So I had seen Johnathan the owner of J. Wakefield post an image on Instagram on January 9, 2019, I believe was the date about a bottle share for the 21st of January at the brewery. When I saw that I as like yeah!! I want to go.
On the day of the event itself I noticed something came across my feed on Facebook, I checked it out and it was a link for the event and there was a link to RSVP via Eventbrite, when I clicked it, it said sold out.
So now I started to become a little concerned that I may not be able to participate/drink in the bottle share. I decided to message J. Wakefield via messenger and then I also messaged Johnathan via instagram. Man was I inpatient waiting for a response. Though I did get one, first from Johnathan, to which he said “we should have enough to go around” – When I saw the message I was relieved, I thought “Oh, good, I can still try some of the beers during the bottle share!”.
Then I also got a response on messenger from the J. Wakefield brewery which said “We will allow non RSVP to participate at the discretion of upper management after a certain time frame after all the RSVP guests have signed in. There are no guarantees.”
So after work I headed over, now I had brought two beers with me in a bag, just in case, as you know, bottle share normally people bring beers.
As I made the line to order a beer, my excitement grew as I saw the beers on the table being held in containers with ice.
I opted for “The Stout is Not Enough” which is described on untapped as “A rich and decadent Imperial Stout brewed with cacao nib and vanilla bean.” at 12%, this was going to haunt me later. It was good. I think it needed more vanilla in my opinion.
So as I watched people check in at 6pm – for the people who RSVP’ed to check in, I realized that it appeared the RSVP had more to do with getting first access to the bottle of Bibingka which is describbed on untapped as “Bourbon barrel aged imperial stout with a blend of coconut & Sitio Belis coffee. Brewed and bottled at J. Wakefield Brewing in collaboration with Mostra Coffee and LIFE X LLAB to commemorate Mostra Coffee’s 5th Anniversary and the inception of LIFExLLAB.”
Now, While I would have liked to get a bottle, I didn’t RSVP nor did I have the cash for it. So I was alright with not being able to get this bottle, I was more interested in trying the beers that were brought for the bottle share.
I realized that the actual sharing of the beer was going to take a while to commence as they checked everyone in and those people bought the special release beer, the bottle limit was 6.
I also felt like an idiot for bringing beer with me, when it started to sink in that it seemed like the bottle share here is not what I’m used to where people bring bottles and drink. It was more, the beers were from Johnathan’s stash and everyone there would be able to try some of them. Oh well, now I know for next time.
It probably took about thirty minutes to an hour more or less for the actual bottle share to begin/bottles started being opened.
The first beer I first tried is pictured above, this was a great Belgian beer!
The 6ix Days in Dade was good. I tasted guava above anything else in it. The next beer I tried was Antique Coco, which was great. The coconut wasn’t that pronounced and it’s not overly sweet.
As much as I tried to keep taking notes on what I thought and trying beers, it wasn’t really working well at some points. So here are some photos of the other beers I tried.
Hunahpu pictured above is from 2013.
The Portuguese Blindfold I wasn’t expecting since it’s a honeywine, though this was delicious!
The Confuzzled was lacking in flavor and had a carbonated taste to it, got some mango and pineapple, not much guava.
Now, seeing the growler was like, uh, what beer am I drinking from this brewery exactly? Though someone else asked, and this was 2014 Czar Jack.
Now for more beer pictures.
The Double BA Huna had great flavors and was really enjoyable! Though I couldn’t figure out which year it was.
So, after starting with “This Stout is Not Enough” which was a 12%, and trying these 18 beers and after that bottle in purple, I sadly, had to tap out.
As I said, that beer would haunt me and note to self, start lower next time!
Though all in all, I’m glad to have been able to be apart of and have tried those beers!