When Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced that a military-themed brewery was coming to Norfolk’s Railroad District in July 2023, the state offered the company more than $300,000 in grants and tax breaks.
But Armed Forces Brewing Co., which closed its Norfolk taproom and production facility in March, never completed the grant process or received those funds, according to state agencies. And it’s unclear whether the brewery, which is facing debt and a lawsuit threat, used the tax breaks either.
The brewery arrived in Norfolk in 2023, attracting controversy with its aggressive, testosterone-fueled marketing and brand ambassador Robert O’Neill, the Navy SEAL who claimed to have killed Osama bin Laden…