UC Davis Brewing program need advice. - Page 2

wheels4 · 01-15-2012, 01:08 PM

If you have the desire and drive (most think they do but dont) go right to work. Get a job working in a brewery as soon as you can. They are becoming more popular and are springing up all over. The good thing about nanobreweries is just about every town can support one. Most men love to drink beer and if you make good beer they will come. I remember when the brewery opened behind my house on Long Island...now they are bigger then the owners ever imagined (yes I know them). They make great beer and are rewarded for it. All it takes is guts...Im still looking for mine. Its much easier to take this step when your young and have no kids. If you do it now and have the drive when you get to my age (42) you can be on top of your own little world. If I didnt have a wife and kids to support I would be doing this now, but Im on a 5 year plan and have some investors lined up. My beer sucks though

. Good luck with your decision...if it was mine I would go to work as it has worked great for me so far.

TheBreweryUnderground · 01-15-2012, 05:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eluna

Yes i have thought of possibly starting my own business but at my age (of 21) the initial costs are enormous and extremely risky. I understand what you are saying and im at a really confusing point in my life whether education is the way to go and or work for a brewery for a couple years or so till i get a resume suitable for a company of what i feel "happy" with and possibly start a brewery later in life.

Two people of the Forbes 30 under 30 Food & Wine (totally bull**** capitalist nonsense) were brewers. Don't let the youth factor keep you from doing something, we've inherited enough from the terrible baby boomer generation, take a look at some of the kickstarter pages for breweries, some suck while others are better. Pipeworks Brewery in Chicago is getting started by two young guys and has their funding taken care of. Just my 2 cents.

BigTim559 · 01-29-2012, 03:23 AM

First time poster... long time lurker. New hombrewer and college grad dealing with the same thoughts (is more expensive education worth it?). This thread caught my eye.

I won't pretend to know what the right answer is but I will say what I have decided to do...

I have some money for a start-up ($25K approx... plus potential investors) and I would like to do the contract brewing route to start a brand and build it. I, however, have a lot to learn and if I were to do the school route it would eat up a ton of that money.

I've decided to take some of the short course classes with U.C. Davis ($300 for the homebrewing weekend class, $1300 for the intensive science for practical brewing class) , spend a little money to get my homebrew setup so I can fine-tune some recipes, and I am working on getting an internship at a brewery. In addition I want to start entering as many beers as possible into as many competitions as possible.

The way I see it... if I have some medals, some classes/education on paper, some work experience, some good recipes, and still plenty of my own savings for a start-up... I am in pretty good shape.

Is this the right path for you? Not necessarily. Just perhaps consider not putting everything into 1 path or the other. To say you can't have some formal education as well as work experience is a false dichotomy.

Good luck!

PS
I am 27 and as I approach 30 I realize I want to take some risks sooner than later (before I marry my girl and start popping out kids). My dad gave up his music career when he had kids and I, personally, am not ok with doing that to myself.

**Waynep005** · 01-29-2012, 03:09 PM

I would recomend UC Davis not only do they have a very good brewing program you would get a BA from a great University that would be a great advantage even if you do not end up in the brewing industry.