Cigar City Brewing to make beer at pub in Tampa International Airport
A month ago, Cigar City Brewing announced that it would be opening a pub in Airside C of Tampa International Airport.
A recent story in the Tampa Bay Business Journal revealed a new twist to that news: The award-winning Tampa craft brewery will be making beer at the airport as well.
According to the story, brewery owner Joey Redner plans to install one or two brewing barrels in the leased space in the terminal that serves AirTran, Frontier and Southwest airlines.
The first beer brewed there is expected to be served in March 2012, the story said.
This is certainly good news for craft beer-loving travelers flying in and out of the popular Florida airport on those airlines, and should make a long layover or delays much more enjoyable.
Cigar City is in the midst of expanding its brewing space and installing a canning line at its facilities in Tampa.
This has been tried before. Shipyard Brewing used to operate a brewpub inside security at the Orlando airport but closed it when the brewery decided the hassle of bringing the raw materials through airport security wasn’t worth the effort compared with bringing kegs of the finished product past TSA instead.
That’s true, Gregg, but the Shipyard brewpub existed in what essentially was a different era. I hope that the CCB brewpub will see more success.
I agree. A different era as in pre-9/11. Will Cigar City’s place at Tampa’s airport be inside or outside security?
That is true, but I meant a different era as in the popularity and prevalence of craft beer. The CCB brewpub will be in Airside C, which would be past the security line. However, I would think that arrangements will be made to expedite the delivery of raw materials.