Independence Days

The ex-lawyer developed a taste for fine brews during college, when he spent a summer backpacking around Europe and raising a few pints along the way. His taste buds fully awakened, he said goodbye to Budweiser and hello to mashing, fermenting, sparging and all of the other intricacies of home-brewing. “That's when my love for beer started,” Bailey says.

In 2011, Bailey crossed paths with Casey Hughes, a skilled brewer with experience at breweries in Key West and New Jersey. They came up with a plan to launch a craft brewery in the heart of Tampa's Ybor City, and in 2012, Coppertail Brewing Co. was born. “Once Casey came onboard, it really took off,” Bailey says. “I knew I had the commercial know-how to succeed.”

That confidence has come to fruition: The partners recently quadrupled the brewery's production capabilities and are seeing healthy revenue growth. In 2014, Coppertail's first official year in business, Bailey, 42, and Hughes, 38, sold some 800 barrels beer and generated about $1 million in revenue. By the end of 2017, Bailey estimates Coppertail will have sold about 13,000 barrels and generated $3 million to $5 million in revenue. The brewery can produce between 15,000 and 20,000 barrels per year right now, but that number will jump to 70,000 when the expansion underway is complete.