Tampa Bay Beer Week 2022
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! We’re thrilled to once again join the annual celebration of the illustrious local craft brewing scene, Tampa Bay Beer Week. Now in its tenth year, Tampa Bay Beer Week (TBBW) was established in 2012 as a nonprofit organization to showcase the Tampa Bay area as an emerging and vibrant craft beer destination.
As the number of breweries in the Tampa Bay area exploded in the 2010s, the TBBW organization sought to shine a spotlight on the dynamic craft beer community by aligning beer releases and events across breweries to collectively elevate the region’s 80+ craft breweries. Cigar City Brewing has been a proud partner of TBBW since its inception, and we’re excited to announce what we’ve been cooking up for this year’s celebration. Pour yourself a pint and keep reading to learn more about our 2022 TBBW happenings, including special beer releases, a pop-up outdoor beer garden, tap takeovers, and of course the culmination and Holy Grail of all things TBBW at CCB: the annual release of Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout.
This year we have five new releases up our sleeves leading up to Hunahpu’s Day. We’re also celebrating the many creative forces that keep the CCB train moving by having a representative from each department develop the label art. From Production to the Taproom to the Lab and beyond, we’re thrilled to put a spotlight on the multi-talented folks who created our TBBW label designs in 2022.
Monday – March 7
We’re kicking off the festivities Monday, March 7 with the release of Midnight Solis, a Bourbon Barrel-aged Imperial Stout brewed with coffee, vanilla beans, and coconut. This limited-edition release will be available in 500mL bottles, exclusively in the Spruce Street Taproom. The label art was created by Shaina Leguizamon, one of CCB’s Quality Control Lab technicians, who helps to ensure your favorite CCB products taste their best and stay true to brand. The art for this release was inspired by summer nights and Florida’s colorful cotton candy skies.
“Where there’s color, there’s life. Let this beer serve as a reminder to take in our surroundings and enjoy our life while we’re still here.”
—Shaina Leguizamon, CCB Lab Tech
Tuesday – March 8
Tuesday, March 8 will see the release of Seeds of Sacrifice, a Double India Pale Ale brewed with Nelson Sauvin, Nectaron, and Simcoe hops. It’s available in 4-packs of 16oz cans exclusively in Spruce Street Taproom. The special release label art was designed by Assistant Taproom Manager Sam Lloyd and is inspired by an elixir of the heart.
“Depicted in magical vernacular, seeds represent the heart, making this hop-forward double IPA the perfect remedy for your offerings.”
—Sam Lloyd, CCB Taproom General Manager
Also happening on Tuesday, we’re thrilled to have our friends from Angry Chair Brewing join us from 4 – 9 p.m. for a Drink Local Tap Takeover in our Pop-Up Beer Garden. Angry Chair, known for their bold stouts among many other styles, will be bringing some rare treats to the party along with the usual suspects you know and love. Stay tuned for a complete beer list coming soon.
Wednesday – March 9
Wednesday, March 9 we’ll be releasing Maybe I Dreamt It , a Barleywine-style Ale aged in sugarcane-derived Agricole Rhum barrels available in 500mL bottles exclusively in the Spruce Street Taproom. Michael Hall, brewer by day and artist by night, took the lead on this design and found inspiration in the fine line between dreams and reality.
“Dreams, like shadows, represent a distorted version of reality. The boundary between dreams and reality can be tenuous. Did I really see a castle in the distance, or was it a dream?”
—Michael Hall, CCB Brewer
Also on Wednesday, our Beer Garden will feature a Stouts & Stogies event from 4 – 9 p.m. Visitors can expect to find extremely rare treasures in the form of big stouts and even some never-before-released brews. Our cigar partner, Punch Cigars, will also be on site to chat about our medium-bodied smokes collaboration, Cigar City Brewing Maduro by Punch. Come try one for yourself and pair it with one of the many decadent drafts we’ll be serving up.
Thursday – March 10
Thursday, March 10 will see the debut of Amber Colored Glasses, an American-style Fruited Sour Ale brewed with pineapple and passionfruit, available in 4-packs of 16oz cans only in the Spruce Street Taproom. CCB Marketing’s own Tiffany Kulas is the creative force behind this design, finding inspiration in everyday optimism.
“Inspired by the phrase ‘rose-colored glasses,’ this is my version of personal optimism. Some may take a sour approach and claim that my head is in the clouds, but with sweet ingredients like pineapple and passionfruit, I’ll continue to romanticize my life with no apology. A refreshing outlook for a refreshing beverage.”
—Tiffany Kulas, CCB Graphic Designer
Taking part in our Drink Local Tap Takeover in the Beer Garden on Thursday from 4 – 9 p.m. will be our pals Magnanimous Brewing. Magnanimous has been making big waves in the local craft scene and we’re thrilled to have them join us this year. Stay tuned for a full draft list, coming soon.
Friday – March 11
Friday, March 11 we’ll be releasing Celestial Libations, a bold Imperial Stout brewed with lactose and vanilla, then aged concurrently in bourbon and first-use rye whiskey barrels. This Taproom-only release will be available in 500mL bottles with label art design by beloved CCB bartender Lowen Van Trump, who found creative inspiration in the vastness of the universe for this design.
“There are billions of stars in a typical galaxy and the Milky Way is just one of 50-100 billion galaxies in the universe. Thoughts like these are what spark the creativity in my mind and allow me to dream and create the wonders that are out there, or even the ones that could be. So here’s a libation for the entities dwelling within the heavens that ignite that inspiration. Doodle or Die.”
—Lowen Van Trump, CCB Bartender
Those in attendance Friday can also check out our Beer Garden from 4 – 9 p.m. and be the first to get their hands on some never-before-seen vintage treated Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout iterations for our Flashback Friday Pop-Up. Our brewing team has hand-picked some of our favorite past versions of Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout and treated them with everything from coffee and coconut to Ghost Peppers and maple. On draft in the Beer Garden will be four treated iterations of our beloved Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout, including Decadent Donut; Coconut Cubano Espresso; Ghost Pepper Maple; and a BA Cuvee of Apple Brandy, Maple, and Ahaltocob.
Saturday – March 12
The apex of TBBW leads up to the crown jewel of CCB releases, Hunahpu’s Day. The annual release of Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout, lovingly dubbed “Hunahpu’s Day,” has been considered the culminating event of each Tampa Bay Beer Week, and we wear that badge with honor. What began humbly as a small beer release to commemorate CCB’s first anniversary in March of 2010, has grown into one of craft beer’s most-anticipated events. The release of this 12.5% Imperial Stout with a decadent blend of cacao nibs, vanilla beans, cinnamon, and ancho, pasilla, and guajillo chile peppers will begin Saturday, March 12. Cans of this year’s release were made available earlier this year through a lottery system in partnership with Oznr Craft Beverage Marketplace.
Beer lovers who were lucky enough to win lottery access to Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout can begin picking up their can allotments at the brewery on March 12 at 10 a.m. and can celebrate its release by enjoying Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout and this year’s blackberry variant, Camazotz’s Imperial Stout, on draft. Additionally, as part of our TBBW Drink Local Tap Takeover, our friends from Dark Door Spirits will be out in the Beer Garden from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. pouring samples of beer-forward cocktails created by distilling some of our favorite brews into spirits, including Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout. If you’ve ever wondered what Hunahpu’s distilled whiskey tastes like, then this is your chance to find out! Our recent Dark Door Spirits canned cocktail collaboration, Paper Plane, will also be available to try.
Our Hunahpu’s Day nonprofit partner, the Humane Society of Tampa Bay, will be on hand on Saturday from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., auctioning off Hunahpu’s-inspired art created by renowned local artist collective, Capco, with all proceeds benefitting the nonprofit. Since the only thing better than a day of great beer and art is a day of great beer and art filled with dogs, the Humane Society will have a pop-up of adoptable pups on site. Come for the beer and take home your new best friend!
Sunday – March 13
To wrap up TBBW this year, we’re keeping the party going on Sunday, March 13 with continued Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout pick-ups, as well as Sunday Funday with Florida Man Double IPA in our Beer Garden from noon – 6 p.m. Come enjoy a treated version of your favorite Double IPA, along with games and photo-ops featuring the World’s Worst Super Hero, Florida Man!.
All of our Tampa Bay Beer Week events will take place at the Spruce Street Taproom (3924 W. Spruce Street, Tampa, FL) between Monday, March 8 and Sunday, March 13. In addition to Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout can pickups, the Spruce Street Taproom will be open for full-service dining, drinking, and to-go beer and merchandise sales.
We can’t wait to celebrate Tampa Bay Beer Week with you all!