It was supposed to be an unveiling for Mike Parot’s latest creation. A golden pineapple necklace, a large piece of bling that has become the symbol of Tampa Bay Beer Week (TBBW), a visual representation of flowing beer, good times, and community.
Then the whole thing went pear shaped.
On March 7, near the end of this year’s beer week, the golden pineapple arrived at Florida Avenue Brewing Co.’s Kaleidoscope Beer Fest. Familiar faces were present, and Parot, a beer enthusiast and host of the No More Pours Podcast, who goes by Miguel Hito, was passing it around for photos.
It is relatively simple, made from components purchased online: a gold-plated chain, a decorative plastic pineapple with glass crystals, and a string of lights inside.
At some point in the evening, eyewitnesses at the brewery say they saw a woman switch off the light, tuck the pineapple into a sweatshirt, and head into the night. A $125 reward has been offered for the tropical fruit’s safe return.
“It just takes one entitled clown to throw a wrench into the fun,” says Parot. “We have a person of interest that matches the description of who snatched it with a blurred-out face, just in the odd case that it wasn’t that lady with purple hair wearing a Disney sweatshirt.”
A Last Minute Request Becomes an Enduring Symbol
The new symbol of Tampa Bay Beer Week: A pineapple topped baton. Photo by Chris Fairchild.
The beer week pineapple started as just a small inside joke, says Chris Fairchild. In 2017 he was the executive director of TBBW and was getting ready to open the doors of Halfway There, a summer fundraiser that paves the way for the annual spring celebration. A text from friend (and former beer week ED) Thomas Barris arrived.
“He asked what he could bring, and I said a pineapple,” says Fairchild. “I’m a big fan of the show Psych, and they have hidden pineapples in every episode. I just thought it would be fun to have one at the event.”
As instructed, Barris showed up with the whole fruit and photos were taken. In the years that followed organizers would bring one to Halfway There and then eventually they started purchasing more to give as gifts to breweries and bars that hosted events.
In 2020 Fairchild said the decision was made to officially incorporate the pineapple into Beer Week and it is now part of the logo.
“We were inspired by Philly Beer Week and their hammer as a symbol,” he says. “But we didn’t want a hammer.”
In 2022 Parot brought the first pineapple necklace to the event: a resin pineapple hanging from a plastic gold chain that was donated to Fairchild and the TBBW organization. Over the years it has been upgraded — it now features a five and a half pound gold-colored common metal short-link chain — and broken and glued back together several times. It also has an Apple air tag embedded into the base.
Over the years it has become a symbol of “creativity, diversity and the overall welcoming spirit of TBBW,” Barris says. “It’s a reminder that it’s OK to have fun. It’s still beer after all.”
Soon enough, the official necklace will be retired, says Fairchild. It will be replaced by a keg spear with a brass pineapple welded to the top. The baton features the TBBW logo in the pineapple leaves, and will officially premiere at this year’s Halfway There event.
“Five pounds is a lot to wear around your neck,” says Fairchild. “The baton is going to be easier to pass around.”
The Search Continues
The stolen pineapple incident is reminiscent of a similar heist that took place during Philly Beer Week in 2013, when that celebration’s symbol — the Hammer of Glory — was nicked from the Fishtown Feastivale. A police report was filed, and breathless social media and local news coverage followed. The hammer was found the next day under an I-95 overpass.
The missing pineapple — while not officially sanctioned by TBBW — is being called “the gold one” and Parot says it is the sixth he’s made since 2022. Others have been given away to friends and beer week personnel over the years.
“I make these pineapples to celebrate beer week and to share with people to have fun taking photos with. If you saw and or know the lady matching that description, or see her out with it, tell her I would like it back.”
He’s not optimistic that it will be returned, calling the theft “lame AF.”
The pineapple is a representation of all things hospitality and community, says Sean Nordquist, the director of the Tampa Bay Brewers Alliance. “Specifically, for Tampa Bay Beer Week, it is a symbol that everything is okay and good. To take that away, even if unofficially, is neither clever or funny. It is mean-spirited and the antithesis of everything Beer Week stands for.”
Anyone with information regarding the missing pineapple is asked to contact Parot.
