Joey Redner is a Tampa Native and a self professed “Beer Geek” who loves this city and loves beer, good beer. He wanted to create easier access to craft beer in Florida and he has not only achieved that goal but has turned Cigar City into the 5th most popular craft beer in the county. Joey didn’t originally set out to open his own brewery but he owned bar and loved beer so he started to educate himself in the early 2000’s about the industry and the science behind brewing great beer. He also wrote a beer column for the Tampa Bay Times and for several years he waited for a new brewery to open but nothing happened. He decided to write an opinion piece about why there wasn’t a major craft brewery in the area and after answering all of his own questions on paper, he realized he had a business plan. In 2008 Joey started Cigar City with two things in mind, to "make the world's best beer" and "to share with people near and far the fascinating culture and heritage of the Cigar City of Tampa." Starting in a warehouse near the airport he has grown from 6000 square feet to 32,000 square feet, which was promptly outgrown and they are now taking on an additional facility. He has taken the company from an idea to just under $10M in revenue last year and grown to 66 employees. This is all while giving back to the com is a true hometown success story and there is more to come.