How a risky whiskey bankruptcy swiftly went sideways

Editor’s note: This is a developing story and will be updated periodically with new information. If you have tips about what’s going on at Uncle Nearest, please get in touch by emailing me ([email protected]) or texting me on Signal (dinfontay.11). Anonymity available.—Dave.

Last Wednesday night, Uncle Nearest cofounder Fawn Weaver appeared on an episode of ABC’s business propaganda hour Shark Tank and “invested” $125,000 in a beer brand called Beer Girl. Brewbound managing editor and apparent masochist Justin Kendall watched the show, reporting Friday morning that (emphasis mine throughout):

If Weaver did indeed sign a contract to buy 20% of Beer Girl for $125,000, hopefully it has already cashed the check. After all: not only has Uncle Nearest been very publicly collapsing under the weight of ~$108 million in defaulted loans for much of the past year, but less than 24 hours after the Shark Tank episode aired, a bankruptcy judge dismissed Weaver’s Hail Mary Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. Below, I’ve got some notes, updates, and reporting odds-‘n-ends, picking up from where things left off last Wednesday—when Fingers last covered this situation.

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