Hunahpu's Day 2018

My top 3 in no particular order were Assissin, Smortal Combat and Boutit. Just outside those three was double barrel coconut cake....great minds think alike!!

 

I'm local to Proof. Nowadays I'm probably in there 3-4 times a month, and it was honestly even more than that in the past. They do some pretty solid core beers and some awesome small batch stuff & one-offs. Tallahassee has them to thank for much of the craft scene that has bloomed in the area.
That being said, the fact that their blue raspberry berliner won over any of Arkane's kettle sours is ridiculous to me. Hell, I'd take Athena Paradiso 10 outta 10 times against that blue raspberry evil kiss.
Not trying to hate on Proof as a whole, just giving my 2 cents.

 

Just want to second, despite Arkane being twice as busy this year compared to last, they are the sleeper hit at Huna and TBBW. We spent a good 6-8 hours there throughout the week.They definitely deserve way more recognition than they get...especially with all the contributions they've made to other, more popular breweries in the area. Betting it will come at next year's fest, if at all.

 

I can’t believe the Blue Raspberry Evil Kiss won best beer. Most unique? Maybe. It tasted like a cheap blue raspberry fruit roll up - I couldn’t drink more than a sip of it. It was a sugary mess for me. The Evil Kiss they had last year was fantastic, so I was a little surprised by the one this year.

 

I think the problem with the voting is that it's purely based on attendee votes, meaning there is no judging process. So it just depends on which breweries/cider/mead have people vote for them. And while it seems silly that someone would stuff the ballot, it helps build hype for the winner, so it makes sense. Garagiste certainly gained some additional focus, especially outside of Tampa by winning and advertising that they won last year. I'm not accusing proof of doing this but I've heard some rumors of others offering incentive for votes.

As much as I love the craft beer scene, there is a lot of garbage going on in the background between the flippers, secondary market and things like the above that are discouraging. I don't expect the breweries to solve all the issues, but I'd like to see more breweries take the route of HF, where if they catch you reselling their beers, they ban you. I heard BL has done some of this as well. TBBW is becoming a destination for the top flippers in the US to travel to, vs people that want to check out the scene and drink good beer. I met a lot of good people from out of town during the week, but also met a lot of entitled a-holes.

 

Couldn't agree more....I was totally surprised they didn't take hardware home given their line was so long so late into the day at Huna. I spent quite a few hours there last week and was there for sour beer day last Sept....they are doing great things and based on the lines for bottles are definitely becoming a big player in the Tampa area. Now if they only bottle Ecto, Yoda Pants, or Taste the Rainbow life would be grand!!

 

Yes people go to that Meadery and drink more than 3oz in a sitting frequently.

The most ridiculous thing you've said is that people like when someone makes something that tastes exactly like pbj. Or 3 sons Neapolitan, or proof blue raspberry, or any other adjunct beverage that's supposed to taste like something else. Doesn't matter if it is mead or beer.

 

Haha so maybe my palette is getting more refined. A little jealous you were able to try Bout It Bout It. I got a little too caught up in going through each line two or three times trying to taste all they had to offer. Oh well

 

Boutit was the first beer I had. It was good but didn't blow me away.

 

I don’t think it’s even limited to attendee votes, anybody can download the Huna Day app without attending and vote. I’m certain the ballot box got stuffed by whoever wanted to drum up the grassroots support this year and last. I’d bet that you’d have a much more accurate count if they gave attendees a paper ballot with their glass and meal tickets. Having said that I’ve gone the last five years and never voted, so I guess my apathy precludes me from expressing an opinion on the matter.

 

The Monte Castro from the Latin sandwiches food truck also deserved an award. Nothing better to cut down the alcohol than a deep fried Cuban sandwich

 

+'s:
1) Breweries/Beers
2) Event location - Plenty of room!
3) Ease of getting in
4) Bottles of water
5) Picking up bottles at CCB during the week.
6) Number and Quantity of Food trucks.
7) Uber Pickup/Drop off location

-'s
1) Lack of porta-pottys
2) Lack of hand washing places
3) It's a parking lot, I don't understand the restrictions. The restrictions are to go into the stadium.
4) Lack of shade.
5) Lack of identification of bottle water piles.
6) Bathroom lines

I feel like we really got lucky it was cool and overcast. Had the festival been on Sunday when it was 80, humid, and sunny, the comments would be VASTLY different. Other than 2 eating tents there was ZERO shade out there.

Also, the bathrooms were horrible. Simply not enough and no way to wash your hands afterwards.

All in all, I was very pleased!

 

Don’t believe everything you read on Facebook...

 

Great point about lucking out with the weather that I hadn’t given much thought to. I was simply greatful for the overcast cool day. Didn’t think about how miserable it would have been otherwise.

 

the largest population of entitled beer geek assholes live in Tampa, no need to blame out of towners for that

 

Korean Fried Chicken truck was also amazing - huge hit for our group after drinking all day

 

Ha, you’re probably right, I was probably running into the local degenerates