Hunahpu Day 2016

Walked from hotel and arrived a bit early to scope out the lineup situation at ~0940 with a plan to hang around the area until it started forming, only to see it form almost instantly out of nowhere leaving me a couple of hundred back just walking from the Riverwalk to the park.
When the gates opened it was nearly a jog to keep up with the pace they were getting people in with 10 lines running and the scanners working perfectly and instantly. Less than 5 min I was inside. Not matching names on an ID to registered bands at the gate was their saving grace to keep this entry speed so fast and I'm glad they didn't do it as promised.

* The Huna Brownies with that berry sauce was perhaps as much of a highlight in my day as the whales I had. OMG!
The line for Cuban Sandwiches was longer than one would expect so something must have been going wrong with their prep/service as all the other lines were only 3-4 deep at the most. The food portion size was less than expected but tasty and easy to eat standing up which made up for it I guess.

It was so nice to have all of that wall seating along the perimeter and even some shady spots vs the CCB Parking lot.

I agree that they know which breweries will draw long lines and should place them somewhere that won't impede in traffic and confuse people having to ask what the line was for. Nothing was so important to me that I was going to wait in a massive line and miss out on the other good things that were available. Even merchandise, I waited until the end of the day and of course some things were gone but I ended up splurging on a nice HunaDay work shirt which I will enjoy even more than a cheap T shirt.

 

http://www.brewbound.com/news/2016/...il&utm_term=0_6026cb3473-e2ca3c79d6-169053729

Here is the big news I was talking about

 

I don't even know how I should feel about it. I guess I'll wait until I see what happens to the product which is ultimately what I care about

 

It's fine they're not going to take over control of actual brewing. Much better than alternative buyouts

 

Interesting to officially drop this news after Huna Day has come and gone (which was amazingly run IMO)

 

Me and everyone else I know had a great time. The only way you could be upset is if you HAD to tick all the whales...which is silly without a VIP or early access pass anyways.

BUY OUT: I think this is a win-win. Good for Joey & Joe, good for the brand and expansion. Good for fighting AB InBev at the taps. Congrats to all involved.

 

Makes sense. Probably wanted Huna Day to be about Huna, NOT about whatever people thought/think of the takeover.

 

I enjoyed myself alot.

The line getting in looked awful, but really wasn't as bad as it turned out to be. The lines for the bigger beers were almost instant, but thats expected.

I said screw it, and drank everything that didn't have much of a line. Shared pours with others who had the huge wants.

CCB's trailer had tons of great stuff on, went through it so much..

The brisket tacos were legit good food, too!

Event was well ran, great staff. Only issue I had was how narrow the "open" areas were, sometimes the lines had to snake around all jacked up and it was really hard to find the end of the line, or figure out where the hell it was going.

All that said.. I missed my main want, but got the Xquic from CCB. Holy shit. Maple coffee Huna is what we were told and it's great.

 

My thoughts as a first time Huna Attendee from Nor-Cal.

Good:
1) Getting in. Once the gates were open, it was a steady walk. Just like how Firestone Walker does it. Very well done.
2) Plastic tasting cups are AMAZING!
3) Water Stations. They were plentiful and well spaced out
4) Distro of the Huna bottles. That was super quick and easy.
5) It was nice to see some breweries pouring their own stuff. Not just contractors pouring.
6) CCB pours were done well. Lines were pretty crazy

Bad:
1) More beer. The shocking number of breweries that kicked everything so quickly. This was my biggest complaint.
2) They ran out of swag so quickly. No 2XL shirts by 1:30? Really? No indication they had sold out? (They finally started ripping signs down by like 2pm, but didn't put up the size stock outs.
3) Needed more shade/tents. It was so hot.
4) Needed more bathrooms
5) More room or fewer people. Getting around the 'whalez' lines was a real PITA. People resorted to walking through bushes, under treees, through the bark.
6) Food, I would have liked a few more options.
7) It would have been nice to have a separate CCB pour station with lighter beers (JA, Cracker, Lager, etc). It's tough to drink that many stouts when it's so hot. I needed a 'spacer' beer or two.

All in all, it was a nice 'large' beer fest. Sadly I think I drank more water than beer. I think if I had just come into town for Huna day I would have left disappointed. Going to several days of Tampa Bay beer week was AWESOME!

 

Hmm...I was just thinking how great the weather was compared to past years when I have baked in the direct sunlight (standing in a parking lot). I never felt like it got hot except for maybe at the very end of the day while waiting in the sun outside the Marriott in the bottle pick up line. But, I'm a Florida native so I guess I am use to it. The clouds at teh start of the day made it a very enjoyable temperature for standing outside and drinking stouts.

I also never felt overcrowded nor did I have any problems getting around the "whalez" lines. But that might have just been luck

 

The line for 3 Sons backed into the line for Side Project which, for a while, made that entire front portion of the tent hard to access. That was the only one our group had any issue with; aside from that I didn't think the lines were that bad.

 

Putting Side Project and 3 sons near each other was a really bad idea. Easily the biggest cluster as far as lines were concerned.

 

I was trying to get in line to try AB Summation but people were freaking out on me because I was basically just standing there trying to figure out where the line ended. I got like 3 different answers and people were getting upset so I said fuck that and left. I got to try Double Scoop later and that was really nice. JBM kicked while I was about 10 people back.

 

I witnessed a few groups of people disappear into a hype vortex at the exact point where those two lines met.

 

Spacer beer.. did you manage to try the proof evil kiss fruit punch berliner?

NO ONE was drinking it. it was friggin insane. I went back like hell... 12 times or more I think. Cut the big beers down.

I do agree though, while Huna was fun- other events with it, make it seem better. Cycle BA day was flat out awesome as can be, so that was an added highlight to enjoying beers with good friends.

 

Double scoop on paper didn't sound awesome.. It was in my glass though.

 

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD

 

I'm gonna find me a way to get bottles, or growlers of that stuff some way, some how.

 

Proof fruit punch was amazing. A few spots down was casa agria and they had an amazing guava beer on. Don't recall the style, but it was delicious.

 

Not listed on tap for their brewery and wasn't in BA data base... until now