Chad Wiltz (Garagiste Meadery)

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Did the question on expected price for the bottles ever get answered? Too lazy to go find that thread...
 
Did the question on expected price for the bottles ever get answered? Too lazy to go find that thread...

We've answered a lot of questions in a lot of places. Lol...

The Cliffs Notes version is we aim to make a premium product. If you want low ABV, mildly flavored and watery meads please look elsewhere! We'll price them according to the quality and our cost to make. I envision 375ml bottles ranging from $15-20 each. Some costing less and others more. We will not be catering to the entry level/low cost mead market. It's simply not who we are or what we do.

Cheers!
 
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As long as I can order extra bottles being out of state still, I'm good with paying more cash if the quality is there (and based on the recommendations and reviews from people, it is)
 
As long as I can order extra bottles being out of state still, I'm good with paying more cash if the quality is there (and based on the recommendations and reviews from people, it is)
This is really my only hold up. Without an e-commerce site, I know whoever I get as trustee will have to balance my wants with other members'. As a non-local without full use of member benefits it sits around $45/bottle with a generously priced shirt.

That said, all of my friends rave about your stuff so I'm sure everyone involved will be happy.
 
This is really my only hold up. Without an e-commerce site, I know whoever I get as trustee will have to balance my wants with other members'. As a non-local without full use of member benefits it sits around $45/bottle with a generously priced shirt.

That said, all of my friends rave about your stuff so I'm sure everyone involved will be happy.

I'm hoping there is a work around for at least reserving bottles and just the actual purchase is at the physical location.
 
I'm hoping there is a work around for at least reserving bottles and just the actual purchase is at the physical location.

Sounds like some clarity is needed here. The way I see this working out is a bit like this. We will create an Owners Group FB page after the campaign ends. This will serve a few purposes, it will be a platform for updates and also to advise you as to what's coming. It also gives you the opportunity to network with other members for bottle pickup and trustees or to ask questions/communicate with us directly.

To be sure, the Owners Group will be given several days lead time. Payment will be taken via PayPal/Venmo for the bottles and they will be pulled aside to await pickup. Alternatively, you or your trustee can pick up and pay for the bottles in person during this period. Once the deadline passes we'll sell the unsold bottles to the public. It's really that simple.

I want to be clear, we cannot act as a warehouse and hold bottles for you indefinitely. I'll need them to be picked up relatively promptly. Space will be at a premium and we need them gone as new batches and bottles will be coming soon thereafter.

Solid concerns, I hope this clears up the situation a bit.

Cheers!
 
Sounds like some clarity is needed here. The way I see this working out is a bit like this. We will create an Owners Group FB page after the campaign ends. This will serve a few purposes, it will be a platform for updates and also to advise you as to what's coming. It also gives you the opportunity to network with other members for bottle pickup and trustees or to ask questions/communicate with us directly.

To be sure, the Owners Group will be given several days lead time. Payment will be taken via PayPal/Venmo for the bottles and they will be pulled aside to await pickup. Alternatively, you or your trustee can pick up and pay for the bottles in person during this period. Once the deadline passes we'll sell the unsold bottles to the public. It's really that simple.

I want to be clear, we cannot act as a warehouse and hold bottles for you indefinitely. I'll need them to be picked up relatively promptly. Space will be at a premium and we need them gone as new batches and bottles will be coming soon thereafter.

Solid concerns, I hope this clears up the situation a bit.

Cheers!
Ahh, I'm a member who doesn't use Facebook. I know, I'm a dullard who refuses to get with the times.

I'd appreciate a non-FB means to reserve bottles. Kind of like the email system Schramm's utilizes?
 
Ahh, I'm a member who doesn't use Facebook. I know, I'm a dullard who refuses to get with the times.

I'd appreciate a non-FB means to reserve bottles. Kind of like the email system Schramm's utilizes?

I understand the reluctance to use FB, the truth is I joined only a year ago. It took some prodding from friends and family for me to jump aboard.

We do intend to do a periodic newsletter using the email list provided to us by Indiegogo. I see this being a monthly newsletter much like that from Perennial. This will certainly shed some light as to the happenings at the Meadery and details about the membership bottles.

Communication is important, and we'll do our best to be sensitive to that. No single medium is perfect. Emails often get shuffled to junk mail files. People could change their email address leaving us in the dark. Social media has its stallworts too. To that end, we'll do our best to get the message out. If this program isn't working we'll adapt and make it better.

Cheers!
 
Knowing who's already in the club, I suspect TB will be a pretty solid venue to look for information.

wiltznucs what's the last day to purchase GO memberships, assuming they don't sell out first? I'm really interested but March is shaping up to be an -expensive- month with travel and other purchases that are "due" beforehand. May need to stretch things until pay day.

All that being said, I'm guessing that if I get to try anything at Cycle BA Day I'll probably end up on my phone purchasing a membership. :D
 
Knowing who's already in the club, I suspect TB will be a pretty solid venue to look for information.

wiltznucs what's the last day to purchase GO memberships, assuming they don't sell out first? I'm really interested but March is shaping up to be an -expensive- month with travel and other purchases that are "due" beforehand. May need to stretch things until pay day.

All that being said, I'm guessing that if I get to try anything at Cycle BA Day I'll probably end up on my phone purchasing a membership. :D

Basically we've sold 100 memberships as of today. We've had several folks express interest in joining as well. When we assigned a limit of 300 memberships we knew it was a lofty if not unattainable goal. Our realistic goal was to land around 100-125 members and raise $50K.

To be clear, $50K isn't going to put us on easy street but it sure takes a lot of pressure off. We also aren't planning to build a Meadery solely from other people's money. We'll have our own skin in the game too.

Barring an unexpected rush at the eleventh hour I suspect we'll get another dozen or two members total. The campaign is scheduled to end on April 2nd although we have the option of closing it anytime. Afterward, I don't see us adding much if any additional members. Those who bought in paid a premium for the exclusivity and our intent is to honor that.
 
Basically we've sold 100 memberships as of today. We've had several folks express interest in joining as well. When we assigned a limit of 300 memberships we knew it was a lofty if not unattainable goal. Our realistic goal was to land around 100-125 members and raise $50K.

To be clear, $50K isn't going to put us on easy street but it sure takes a lot of pressure off. We also aren't planning to build a Meadery solely from other people's money. We'll have our own skin in the game too.

Barring an unexpected rush at the eleventh hour I suspect we'll get another dozen or two members total. The campaign is scheduled to end on April 2nd although we have the option of closing it anytime. Afterward, I don't see us adding much if any additional members. Those who bought in paid a premium for the exclusivity and our intent is to honor that.
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wiltznucs What is your anticipated timeline for things? Getting a license, selling mead, opening a spot, etc. Just curious if you had goals in mind that you would be willing to share.

We've accomplished a few things already including applying for an LLC, filing trademarks on the name, developing our brand logo and marketing material, locking up social media/domain names and we have a basic business plan in place. By basic, we mean it's hard to be concrete when you don't have a finite figure for operating capital (hence the Indiegogo campaign).

Next steps will be identifying a site. We've actually been working on this for a few months now. The biggest challenge we've faced has been that much of the retail space in our area is anchored by a grocery store of some sort. These grocers have placed non-compete agreements on all the retail space in the shopping centers. That's a non-starter for us. So we will end up in Industrial Space likely in the Tampa/Brandon/Riverview area.

After we identity a site we will deal with county/city permits plus TTB. Architects, lawyers and whatnot enter the picture here.

I've done my best to be as transparent as possible and to not mislead people. I honestly hope to be permitted and brewing before the end of the calendar year. That is an ambitious goal. I think we'll have a much more clear picture once we get a site leased and that variable is out of the equation.
 
We've accomplished a few things already including applying for an LLC, filing trademarks on the name, developing our brand logo and marketing material, locking up social media/domain names and we have a basic business plan in place. By basic, we mean it's hard to be concrete when you don't have a finite figure for operating capital (hence the Indiegogo campaign).

Next steps will be identifying a site. We've actually been working on this for a few months now. The biggest challenge we've faced has been that much of the retail space in our area is anchored by a grocery store of some sort. These grocers have placed non-compete agreements on all the retail space in the shopping centers. That's a non-starter for us. So we will end up in Industrial Space likley in the Tampa/Brandon/Riverview area.

After we identity a site we will deal with county/city permits plus TTB. Architects, lawyers and whatnot enter the picture here.

I've done my best to be as transparent as possible and to not mislead people. I honestly hope to be permitted and brewing before the end of the calendar year. That is an ambitious goal. I think we'll have a much more clear picture once we get a site leased and that variable is out of the equation.

Best of luck on the process. Looking forward to some meads in 2017 then!!!
 
I have to say that despite my relative indifference to mead, the communication by wiltznucs on TB has me leaning towards sending some $ to a local upstart.


The goober thingys do have me intrigued tho too and I look forward to sample or 2 at Cycle BA day.

We are determined to do it right. This means more than delivering a quality product. It means delivering the service aspect too. Our goal is pretty simple, we want Garagiste to be synonymous with mead in Florida and to be considered among the countries best. What we may lack in commercial meadmaking experience we hope to make up for with passion and commitment.

We want to attract people who wish to be a part of our story. They'll have unparalleled access to our products and enjoy in both our successes and our failures. It's a family business and the way I look at it we're taking applications to be an extended part of the family.
 
Do you have a projected timeline for the following?

A) membership duration
i) is this a one time cost for lifetime membership?
ii) is this a yearly cost?
iii) is this a one time payment for the 6 bottles?

B) when membership meads will start to be made available?
i) Have any member meads been produced and are fermenting yet?
ii) Can you legally produce mead yet (permits, etc)?
 
Do you have a projected timeline for the following?

A) membership duration
i) is this a one time cost for lifetime membership?
ii) is this a yearly cost?
iii) is this a one time payment for the 6 bottles?

B) when membership meads will start to be made available?
i) Have any member meads been produced and are fermenting yet?
ii) Can you legally produce mead yet (permits, etc)?

I've run through this a time or two on some other threads here and elsewhere. It's probably good to carry them over here.

A) The membership runs one year or until all six meads are delivered. Whichever is longer.
This campaign is intended to get us off the ground. I cannot see asking $300 annually. I see a Mazer Club like model beginning in year two. You pay a small membership fee and then buy what you want. In this way your money stays in your pocket instead of mine plus our goals are aligned. You want amazing meads and if I want your money we have to deliver them.

Membership renewal will be available after the first edition is complete. Existing members will have first right of refusal. As previously mentioned we reserve the right to change the format after year one. We'll certainly listen to the membership before making changes.

B) Member meads will be available when they are ready. I'm not going to fall into the trap of handing off something I'm not entirely satisfied with just to see the membership over. All killer and no filler, we won't have it any other way.

No member meads are in the tanks as we are not legally permitted to market mead commercially at this time. Meads made before TTB licensure is illegal to sell. Between now and when we are official we will continue to make a few hundred gallons of mead from home. This is mutually beneficial as I see it. I continue to hone my craft and you ultimately get a better result when the day finally comes.

Hope this is clear, cheers!
 
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Barring an unexpected rush at the eleventh hour I suspect we'll get another dozen or two members total. The campaign is scheduled to end on April 2nd although we have the option of closing it anytime. Afterward, I don't see us adding much if any additional members. Those who bought in paid a premium for the exclusivity and our intent is to honor that.

Right on, I'm certainly not looking to drag my feet if I decide to get in, more just waiting for the April 1st pay stub. :)
 
Goal reached! $50K committed! For those who've contributed... Thank You! You are amazing! Garagiste is going to happen. The craft beer and mead community is outstanding. We are so grateful! Great things lie ahead, thanks for being a part of it.

Time still remains and memberships are available.

From the Garagiste Family to yours, thank you!
 
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Tried more Garagiste these past few days than I had tried previously, and it only reaffirmed my thoughts to invest in what wiltznucs has going on (Lady in Red was one of the best things I tried all weekend).

I know it was a rollercoaster weekend but really enjoyed sharing beers / meads / conversation and can't wait to see what the future brings.

Cheers!
 
It's been a big week for Garagiste. Most importantly we've partnered with a law firm to represent us and get the ball rolling. They've worked with two local upstart breweries and I feel really good about them.

We've submitted for our LLC and are establishing a Federal Tax ID. So within the next week or so Garagiste will exist as a company. We're also in the finishing steps of our Trademarks so things are progressing nicely.

We've also began looking at potential sites for the Meadery. We've found a few that will make good candidates so I'm optimistic that we'll find a good home in due time.

As of today our Indiegogo campaign is at $53,000 with some two weeks left. We cannot thank you enough! You are amazing!

Have a great weekend!
 
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