Tampa Bay Beer Week is less than a month away. The annual event will be chock full of beer events, tastings, and, perhaps the most anticipated day of the year for many Florida beer freaks — the 4th Annual Hunahpu’s Day Release Party set for Saturday, March 9th at Cigar City Brewing.

On Hunahpu’s Day Cigar City Brewing releases its legendary brew Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout. The mere mention of the brew is likely to cause grown men to break into fits of whimsy and has been known to spur spontaneous trips to Tampa from far-flung locations. The beer is brewed only once per year and sold only at the at the brewery and only on Hunahpu’s Day.

According to the brewery’s website, “In Mayan mythology, Hun Hunahpu was the father of the Mayan hero twins Hunahpu and Xbalanque. Hun Hunahpu, along with his brother Vucub Hunahpu, was tricked by the Dark Lords of the underworld and slain. Hun Hunahpu’s corpse morphed into a cacao tree, his head becoming a cacao pod, which in typically awesome mythology fashion, spit upon the hand of a young maiden named Xiquic who promptly became pregnant with the hero twins. The twins would ultimately grow up to avenge their father and uncle and defeat the Dark Lords and ascend to the heavens to become the moon and sun.”

Regardless of the mythical origins of the brew, Hunahpu is a brew you do not want to miss out on. Beer tasters at website Ratebeer give it a perfect score of 100. Cigar City brewer, Wayne Wambles says of his brew, “Pours extremely dark in color with a brown head with notes of big chocolate and espresso, moderate notes of vanilla and cinnamon and a mild tinge of tobacco and chilis. The flavor opens with a big blast of chocolate and moderate espresso with elements of dark toffee and interjecting threads of vanilla with lingering hints of cinnamon and tobacco and chillies notes with a mild scoville heat in the finish.”

But, if you want it, you had better get there early. The day has grown into such a huge event that the brewery has given very specific information on its website to ensure everything goes smoothly and everyone has a good time. They thought of everything including parking hints and nearby hotel information. If you plan to go, definitely stop by the page first. Just go to www.cigarcitybrewing.com and click the Hunahpu’s Day link in the top navigation bar.

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