Trucking Company Says North Carolina Brewery Owes Over 100K And Won’t Pay Up

A trucking company says that they have been trying to get paid by Catawba Brewing For months and getting nowhere. The trucking company says the North Carolina Brewery owes over 100K and won't pay up.

The owner of Topline Trucking Rickey McKinney said he now wonders if his money will ever be recovered. He has been fighting this for months and getting nowhere.

According to WLOS-TV, Rick McKinney said Topline began doing business with Catawba about a year ago, and when Made By The Water bought out Catawba, they continued their contracts. But they stopped paying. Topline continued nb the promise of getting paid.

“They kept promising to pay us, and then eventually, they walked into the Morganton location and just shut it down overnight,” he said, of Catawba Brewing's Morganton site.

Now Rick is frustrated. Catawba Brewery followed up on its Morganton closing by shutting down the Charlotte and Wilmington locations.

Rick McKinney says the unpaid bill is affecting his business and his employees' livelihood.

WLOS-TV says they contacted Catawba Brewery and received this response. “On behalf of Catawba Brewing Company, I was told that there are disputes on the Topline bills that have not been resolved between the parties, which is why it remains outstanding."

Beer is big business in North Carolina. According to Business North Carolina, the Tar Heel State has the tenth most craft breweries in the United States, based on 2021 data. With 364 craft breweries, North Carolina is only one behind Ohio. California has the most, by far, with 931.

Asheville has long been thought of as the beer capital of North Carolina, but that may not be entirely accurate. When ranking the state's craft breweries by self-reported barrels of beer produced in 2021, Charlotte has more in the top ten than any other city. You can see the list below.