J Wakefield in May

I am but the trade off is that i have to buy my wife a waffle iron and make waffles for her. Its the only way she'll let me spend 25 bucks on syrup. I forgot about bottle pick ups.

 

Anybody shocked that Miami madness bottles have been pushed back to next Sat?

 

No surprise here, the day of the release, they pushed it back to next Saturday.

Hope no one made a special trip.

Whenever this 'bubble' bursts, it is shit like this that will close a brewery.

 

If you guys didn't hear, og's got am email today that said there was internal confusion about the release date, they just got the labels in today and it will be ready next Saturday.

Maybe.

 

No line, no mess for those looking to buy bottles today. Bottles are unlabeled though, wish they had some sort of indicator.

 

Buy bottles?

 

Can't tell if serious? Wakefield sold unlabeled bottles today?! Please tell me it's true! LOLOLOLOLOLOL

 

they are not selling bottles of Miami madness

 

Which is funny in its own right, but unlabeled swing tops of $25 BA syrup?! It gets more comical by the month...at least for non-OGs.

 

Did they sell out of the BA Syrup ?

 

I didn't take it as anything aggressive, I took it as "I am sorry for the date change, I know many of you need to buy flights/hotels and you can now safely book your trip"

 

I can't understand why this brewery is so uncalculated, with such a fan base, they're like the Cubs or the Mets with their event planning. It could be because so many people were involved in opening this brewery, the expectations are high on their side. They make great beer but I feel like they just aren't letting it roll. You should announce a bottle release when its bottled and sitting there in front of you, even if you want to give it a special date. J Wakefield beer is good but it's like Ace Ventura's butt is running the show. Does anyone verbally tell them that? Has anyone been like, "Hey, come to this [Cycle] or [Cigar City] or [Funky Buddha] or [Wynwood] [bottle release] or [Anniversary party] or [El Catador sign-up] or [Imperial member sign-up] with me."

 

Wakefield has been around for a while, he knows how those breweries do things. He worked at CCB for a stint and him and Doug from Cycle have brewed many a beer and hosted a few events before in the past. The problem really isn't that there are a lot of people involved with opening the brewery it's more the opposite Wakefield has tried to do to much of everything himself. And I don't foresee JWB doing any public releases for quite some time to say the least. I think the reason they announced the early date for Miami Madness is to appease those OGs that are frustrated with the length of time the bottles in general have taken. Hopefully with Maria in charge of communication after a bit communication will improve. I'm in an optimistic mood today.

 

At this point, I am shocked people are surprised about this brewery's customer service. Like, their attitude from the beginning has always been "this is what I am, this is what you get, take it or leave it." It's not going to get better. Stop hoping it will and then complaining when you're disappointed again. I mean, this is a place whose solution to the one and only exclusive member's only bottle having leaky, compromised seals on the caps was to just take the bottle a RE-CAP it!! Amazing. At this point, nothing they do should shock you anymore.

He's a top 5 Berliner brewer in South Florida, almost Top 3. The beers are VERY solid. The customer service needs work, but the beers are good. Get your expectations in line and you'll be fine.

 

What size were the bottles? Weren't they 750s? That's not a bad price for a bourbon barrel aged maple syrup. Actually it's pretty great compared to what it would cost from most other places. Go to William Sonoma and you're looking at $30 for a 12oz bottle. Other only retailers cost $16 for 8oz. Loots of places charge $2/oz or more. Pappy Co offers a pappy aged maple syrup and it is $46 for a 375ml bottle.

As for breweries, Hill Farmstead charged $50 and $40 for their 750s (depending on the grade). I'd say that $25 is a really good price and if I was down there I would have taken the gamble and bought a bottle.

 

I think they were 16oz growlers.

 

Well, first off: I wasn't commenting on the price at all…only the fact they didn't have any labels. I only mentioned the price to further expound on the silliness that is his brewery selling non-labeled products at this point.

However, now that you bring up price: I agree that they aren't necessarily overpriced. However, comparing J. Wakefield and his syrup prices to Williams & Sonoma and Hill Farmstead is a bit of a reach. Especially considering this guy hasn't even proven he can cap bottles correctly so far. Has he made and released BA syrup before? Not hating, just saying.

 

4th Best Berliner in South Florida!

 

What are the top3 if you don't mind me asking?