Photo by Julia Rose
Audio By Carbonatix
Johnathan Wakefield is a brewer on a mission. Since opening his brewery in Wynwood eight years ago, he’s been a champion of independent producers like himself, who hustle to make the beers we love to drink.
For seven years, Wakefield has produced Wakefest, a beer festival that spotlights those small mom-and-pop breweries that struggle to put beer on our tables and bread on their own. Wakefield says that the annual event isn’t exactly a profit center. “I wish we made money on these festivals. Four years ago, we made enough to pay for everything and help buy a canning line. For the last three years, we were happy to break even. Now we’re on a budget,” he says of the festival.
But Wakefield says that even with the past few years of difficulty, Wakefest will go on. “This is my home. I hope locals come out to Wakefest and support the idea. And that was the idea – to have a good Miami craft beer festival.”
This year, Wakefield will celebrate the eighth edition of Wakefest on Saturday, February 11, with an ’80s theme. “We’re taking it back to the ’80s with music and ’80s pop culture-themed beers named after Top Gun and Madonna,” says Wakefield. In addition, Wakefield is asking attendees to dress like it’s the ’80s, so it’s time to break out the Wayfarers and leg warmers.
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The venue for Wakefest is being finalized, and New Times will update this story with location details as they become available.
Wakefest Eight will offer beer from about 95 craft brewers from across the country, for a total of about 120 beers to experience. Wakefield says that, in the past, each brewer would bring two or three kegs. At the end of the day, there was too much beer wasted. Each participating brewery will be asked to pour one or two different beers. “That’s still a lot of different beers to try,” he adds.
Still, says Wakefield, there will always be the breweries that will run out of beer almost immediately. “You’ll always have that keg that blows out in 20 minutes,” he says before adding, “But there are 100 other beets to try.”
Wakefest Eight. 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, February 11, at location TBA; jwakefieldbrewing.com. Tickets cost $75 to $125 via eventbrite.com.
