Cigar City - Hunahpu day 2013

[emmdubb23]

Can't wait til morning, not gonna stay all day though...

 

[aiptasia]

Look for the three gallon portable kegerator towards the beginning of the line and come introduce yourself.

That line at pegs was insane. We got there @ 12 and took one look at the line and bailed.

 

[TBBrewer]

That line at pegs was insane. We got there @ 12 and took one look at the line and bailed.

You should have stayed. It was well worth it and everybody got to enjoy some great brews!

 

[TBBrewer]

And the fun has begun! They had to let everybody in early as the line was so long it was blocking home depot parking lot and the cops were gonna shut it down. Good start to a great fest!

 

[TBBrewer]

We are sitting under the silos in the back right in the truck loading dock. Come say hello if you are a hbt member and lets share some brews. Cheers!

 

[TBBrewer]

Sp and mk, I look forward to hanging again. Had a blast thanks for being good people all around. Look forward to a future brew day.

 

[sfrisby]

Sp and mk, I look forward to hanging again. Had a blast thanks for being good people all around. Look forward to a future brew day.

It was a great weekend. Glad to have made some new friends and trading partners. Thanks!

 

[sfrisby]

That line at pegs was insane. We got there @ 12 and took one look at the line and bailed.

It was nuts. But by 2 there was no line to get it OR the bar-and they still had ton of great beer. That's my plan next year.

 

[masskrug]

"Hunahpu's Imperial Stout is $20 per bottle."

WOW! Is it that good?

 

[sfrisby]

"Hunahpu's Imperial Stout is $20 per bottle."

WOW! Is it that good?

Not in my opinion. However, someone cracked open a bottle from last year and the chili really subsided. I liked that a lot more.

 

[DiplomaticImmunity]

It was a great weekend. Glad to have made some new friends and trading partners. Thanks!

Agreed. I think the most enjoyable part is meeting, discussing, and drinking with random craft beer enthusiasts from all over the over the U.S. and the world. Always fun to chat up the homebrewers and see what they are pouring. I spoke with folks who came in from Vegas, Chicago, Mississippi, and heard rumors of someone who came in from Finland.

Lots of great craft beers on tap. Lovely to see a lot of offerings from TFB on draft, a rarity for these parts. I didn't stick around to wait for the 2011 Dark Lord to be tapped; I had forgotten how strong the FL sun is, even in March when the temperature is in the low 70s. They could organize it better, though, and should if the event will continue to grow in popularity -- there is no real advantage to camping out or arriving early. If you are in the right place at the right time when the three distribution points open, it negates any advantage one may have from arriving early. Numbering the wristbands, etc. could alleviate this. I wish they also would have had individual Tocobaga cans available for sale rather than the run-of-the-mill Florida Cracker wit...

The beer itself is pretty stellar, lots of complex layers of flavor....and this coming from a guy who doesn't gravitate toward imperial stouts. It's a beer that practically begs for a cigar. $20 a bottle seems reasonable, given the high level of craftsmanship. I can't say I am shocked it is already fetching a pretty penny on ebay; personally, I wouldn't pay those kinds of prices, but somewhere, someone is always willing to...

 

[Tamarlane]

Awesome event, didn't even buy any of the draft offerings just hung out and drank homebrew all day. Spoke to lots of great beer fans while serving for my club. Kudos to all the homebrew clubs, lots of great beers to sample, kept flowing all day. Special props to WTF who were the last club standing.

 

[aiptasia]

You should have stayed. It was well worth it and everybody got to enjoy some great brews!

We couldn't. There were five of us and none of us had eaten breakfast we left so early Friday. We were absolutely chomping at the bit for some grub and figured we'd have at least an hour long wait in the Peg's line. We did get to try some of the rare DOS at Hunapu from all of the bottle sharing.

And the fun has begun! They had to let everybody in early as the line was so long it was blocking home depot parking lot and the cops were gonna shut it down. Good start to a great fest!

Some of the gang I went with were paranoid we wouldn't get our three bottle armbands, so we headed down there from the HoJo at 2:30 am. The first bottle popped open and 3:00 am. By five, the line was into the home depot lot and that cop that roared up to the front of the line was a complete A$$hat. He almost mowed down two people that had to leap out of his path when he roared into the gate area.

Agreed. I think the most enjoyable part is meeting, discussing, and drinking with random craft beer enthusiasts from all over the over the U.S. and the world. Always fun to chat up the homebrewers and see what they are pouring. I spoke with folks who came in from Vegas, Chicago, Mississippi, and heard rumors of someone who came in from Finland.

We were in line with a guy from Las Vegas. Wonder if it was the same guy. We also sat next to a guy from Chicago that had two cases of zombie dust and a case of long stem three floyds tulip glasses. Since we get no 3F here in FL, I was able to get a six pack from him for $10, which I thought wasn't really gouging considering the distance he drove. The rest of my crew bought him out on the balance of his ZD.

Lots of great craft beers on tap. Lovely to see a lot of offerings from TFB on draft, a rarity for these parts. I didn't stick around to wait for the 2011 Dark Lord to be tapped; I had forgotten how strong the FL sun is, even in March when the temperature is in the low 70s. They could organize it better, though, and should if the event will continue to grow in popularity -- there is no real advantage to camping out or arriving early. If you are in the right place at the right time when the three distribution points open, it negates any advantage one may have from arriving early. Numbering the wristbands, etc. could alleviate this. I wish they also would have had individual Tocobaga cans available for sale rather than the run-of-the-mill Florida Cracker wit...

Some friends of ours from Tampa had little whiteboards and wrote "Florida Cracker Wanted" and "Maduro or Bust!" on them. They were also the only ones sane of us to bring a camp stove and a coffeepot. We muled in the water bottles, they hooked us up with strong java. Fair trade.

I must've sampled at least sixty beers between the taps and the bottle shares. Got to try some bucket list beers i'd never had including the vanilla aged Dark Lord, the rare DOS fom Pegs, Bruerys white chocolate, Snack Attack, and of course Hunah's from 2009-2013.

I disagree with the arrive early part. If you want to avoid the crowd and just get some hunahpu, then yes. By all means wait until 6:00 pm or so and go in and buy as much as you want when the case sales start. But.... if you want to make a day out of it, definitely get there early. By getting in early, your crew can make it to the covered tent with all the tables. That's what our crew did, occupied two full tables and sat in the cool of the shade all day. A few of us would go off and check out the new taps as they hit, bring back extras for everyone to try, and then a few more of us would head off for other rares at the other taps. We'd just trade off whenever we wanted to. It was awesome.

We stayed right straight through to the end. By 6:00 pm, it had thinned out to about 300 people and was perfect with a slight cool breeze. On our way out, we got to speak with CCB's head brewer about the doughnut beer that 7th son had on tap this morning for the Hunapu hangover party (his Wife made the doughnuts for the secondary).

What I would change would be increasing the porta-Johns by about 3 times and getting totally different food vendors (the ones I tried all sucked). Everything else was just fine despite the crowds.

The beer itself is pretty stellar, lots of complex layers of flavor....and this coming from a guy who doesn't gravitate toward imperial stouts. It's a beer that practically begs for a cigar. $20 a bottle seems reasonable, given the high level of craftsmanship. I can't say I am shocked it is already fetching a pretty penny on ebay; personally, I wouldn't pay those kinds of prices, but somewhere, someone is always willing to...

I agree with that assessment. The beer is stellar and will only improve. I'll probably trade a few for some rares but the rest.... i'm sure i'll enjoy. One will go back next year for Huna 2014.

I did meet a HBT person but I can't remember his name to save my life. Nice enough guy, big red beard. Came and drank with us for a few minutes. Everyone was like that, mingling and drinking.

 

[TBBrewer]

So, if one was to make improvements to this festival, what would everybody change? I am interested to see every bodies input.

 

[sfrisby]

So, if one was to make improvements to this festival, what would everybody change? I am interested to see every bodies input.

Ship the beer and buy an airline ticket. This drive home sucks. I so want to be home already.

 

[TBBrewer]

Ship the beer and buy an airline ticket. This drive home sucks. I so want to be home already.

I hear you man.

 

[Brewski1975]

They really need more porta johns. By 6pm many of them were overflowing and just nasty. They really need more tap locations too, the lines were out of control Overall it was a great time, I happened to be camped about five feet from one of the Hunahpu distribution spots so was able to get my bottles about 5 minutes after they started selling.

 

[emmdubb23]

So, if one was to make improvements to this festival, what would everybody change? I am interested to see every bodies input.

More space, toilets and taps, there was some extremely bad tap lines that were made worse from people cutting in line. Also a limit at the taps, it sucks, but would drastically cut down on lines and people getting one of every beer at once

 

[emmdubb23]

About the social aspect I spent the whole time there waiting in one line or another, which in part was my own fault, but still pretty bad, so aside from conversation with people around me in line, was non-existent. The homebrew groups were awesome and the 4 I sampled (when my line went by) were all great offerings.

 

[aiptasia]

I agree. Triple the porta johns. I would do that and put them all along the back fence and double the porta johns along both sides of the entrance gate. I'd move the homebrew vendors to the opposite side of the covered table tent so people would actually know that they're back there. The games area with the basketball hoops were meaningless to us.

 

[passedpawn]

Brewer's Ball had an open tap of Hunapu. I never saw a line at it. But the tickets are $30 or $50 to get in, so there is that.

In fact, the only lines at Brewer's Ball was the food line. At least what I remember

You guys might want to check that out next year.

TBBrewer, it was good seeing you there!

 

[DiplomaticImmunity]

there was some extremely bad tap lines that were made worse from people cutting in line. Also a limit at the taps, it sucks, but would drastically cut down on lines and people getting one of every beer at once

Amen to this. The Mrs. and I waited about 90 minutes in line for the taps at the central station. We did best when one of us went on a mission to find other, shorter lines. I hate feeling like you have to game the system if you want to get a draft more efficiently.

I enjoyed myself the most when shooting the breeze with the home brewers in the back, which once again underscored the RDWHAHB credo for me.

Note to self, though -- the basil-rosemary wheat was a big mistake (I'm still trying to scrub the taste from my tongue...)

 

[aiptasia]

Brewer's Ball had an open tap of Hunapu. I never saw a line at it. But the tickets are $30 or $50 to get in, so there is that.

In fact, the only lines at Brewer's Ball was the food line. At least what I remember

You guys might want to check that out next year.

TBBrewer, it was good seeing you there!

I might check that out, PP. Had some buds of mine hang out for the Hunapu hangover party at 7th son. I know they got to try some of the doughnut hunahpu. I think they finished up at Dunedin and found a hotel down there somewhere.

Amen to this. The Mrs. and I waited about 90 minutes in line for the taps at the central station. We did best when one of us went on a mission to find other, shorter lines. I hate feeling like you have to game the system if you want to get a draft more efficiently.

Note to self, though -- the basil-rosemary wheat was a big mistake (I'm still trying to scrub the taste from my tongue...)

Yeah, if you weren't with a whole group of friends, it makes it tough to get everywhere and navigate the long waits in the lines. We had the benefit of experience with huna day with our group, so we knew we wanted to be in line early, get a table under the tents, spread out to the different tap lines and share everything back at the tables. It was also convenient for us to drop off our bottles, merch and eat there throughout the day.

I swear we had over 100+ bottles between our two tables just from bottle shares. All kinds of people were swarming our tables with bottles of this and that. I was able to make serious dents in my bucket list of "must try" beers and wound up liking quite a few surprises I never knew existed. My cell phone battery died before I could update my untapp'd list for half the beer we drank.

One of my favorite highlights of the event was our friend Bug. He's old, he's crotchety, he's retired, he loves beer.His real name is, in fact, Bug. He kept telling people he was gonna stick his bottles up a chicken's a$$ to make the ultimate beer butt chicken. You should've seen the look of horror on the faces of the hipsters 40 years his younger. No sense of humor. It was classic.

Then, I got to talk to quite a few of the hired hands manning the tap stations. Surprising that they didn't allow them to sample some of the beers on tap just for "product knowledge." They had to remain bone dry and beerless. I hope they gave them a case each for the effort but not likely. The big burly black guards at the gate were great. They not only tagged me with a second golden wrist tag for an extra round of 3 beers early on, but near the end, they kept saying, "I just want to take a bottle and smash it on the ground. See what they'll do..." I told them they'd likely hear a lot of "awwwww" lamenting followed by hipster tears.

And DI, I feel your pain on rosemary beers. I had one a few years ago at Moon River brewing in Savannah, GA and swore i'd never have another rosemary beer again. So far, so good.

 

[TBBrewer]

Brewer's Ball had an open tap of Hunapu. I never saw a line at it. But the tickets are $30 or $50 to get in, so there is that.

In fact, the only lines at Brewer's Ball was the food line. At least what I remember

You guys might want to check that out next year.

TBBrewer, it was good seeing you there!

I really enjoyed the brewers ball, minus how cold it was. It was nice being in a different venue, but I just thought we would be inside. Good times no doubt and it was good seeing you again.

 

[TBBrewer]

Here is my thoughts on the event.

Again it was a great time, but I still think they could have done a lot of things better. They said they were going to have more bathrooms and more tap locations. It sure did not feel that way. We stayed in the back most of the time and there were not nearly enough bathrooms. The lines to use the restroom took about 30 minutes. I actually paid dearly for a spot after waiting nearly 2 hrs in the tap line. I paid a guy 2 tokens to take his front spot in the bathroom line as my eyes were floating and I was in serious pain. Thankfully nobody complained. I almost feel like they should have had some sort of trough set up for the guys to use as it would have greatly reduced the lines to the port-o-jon's and it would have probably kept it much cleaner. Those things were trashed after the first hour we were there.

The amount of taps they had at each station was crazy and then they allowed people to get as many as they wanted which resulted in terribly long lines. This setup needed a lot of help. They should have had more people working each station as it took us nearly 2 hrs to get our beers due to how slow they moved and also people cutting in line. I was surprised things did not get uglier than they were as I did see a few choice words exchanged to people that were cutting in line. I know the tall guy at the JJ tap tent was hammered as he could barely stand up when we ordered our brews. One of the guys near me said he looked drunk as hell and the tall guy overheard him and replied that he was only getting paid $7 and hr and that he was gonna make up for that by drinking. We did meet some great people in line and ended up having a small bottle share while in line. They really needed to have more than 3 spots with taps and maybe only have 10 taps at each spot with more people working them so they could move people along quicker.

The homebrewers did a great job in the back. I really wish they would have been more visable, but o well. The basketball thing in the back was a huge waste of space.

The food left something to be desired. We had a breakfast sandwich that was tiny and flavorless in the back by the silo that cost us $10. The food trucks did seem a little pricey, but they can charge what they want. It would have been nice to do something like a catered bbq that they pre-sold tickets for.

The line in the morning was insane and the cops were not friendly in the least. They seemed to have a chip on their shoulder. They did end up letting us in early as the line was filling up the Home Depot parking lot next door. Justin ended up telling us all to tighten up in line and when that didn't help much, they let us in.

They did have a big tent in the back, but it would have been nice if there was more shade. The tent was taken over by the first hundred people in line and then we all set up around it. We picked our spot under the silo first thing in the morning only to have Travis come back and tell us we had to move about 8am as that is where the band stage was going. It would have been nice to have this roped off because then we had to find a spot after most were claimed. Luckily we squeezed in with some friendly folks but ended up sitting in dirt rather than on the concrete.

I really think that this event has outgrown the brewery size. It would be nice if they did it somewhere else that has more room. It seems they are just trying to squeeze too many people in not enough space. I would be surprised if it is there next year. Maybe the could do a twice a year release of the brew so that it isn't so crazy?

If you plan on making a day of it, it is alot of fun, but you just have to be patient. This year we arrived early and had a bottle share on the sidewalk which was nice. Last year we showed up later in the morning, got our bracelets, left and had lunch, then came back and picked up our bottles before the cut off.

Over all I would say the fest was a great time and they poured some amazing brews. If you are a beer nerd, it is a festival you do not want to miss.

 

[aiptasia]

The lines to use the restroom took about 30 minutes. I actually paid dearly for a spot after waiting nearly 2 hrs in the tap line. I paid a guy 2 tokens to take his front spot in the bathroom line as my eyes were floating and I was in serious pain. Thankfully nobody complained. I almost feel like they should have had some sort of trough set up for the guys to use as it would have greatly reduced the lines to the port-o-jon's and it would have probably kept it much cleaner. Those things were trashed after the first hour we were there.

Yeah, the bathroom lines were insane in the back. I hit them four times and each time, the wait got longer. I knew that if I was just starting to feel the call of nature, to go ahead and get in line. I bet I spent an hour and a half in line just to pee. I saw people leaving the grounds out the back woods, over the ditch, to go find pee lane and come back rather than wait in line. I saw a few women just pee themselves and carry on drinking like it was nobody's business. Emdubb brought his whole family and I felt so bad for them because of what a zoo it was. The mob size made it no environment for kids, but it could've been if it was just a smaller crowd. I saw him get his bottles right away at noon and they got the heck out of dodge, and I don't blame them for leaving.

The amount of taps they had at each station was crazy and then they allowed people to get as many as they wanted which resulted in terribly long lines. This setup needed a lot of help. They should have had more people working each station as it took us nearly 2 hrs to get our beers due to how slow they moved and also people cutting in line. I was surprised things did not get uglier than they were as I did see a few choice words exchanged to people that were cutting in line. I know the tall guy at the JJ tap tent was hammered as he could barely stand up when we ordered our brews. One of the guys near me said he looked drunk as hell and the tall guy overheard him and replied that he was only getting paid $7 and hr and that he was gonna make up for that by drinking. We did meet some great people in line and ended up having a small bottle share while in line. They really needed to have more than 3 spots with taps and maybe only have 10 taps at each spot with more people working them so they could move people along quicker.

They actually had more tap stations than you think. They had the tap van hidden away inside the front brewery, the main tap room with both bars going, the middle taps with two tables on either side of the truck and three tents near the stage in the back. That's a total of eight separate tap zones, and they were still mobbed. I think if they'd moved the home brewers to where the back porta potties were and put the porta johns along the back fence, it would've helped divert some of the line crowds who just wanted a beer and introduced more people to Tampa homebrew.

The homebrewers did a great job in the back. I really wish they would have been more visable, but o well. The basketball thing in the back was a huge waste of space.

Yep, they did great. Agreed that the basketball hoops were a total waste. They could've added more porta-johns or another tap tent or something right there.

The food left something to be desired. We had a breakfast sandwich that was tiny and flavorless in the back by the silo that cost us $10. The food trucks did seem a little pricey, but they can charge what they want. It would have been nice to do something like a catered bbq that they pre-sold tickets for.

We were occupying the two tent tables just on the other side of the breakfast vendor. All told, we had about 30 friends from the Jacksonville & Tampa areas squeezed into two tables. I did eat one of the chorizo egg sandwiches which was a little cold on the edges but I was so hungry by that point, I didn't care. We'd already been in line since 2:30 am and i'd have eaten anything and asked for seconds at that point. The cuban coffee they had was awesome. A BBQ truck would've been a good idea. Pre-smoke a ton of pork shoulder, shred it up into pulled pork and slap it on a plate with baked beans and slaw.

I really think that this event has outgrown the brewery size. It would be nice if they did it somewhere else that has more room. It seems they are just trying to squeeze too many people in not enough space. I would be surprised if it is there next year. Maybe the could do a twice a year release of the brew so that it isn't so crazy?

I think they should stretch it into a full three day weekend. They could sell the bands in line on the first day for the guaranteed 2-3 beers on a Friday starting early, at like 5 am. Get them in, get them out. Sell the wrist bands early before they get through the gate, then have people walk through cattle rope to distribution spots and have crew members pull bottles and hand them directly to people immediately. Then they can go off and do whatever they want. Stay, go, wouldn't matter as they'd have their guaranteed beers.

If they sell out of wrist bands on the first day, great. Open sales up to individual bottles on day #2 & #3. If wristbands didn't sell out, continue as on day #1 until they do, get the people through the lines so they're kinda forced to get their guaranteed beers as soon as they get through the gate. When the last wristband sells, close the lines off until the very last person gets their guaranteed 2-3. Then open it up to general sales. Limit people to a case so they don't abuse too bad.

I agree, I think the best part about it was all of the bottle sharing, meeting new beer nerds from all over the country, talking to everyone under the sun and having a good time.

I also didn't see a single fight anywhere, nor did I see anyone drop their bottles. Both cool things. If it were a sporting event with those kinds of lines, there'd have been fights galore.

 

[TBBrewer]

I did not realize they had that many tap stations. I never made it in the tasting room or brewery so I missed those. I guess it was just shear volume of people as opposed to lack of taps. I think that it has just truly became such an over grown event that they need even more tap stations, more help, and a larger venue. Obviously they did a great job with what they had and kudos to them for providing more taps.

 

[DiplomaticImmunity]

They actually had more tap stations than you think. They had the tap van hidden away inside the front brewery

This one was clutch. I went to the front of the brewery for some water to remove a stain, and lo and behold, the tap van inside the first bay had maybe 10 people in line...waited about 5 minutes, scored some Hunaphpu and 3F "In the Name of Suffering" collab black IPA w/ EyeHateGod (nice brew, but further underscores my belief that Amarillo is the house hop of TFB). This tap seemed to be a well kept secret; most were lining up for the set up in the adjacent tasting room.

Yep, they did great. Agreed that the basketball hoops were a total waste.

Maybe the thought is that these were for the kiddies? Regardless, I agree...not the best use of space. That much seems unanimous.

I also didn't see a single fight anywhere, nor did I see anyone drop their bottles. Both cool things. If it were a sporting event with those kinds of lines, there'd have been fights galore.

So true. If this were a Bucs game, they would need more than the three beat cops I saw to handle an alcohol-fueled crowd of that size...

Also, I echo the sentiments of all on the food trucks. We ordered from a truck that shall remain nameless (don't want to drag them through the mud) and found a long black hair in the food. The chef came out, apologized profusely, and made us another sandwich, but there's no excuse for not checking your food before it goes out...just laziness, a lack of attention to detail (though I understand they were all slammed).

 

[TBBrewer]

Guess I dropped the ball not seeing that van. I cannot really knock ccb for the food, but with the new restaurant coming soon, you think they would have used that opportunity to showcase what they are bringing to the table as far as food creations at the brew pub.

 

[InityBrew]

I was at ccb yesterday and the bartender was telling me how someone dropped and broke a whole case of Hunaphu.

That is depressing.