fast. Sycamore said its South End taproom would close Jan. 5, 2026, with Sarah Taylor saying the shutdown was meant “to allow space for processing, healing and beginning the work of reimagining this community space.” Taylor also reportedly began divorce proceedings after Brigham’s arrest. For a brewery whose identity had been closely tied to its founders, the scandal immediately put packaging, tap lists and retailer confidence under pressure.

At least three major grocery chains, Food Lion, Lowes Foods and Publix, said they would stop carrying Sycamore Brewing products. Several Charlotte accounts also severed ties, including Bargarita, 204 North Kitchen and Cocktails, and Hoppin’ Charlotte. For a regional brewery, that kind of reaction meant more than bad headlines. It meant beer already in circulation had to survive a retail reset, while the brand itself was suddenly unwelcome in the very accounts that had helped build its reach.

By January and February 2026, the company was moving toward a formal rebrand. It filed to change its LLC name to Club West Brewing and submitted city permit paperwork for new LED signage at 2151 Hawkins St. in South End reading “Club West.” By March, local reporting said the brewery had officially rebranded as Club West Brewing and was preparing to reopen under new ownership, with Taylor selling the business to director of operations Brad Bergman. The planned move to Cotswold Shopping Center was also scrubbed after the lease was terminated.

What began as a legal crisis ended as a branding purge, with Sycamore’s name disappearing from the taproom, the paperwork and the street-facing sign. In Charlotte beer, that kind of reset is rarely just cosmetic.