Fashionable head gear at Winter Beer Festival 2013

Tim Price and Sienna Fegan didn't know each other before meeting on a pile of snow at the Michigan Winter Beer Festival at Fifth Third Park in Comstock Park, Mich. Saturday, Feb. 23, 2013. (Chris Clark | MLive.com)

GRAND RAPIDS, MI — We knew there were a lot of disappointed folks who missed out on a ticket to the 2014 Michigan Brewers Guild Winter Beer Festival.

Now we know just how many: About 12,000.

The brewers guild released a statement on the ticketing sellout Wednesday evening, Dec. 4, several days after the wildly popular event sold out in 3 hours.

In the meantime, the guild has received an avalanche of negative feedback from people who, for largely technical reasons, were unable to buy a ticket when the online box office opened 10 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 1. Many buyers reported issues with page timeouts and error messages, among other server-related headaches.

The guild says 18,000 unique users tried to buy tickets on Sunday. Only between 4,000 and 5,000 out of a total number of 6,000 were available for sale Sunday after the guild gave members and bus tour operators first shot at tickets.

The festival, which has surged in popularity in recent years alongside the rise of Michigan’s craft beer business, takes place Feb. 22 at Fifth Third Ballpark in Grand Rapids.

The guild capped attendance to the 2014 event at two $45 tickets per person. Previously it had been four per person.

Below is the guild’s statement in its entirety:

The guild followed up the statement by addressing last year's issue with scalpers selling tickets at inflated prices on Craiglist.

"With regard to tickets purchased from a third party individual - BUYER BEWARE! We will NOT guarantee the validity of tickets purchased from other online sources. Tickets determined to be "scalped" for more than face value will be voided," the guild stated.

Garret Ellison covers business, government and breaking news for MLive/The Grand Rapids Press. Email him at gellison@mlive.com or follow on Twitter & Instagram