Every home brewer’s dream is to make it in to the big brewery leagues. What they don’t tell you when you start home brewing in your garage is that the chances of making it big are slim. That’s not to say that if you’ve got a winning beer, there’s no chance but with thousands of brewers out there, the odds are stacked against you. But if you’re Jonathon Wakefield, you turn to your fans for the support you need to make it in the brewery world.
With sites like Kickstarter and CrowdBrewed, crowd funding has become all the rage in the craft beer world. Wakefield turned to CrowdBrewed with a goal to raise $55,000 to make his brewery dreams come true. With dedicated fans like his, he was able to surpass his goal and raise $112,000, the highest grossing campaign on the site to date. And with that 100k he’s going to take his famous recipes and start his own brewery.
So what makes Wakefield stand out against every other home brewer out there? Over the years, Wakefield has made a name for himself in his hometown of Miami, making appearances at local beer festivals and tap takeovers with his signature Florida Weisses, low alcohol beers and sour beers flavored with local tropical beer. His most famous beer, “DFPF” (dragon fruit passion fruit Berliner Weisse), is known by craft beer lovers all over Florida. Clearly, this guy knows what he’s doing when it comes to brewing his own.
We’re counting down the days until J Wakefield Brewing opens and we can get our hands on one of his famous Weisses. Have any of our Florida readers tried Wakefield’s brews? Let us know if they live up to their reputation.