On A Roll

摘要

The brainchild of craft beer fan and Tampa native Joey Redner, Cigar City Brewing has only commercially produced beer since 2009, yet the fledging brewery already has garnered awards from the Great American Beer Festival and gained fans all over the country. Operating out of a 15 barrel brewhouse, Redner has a simple mission—to craft great beers with innovative ingredients—cigar box cedar planks, coffee beans and pasilla chiles, to name a few—and to share the history and culture of Tampa (hence the name Cigar City, which celebrates Tampa's heritage as a cigar producer). The brewery's year-round offerings Maduro Oatmeal Brown Ale and Jai Alai Pale Ale (the name pays tribute to the Spanish sport played with a curved mitt once popular in Tampa) as well as a number of seasonal offerings can be found in major cities in Florida but also have gained distribution in certain areas of New York City and Philadelphia. Starting with 1,000 barrels in its first year of operation, Cigar City Brewing is now on tap to produce between 7,500 to 9,000 barrels of its brews in 2011. It's still a very small operation, but one that's gaining a lot of buzz. Redner shared with Beverage World how the Cigar City team, including head brewer Wayne Wambles, is keeping things rolling along in Tampa.