How crazy is Hunahpu's Day?

I agree completely. The thing about Hunahpu's Day is that there is soooo much great beer on tap one should not stress on trying one particular beer, but enjoy the whole experience. Stating that this year was WAY more crowded then last year (bottles were still available in 2011 on Sunday). So show up early, but not so early as to make it an overnight event, and enjoy the day. Hunahpus is available all day on tap so you will definitely get to drink some. I personally feel like the best way to enjoy the day is to come with/meet up with a bunch of people and share different beers all day long and no stressing please.

I must admit though as much as I love CCB and Hunahpus I can't imagine flying somewhere SOLELY for a beer release. Don't get me wrong the wife and I just visited Northern California and we visited several brewerys and sent stuff home, but this was not the impetus for our trip across the country. If you really want to come to FL, have family here, or what not and it coincides with Hunahpu's Day: awesome. Truth be told come whenever and enjoy CCB there is always something great on tap and bottles available. Moreover, there are also many other great breweys to visit in the area(Pegs, Seventh Sun, Dunedin, Funky Buddha ...and pretty soon Little Giant) as well as our beaches, parks, and all kinds of other stuff that can make for a great vacation. Hunahpu's Day 2013 is a ways away so why not come early .

 

One of the awesome parts of the day was walking up to one of the tasting trailers near the end of the day, it had no line and had Stranahan Aged Hunahpu's up on their draft list. I asked if they still had any, they said yes but they were out of glasses. I ran back to were we had setup camp rinsed a few cups and was able to get three glasses to share with my two buddies.

Oh and the Funky Buddha Last Snow and Maple Bacon Coffee Porter

Didn't have nearly enough berliner-weiss

 

Hunahpu's Day was well run, considering the crowd was much bigger than anyone anticipated. A few things that would make the next one better:

1. More taps spread out over the grounds. More taps should = shorter lines.
2. More space. Not sure what the options are.
3. More Hunahpu's! I'd love for them to be able to produce enough to get the bottle limit back up to four or higher. I try to keep Hunahpu's around for most of the year for special occasions, and if I'm making the trip down from Georgia, then it's nice to have a decent haul to bring home.

 

I've been to both as well and can say that Hunahpu is definitely my new favorite. Better weather than Dark Lord or Darkness, you can actually get in line at a decent time in the morning and still get bottles and pretty friendly beer geeks compared to some of the others in the Midwest you meet. Got to try Pappy Ride Huna and BA Dark Lord as well, which was a huge perk. Only major complaint was the reduced bottles though, since my lady and I flew in from Chicago.

 

I had a great time this past year.... This was my first time attending. I was technically on the 'volunteer list' to where I could get in early without standing in line because I had 3 beers on tap at one of the homebrew club booths but I chose to stand in line with the masses to get in. If I recall I arrived around 10 am and I got one of the last parking spots at the old Sears building and was standing at the 'corner' to the turn-in to the Home Depot off Spruce street. I brought a cooler full of my homebrews and various other stuff (nothing super special, this was before I started trading). I shared a bunch of brews with those around me in line and had a great time before the event even started. Once they opened the gates I was definitely overwhelmed but tried a lot of great beers. The only dissapointment for me was right before they started selling the Hunahpu's bottles they were tapping a keg of BA DL, and I got in line good and early for it, only to realize I was in the wrong line about 30 minutes later. I was pretty shitfaced at this point. I believe I went with a Palm Ridge Reserve BA Hunahpu's instead, which was amazing.

I am somewhat concerned with what will happen at Hunahpu's day in 2013. Logistically this thing has to be a nightmare, and we all know that it will once again grow and be a bigger event than last year. If they choose to have it at the brewery again it's a safe bet that Tampa PD will have a larger presence, and I would guess that Home Depot, Target, etc will probably keep a much closer eye on their parking lots and tow people who are parking there for the event.

 

For me: Hunahpu + Grandparents + Wizarding World of Harry Potter (for the girlfriend)

Sounds like an awesome vacation!

 

I think you mis

I think you missed a big thing. Seperate lines, or possiblly even lines for tickets and then ticket only drafts, for the 'rare' beers. They psuedo attemped to make seperate lines for the 'special' beers last year, but it all went to hell. I was really bothered by the last minute line cutting, rudeness, and general immaturity of the crowd when it came to the big beers. Waiting in line for an hour to get BA DL, being only about 30 people deep until 5 min before when the line was effectively bum rushed and my 30th spot turned into about 100-150th spot, causing me to miss out really wasnt cool. That happened to me with multiple beers. Tickets for the 'specialist of beers', thats my recommendation for improvement.

 

How do you do the line for those tickets? Another line that is likely to go from 30-150 people 5 minutes before they are sold? I guess we can solve that with a line to buy tickets for the line for the specialist of beers?

Pro-tip: Go to a beer release to have a good time. Realize that there will be a ton of douchebags there before hand and that you will not be able to try everything you would like no matter how well it is setup logistically. If you can not do that, then you probably should stay home.

 

Your right, although I would argue that less people would wait in line/cut in line for tickets to get a beer than for the actual beer, but maybe not. Maybe logistically its just not possible. Either way, Ill stop being negative. I'm sure there were a lot of great things about Huna day, the tap list alone was amazing, its just not something I am interested in attending again.

 

I can't say I had any bad experience with Huna Day this year, even the homebrewers' row of tents were offering completely amazing beers!

 

It's crazy awesome!

 

That sounds more exciting than the rare taps that will be kicked before I have a chance to try them.

 

Who bought a Hunahpu shirt? Love that shirt it turns heads when you wear it to other beer fest.

 

Sure did and sure does!

 

This shirt? http://www.amazon.com/Hunahpus-Beer-Logo-Black-T-shirt/dp/B0083TXR32

I don't get why it turns heads?

 

That's not the shirt we are talking about.

 

This makes me feel a little better about hand day. I was nervous about going and taking my be loving parents who are in their late 60's... The day has been announced though! Can't wait until 3/9/12

 

You're livin' in the past, man. Livin' in the past.

 

Did they really announce the date? I can't go then.........

 

Hello, McFly !!!!!!!!! Get the Delorean revved up..................