Wolves & People

Unfortunately they referred to him as consulting Brewer from the beginning. I looked since that felt like a change. Caveat emptor.

But the way it was disclosed feels very calculated and borderline dishonest. Feels like spin.

 

Agreed WHOLEheartedly. Despite being unplanned and unforeseen it nevertheless feels like a bait and switch. Jordan being there was the reason I paid so much to sign up.

 

Maybe if he was hired as a Brewer, but he was called Consultant Brewer from the get go. Sounds like he was just there to help with the brewery build.

 

anyone else humored by how they continue to name-drop shelton brothers? it's like buying a new home and giving all the credit to your moving company.

 

Thought everyone learned their lesson with J Wakefield. "fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again."

 

I didn't buy into JW, but am definitely feeling fooled this time around. Their crowdbrewed page stated, "Let us be loud and clear: Wolves & People is not a brewery “on paper” looking for handouts to start a company", but at this point in time it feels like that is exactly what they were.

 

It's starting to look more and more likely that we got "wakefielded".

 

Ain't followed the J-Wake situation as its 3000+ miles away - Miami Madness was pretty bangin when I had it at GABF though

 

Damn irritating. I know I signed up for the newsletter and I'm a "Cellar Member". And how do I find out about this? On here. Sometimes I get the feeling they keep us in the dark on purpose...

I'm still waiting for them to ask for more money - without them ever having produced any beer - with the exception for that one glass that I basically paid $35 for at Feast.

 

So, does this mean that @JordanBrewer won't be posting updates on this thread any more?

 

More on their update from yesterday.

From Summer Into Fall
It was a season of serious shipbuilding! Now we're about to set sail.
The hot months were exactly that: blazing busy! We've done so much lately, it's hard to know where to begin. But first, as I write, I'm still buzzing about attending the Shelton Bros. Festival in St. Petersburg, FL. A highlight was getting to meet some of our Cellar Society members who flew out there from Seattle. It's great to see people out there traveling to taste the best beers in the world. It's pure inspiration, and we can't wait to share our handiwork with you down here.

Going back a bit, we spent the month of June overseeing the installation of a new 400,000 BTU steam boiler. This sucker has to sit in front of a fireproof wall, and we sourced all the tile from salvage suppliers. It was about five weeks time—steam pipe fitting is no joke!—but we finally got our boiler fired up and approved.

Next up was a massive round of plumbing and electrical to get approved by the county building dept. and Oregon Dept. of Agriculture. Jordan worked hard inside the brewery and out to make it ready for these all-important inspections, cleaning and oiling 19 huge old growth beams above the cellar, for starters. We then had to install a 1,500 gallon process wastewater tank outside. This is about the size of a taco truck and is buried 10' underground. Then a mere 150' of new septic line... glamorous farm brewer stuff, you know.

During that time, we also built something we're really proud of: a custom room for our mill. Working with my neighbor (and former HS art teacher) Jack O'Brien, we sourced hemlock and old barn windows from salvage. Fun fact: barley dust is both toxic to the lungs and highly explosive, so you can't have exposed outlets or lights inside. The more you know!

While we were waiting for the (federal) TTB license, we busied ourselves with home brewing 5-gallon test batches, and harvesting some stellar blackberries, hops, and plums from the farm for later use. In August, we finally got word from TTB that we were officially a licensed brewery-public house (after waiting 8 months!), which only then allowed us to go to the State of Oregon and apply for our liquor license. That's another 100-item checklist, with much back and forth, but I'm glad to say we are nearly finished with that process now.

Naturally I'm eager to begin full-scale brewing and build our inventory with the house cultures we've been growing. Once I have that state license, I can proceed full speed. And I'm thrilled to report that after a three-month search we have a new brewer coming aboard: Jake Miller, formerly of Prairie Artisan Ales in Tulsa, Oklahoma (with Prairie founder Chase Healey's blessing—cheers, Chase!). Jake comes to Wolves & People with deep experience, having been head brewer of Prairie's Tulsa widely respected facility, closely involved with formulations of many sour, wild/brett, and foraged beers (just our kind of guy). Jake has been in charge of recipe formulation, wort production, daily cellar, barrel, and foudre management, yeast wrangling, blending, and packaging for a year and a half. His passion is brewing saisons and the careful fermentation of sour beers. And when he's not brewing, he's skiing, stalking trout, and spinning five-string banjo tunes. Please join me in welcoming Jake to the team!

Speaking of snow, with Jake's arrival we turn another page—consulting head brewer Jordan Keeper has moved to Europe to brew with with fellow Shelton Bros. brewers Trois Dames. I'm truly grateful for the time Jordan spent with Wolves & People helping me get this huge project off the ground, and we wish him all the best of luck in his new Alpine abode. He's now living in the ancient homeland of fondue. Can't wait to see what he comes up with in St. Croix. Thanks again, Jordan.

And thank you for reading this entire Russian novel! News about our first beers, events, and more will be coming very soon. Cheers!

- Christian

 

Waiting for the J Wake/Wolves & People collab.

 

Anyone upset that an ex brewer at Prairie is assigned with this task? Sorry if it comes across as trolling. I'm being serious. The stouts are the best thing that Prairie has going for them. The saisons are ok but definitely not world class.

 

No. That's not what's upsetting me... What is upsetting me is that they said they would have a "Portland launch party, date TBD in November" of last year. They did not. They said they would "look forward to welcoming visitors during the Craft Brewers Conference in Portland, OR in April 2015". They did not. As a "Cellar Society Member", I haven't heard anything. The only information is what's on their social media. Hell, they haven't updated their website in over a year.

 

They've updated the "press release" section with all sorts of glowing articles.

 

If you look, they most recent article is over a year old.

I guess my $350 must have gone to a press agent. How else would they have gotten all of those write ups without actually brewing anything!

 

They're not all sorted chronologically. There's a few from this summer, including that Business Insider article about "17 breweries you have to visit before you die." With any luck, they'll actually be open before that happens to me.

 

Americana, Brett C, Funky Gold Mosaic, Prairie Hop were all quite good. Prairie Vision I thought was great. I'd say they're much better than OK but short of world class.

That said, I don't know that it's their intention to make world class saisons. Seems they make things at a reasonable pricepoint with decent availability. And then you have the factor that this guy was an assistant brewer, working to deliver someone else's vision. So, I don't really know what to think. The brewery has proven competent at making really good saisons / wilds but hasn't really dabbled in the type of stuff one would hope / expect Wolves & People to make ... and we don't really know the vision / skill of said brewer. I'd say it's neutral to slight positive.

The most positive thing about it is that they have in fact hired a full time brewer. For good or bad, that means we should actually see some beer ... probably ... maybe.

 

Just for shits and giggles, I went back and read the OP, and the first page of replies. I suggest y'all do the same. It's entertaining.