Hunahpu's Day is no more

[JulianB1]

link?

Oh please, do tell...

http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/hunapocolypse-2014.159067/page-4

 

[gregkoko]

http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/hunapocolypse-2014.159067/page-4

Glad you avoided dem gats bro

 

[MarkIntihar]

http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/hunapocolypse-2014.159067/page-4

Her posts seem reasonable there.

 

[Arbitrator]

I guess I'm behind the times, but what's wrong with distributing if you admit you can't run a big event?

At some point, the sheer volume of beer brewed surpasses a brewery's ability to parcel it out on-premises, so why not use a system that's already in place?

 

[xnicknj]

She has the best typos:

"if you are in danger from gun treats"

Also bonus points for actually using the word "deescalating"

 

[FishPondManager]

Candice running her mouth on BA now.

She used the word deescalating.

Edit:xnicknj beat me to it.

 

[gtx281]

"if you are in danger from gun treats"

 

[jparkanzky]

 

[Photekut]

http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/hunapocolypse-2014.159067/page-4

Homie-dace should know all about anger at events that have ****** up management right?

I believe the thread is LOOOONG gone, but...
Didn't they lead masses of people into a city that was shut down for a snow emergency only to cancel the event after the people that traveled the furthest / braved the elements had made it there?

Wasn't it well known ahead of time how horrible it was going to be, but they kept telling the people that were asking in the forums if they should cancel their plane tickets etc. to come anyway?

I *THINK* that was a BA event... someone correct me if I am wrong.

I also called it a few months ago on BA before my retirement ceremony about the wave of the future release party...
Looking into the crystal ball, I see: ...fights at releases

I also have never seen anyone who is assholic enough to cut in line go to the back just because someone said pretty please with a cherry on top.

 

[user 306926]

Article on Creative Loafing already taken down?
Here it is.

Cigar City Brewing owner Joey Redner felt sick over the Hunahpu’s Day debacle.


“It made me physically ill,’’ said Redner.


Hunahpu’s Day was supposed to be the joyous capstone of Tampa Bay Beer Week and a way for Cigar City Brewing to celebrate its 5th anniversary.


Instead, it turned out out to be the worst day in the short history of Florida’s most highly regarded brewery.


A two-hour wait to get in. Long lines for beers that kicked early. Sardine-can crowds. Another two-hour wait to buy $20 bottles of the beer everyone was there for, Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout. Anyone who bought a $50 ticket was guaranteed up to three bottles, but hundreds left empty-handed when the last of the 16,200 bottles were distributed.


When the door slammed shut, the crowd turned ugly, booing and chanting “Cigar City Sucks, Cigar City Sucks.” Police moved in to calm things down and Redner started taking steps to make amends, beginning with a mea culpa posted on the CCB Facebook page:


We're completely sorry for all issues that happened today. It really sucked. We completely understand how much it sucked and hate how much it sucked. We don't want it to suck ever again. We will do what we can to make it right.


The 3,500 attendance limit that was supposed to bring order to the chaos of last year’s annual release — when some 9,000 people showed up — didn’t work.

Redner said duplicate tickets were the main problem. “We figured out that was happening” pretty quickly, Redner said, because his staff was scanning bar codes on the tickets people had printed out. “We were sure we had a lot of duplicate tickets,” Redner said. “There’s going to be some scamming but how many could there be? It turned out there was a lot.”

So many people caught with duplicate tickets were claiming their tickets were original that eventually Redner’s people stopped scanning and just collected tickets to avoid ugly confrontations and to move things along. But that meant a lot more people were let into the tight confines of the brewery. How many? No one really knows, but Redner said all 6,000 glasses were gone by day’s end. So there were at least that many people.

Redner quickly decided to offer free beer all day Sunday at the brewery’s tasting room — which turned out to be a good move, Redner said, without any ugliness or mob scenes. Then he decided to refund everyone’s money, at a cost of $175,000 to CCB. (The brewery still raked in $324,000 in sales.)

And then he decided never to do Hunahpu’s Day again. Next year the brewery’s most highly coveted beer will simply be released into distribution like all of its other seasonal beers.

“I just don’t want to deal with it,’’ Redner said. And it’s not really necessary any more, since Cigar City has built a national reputation for quality craft beer and doesn't need to rely on the higher profit margins a beer release day brings.

The biggest issue that concerns Redner is the ugliness that emerged during the past couple of years. “We used to say we liked the craft beer scene because it was 99 percent ******* free, but I don’t think you can say that anymore,” he said. “I had never seen the ugliness I’ve seen in the last couple of years.”

Part of it may stem from the scarcity, which led to people selling bottles online for five times or more the face value of the beer. Some people even showed up at the brewery on Sunday trying to sell bottles of Hunahpu’s at prices well above the $20 they paid for it the day before. The brewery staff ran them off.

CCB had never run out of bottles of Hunahpu on Hunahpu’s Day — until this year.

Redner has decided to make another batch of Hunahpu’s to compensate those who left empty handed. It will take a month or more before the batch can be bottled. “We know we’re going to be rewarding a lot of people who participated in the asshold behavior,’’ he said. But it’s the only way he can make up for Saturday’s debacle.

It’s a shame the way things turned out because this fifth batch of Hunahpu’s may have been the best yet — rich, complex, balanced, with a distinct flavor of cinnamon. Head brewer Wayne Wambles said he thought it was the best yet.

This was the first year Cigar City capped attendance and charged a flat fee to get in, allowing participants to sample top-flight beers from around Florida and the country — perhaps the best tap list ever put on by a craft beer festival around Tampa Bay.

One of the longest lines of the day was for Toppling Goliath, a small, highly regarded Iowa brewery making its Florida debut. “I was so honored and awed” at the reaction to the beers, said Toppling Goliath owner Clark Lewey. “We knew we had a lot of fans in Florida but I couldn't believe how many.’’ So many people were in line before they began to pour that Lewey went down the line thanking people. “They were line up an hour early,’’ he said. “That made it worth it to come to Florida.”

 

[bramsdell]

Homie-dace should know all about anger at events that have ****** up management right?

I believe the thread is LOOOONG gone, but...
Didn't they lead masses of people into a city that was shut down for a snow emergency only to cancel the event after the people that traveled the furthest / braved the elements had made it there?

Wasn't it well known ahead of time how horrible it was going to be, but they kept telling the people that were asking in the forums if they should cancel their plane tickets etc. to come anyway?

I *THINK* that was a BA event... someone correct me if I am wrong.

I also called it a few months ago on BA before my retirement ceremony about the wave of the future release party...
Looking into the crystal ball, I see: ...fights at releases

I also have never seen anyone who is assholic enough to cut in line go to the back just because someone said pretty please with a cherry on top.

I got banned last year for this.

With the enormous storm coming in for Friday, they still hadn't said **** on Thursday night. I went to the pre-fest event at Meadhall. They were both there, drinking, etc. I went up to Todd and asked, point blank. This was about 9pm, maybe earlier. He told me flat out that it was postponed.

I think, "Ok, if you've made the decision, why not announce it? The boards are blowing up with people en route asking for updates."

GF and I drink for some time, walk home, and still no announcement. "**** it, I decide," and I blow up the boards. I got flamed and banned, but they didn't make the official announcement on Twitter until 2am-ish, if I remember correctly.

It was also the worst storm of that year and in some time.

 

[Arbitrator]

I got banned last year for this.

With the enormous storm coming in for Friday, they still hadn't said **** on Thursday night. I went to the pre-fest event at Meadhall. They were both there, drinking, etc. I went up to Todd and asked, point blank. This was about 9pm, maybe earlier. He told me flat out that it was postponed.

I think, "Ok, if you've made the decision, why not announce it? The boards are blowing up with people en route asking for updates."

GF and I drink for some time, walk home, and still no announcement. "**** it, I decide," and I blow up the boards. I got flamed and banned, but they didn't make the official announcement on Twitter until 2am-ish, if I remember correctly.

It was also the worst storm of that year and in some time.

I'm surprised no one sued...

 

[Jnorton00]

I'm surprised no one sued...

It's only been a few days' give it time.

 

[bum732]

What cracks me up the most is the apologists for CCB blaming ****** people of taking advantage of a situation. As if these kind of people have never existed before. It's like blaming the hurricane when it destroys beach houses instead of the idiots who decided to build million dollar houses on a beach. Taking advantage of a situation is an inherent human trait, the only way you control it is having the proper organization to weed this behavior out...which CCB failed spectacularly at. Anybody blaming these "******" people instead of CCB are really living on a different planet.

 

[Arbitrator]

It's only been a few days' give it time.

I'm talking about the EBF (?) story that I quoted from bramsdell.

 

[Jnorton00]

I'm talking about the EBF (?) story that I quoted from bramsdell.

Gotcha; just a risk of responding to comments without knowing the full context. So how long before CCB gets sued over this then?

 

[stupac2]

I guess I'm behind the times, but what's wrong with distributing if you admit you can't run a big event?

At some point, the sheer volume of beer brewed surpasses a brewery's ability to parcel it out on-premises, so why not use a system that's already in place?

Yeah I don't get it either. These events make sense when a brewery is trying to build its brand, but for a place that's already well known all you're doing is asking for trouble unless you spend spend spend to make sure everything runs smoothly.

 

[bramsdell]

I'm surprised no one sued...

You mean me, for violating their ToS?

 

[Der Fuchs]

Yeah I don't get it either. These events make sense when a brewery is trying to build its brand, but for a place that's already well known all you're doing is asking for trouble unless you spend spend spend to make sure everything runs smoothly.

i think they could afford it...

he decided to refund everyone’s money, at a cost of $175,000 to CCB. (The brewery still raked in $324,000 in sales.)

 

[Brez071]

I am surprised more breweries don't do releases like Allagash. Just ******* put it on the shelves and tell people on social media it's there, along with the bottle limit per person.

And IF they decide to do an event, they a) define bottle limit beforehand b) have you line up outside the brewery and c) check ID and provide a numbered ticket when you go in. Hang out a bit, play some games/get some samples, then they start the sales by calling out blocks of 10 people at a time. No bitching, no faking tickets (seriously Florida, WTF?), no long lines inside to get samples. And they give you free coffee and donuts!

 

[stupac2]

i think they could afford it...

he decided to refund everyone’s money, at a cost of $175,000 to CCB. (The brewery still raked in $324,000 in sales.)

I assume that's gross revenue, not net. And of course they can afford it, but the question is how much will it make them compared to the effort. And once you factor in all the money you need to spend to make an event good, it's less obvious that they should do it.

 

[drgarage1]

I assume that's gross revenue, not net. And of course they can afford it, but the question is how much will it make them compared to the effort. And once you factor in all the money you need to spend to make an event good, it's less obvious that they should do it.

Yeah, I'm sure they lost money there.

 

[tehzachatak]

I am surprised more breweries don't do releases like Allagash. Just ******* put it on the shelves and tell people on social media it's there, along with the bottle limit per person.

And IF they decide to do an event, they a) define bottle limit beforehand b) have you line up outside the brewery and c) check ID and provide a numbered ticket when you go in. Hang out a bit, play some games/get some samples, then they start the sales by calling out blocks of 10 people at a time. No bitching, no faking tickets (seriously Florida, WTF?), no long lines inside to get samples. And they give you free coffee and donuts!

Compare Allagash releases to Florida releases, or, hell, even VT releases. Is it surprising the beer doesn't trade well? It's practically pleasant to do it.

 

[beerinnv]

Florida

George Zimmerman
Casey Anthony
Jeb Bush
Hanging Chads
CCB

What a magical place

 

[mrtotalsodd]

Read first few posts and realized I don't care enough to read more. These release days remind me of the ******** on BA who bitch and moan about such events, all while living about 2,000 miles from the brewery, and never have any intention of ever wasting their time going to one.

/grumpy old man rant.

 

[Der Fuchs]

I assume that's gross revenue, not net. And of course they can afford it, but the question is how much will it make them compared to the effort. And once you factor in all the money you need to spend to make an event good, it's less obvious that they should do it.

i'm willing to bet that they made close to the 324000 mentioned. lets see, they didn't pay for security or staff, they didn't pay for food, they didn't pay for at least 1/2 the beer served, they didn't pay to put up fences, they didn't pay for place rental. keep in mind they took in 320000$ just from the regular huna sales. other than a few tens of thousands for permits/ porta potty rentals/ the beer they brewed. i think most of what they take in is profit.

 

[JulianB1]

It will be interesting to see what the fallout from his is in the Tampa area going forward. Does someone else try to set up a big festival (without any kind of bottle release) as an anchor for Tampa Beer Week on that Saturday? I know I would personally come back down for something like what the first couple of hours of Huna Day were, and I'd gladly pay $100 for it. But the question is if anyone would even go to the effort to try and get something like that off the ground.

 

[Usofar]

Florida's been faking ballots for so long fake ticketing was clearly the next step. If the federal government can't stop it how can CCB?

 

[domtronzero]

Florida's been faking ballots for so long fake ticketing was clearly the next step. If the federal government can't stop it how can CCB?

 

[sacrelicio]

One thing I don't get is why counterfeit tickets were such a big deal this year. Did word get out that they wouldn't be scanned or something? I just don't see how someone would be able to sell hundreds or thousands of tickets without a tip.