If you could work in the beer industry

So if you could work in the beer industry would you knowing that you would have to make a lot less money? I am currently in the civil engineering field and I got to say I'm pretty sure it's not for me anymore. I have wanted to get into the beer industry for some time and now I'm thinking what the heck. I just applied at my LHBS in hopes of starting over but I'll have to make less than half what I make now and I'll loose all my benefits but I think I would be totally happy. The guy that is leaving is starting a brewery so I'm kind of thinking this job could be a springboard to become a brewer at some point.

You only live life once

Maybe you should try some weekend shifts to see if you like it before you jump to any decisions.

Thats a big pay cut. Sometimes, ok all the time, happyness can override money. It would be very hard for me to take 1/2 as much now just to be happy. I dont like my job, but I like all the stuff it allows me to buy.

Depends on what your obligations are. I would be happy volunteering to dispense homebrew advice all day at Homebrewmart in San Diego while tasting beers all day, but that won't pay the bills or get my kids through college or pay for my brewhaus.

If I had a source of steady income equal to what I earn now, I could go work in a LHBS, but I would not work in a brewery as then it would be come work. I'd like to own one and come dabble in it, you know, do hop additions, turn some valves, take gravity readings, watch the hired help clean out the kettles & mash tuns, etc.

if you can pay your bills and have enough left over each month to still brew and enjoy your life then I say go for it

EdWort said:

Depends on what your obligations are. I would be happy volunteering to dispense homebrew advice all day at Homebrewmart in San Diego while tasting beers all day, but that won't pay the bills or get my kids through college or pay for my brewhaus.

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I swear when I am in Home Brew Mart I spend half of my time talking to new brewers. I love it. I would totally work there on weekends or even just give advice. I love my local home brew store.

Oh, and in response to the actual topic: I am currently working on paying down my debt so I can go back to school to become a professional brewer. I've never wanted to do something more in my life and I know brewing would make me happy. If you can afford to do so, I say go for it.

Although, unless your home brew store has a brewery attached like mine, you might be better off looking into a job as a cellarman or something at a brewery. I think that's a much more suitable springboard job.

Yeah actually it starts as a part time position that I can do on the weekends and still keep my other job then transitions into full time come fall. I'm fairly young, 26, and my wife and I have no kids as of yet and we carry no debt at this time so it seems to me to be a good time to do it. The pay cut is a really hard one but I watched my dad do a job he absolutely hated for 25 years and I told myself I would never do that.

carnevoodoo said:

Oh, and in response to the actual topic: I am currently working on paying down my debt so I can go back to school to become a professional brewer. I've never wanted to do something more in my life and I know brewing would make me happy. If you can afford to do so, I say go for it.

Although, unless your home brew store has a brewery attached like mine, you might be better off looking into a job as a cellarman or something at a brewery. I think that's a much more suitable springboard job.

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I've actually been talking to a friend about helping out with starting a brewery that has been down for some time. I figure that would be a side thing as I doubt it would pay much at this point but it would be a great way to learn. The job with the HBS would build a lot of contacts and I think this would be a good way to get in with someone eventually.

I'm with Ed. I'd like to own one, be there on brew days to make sure things are done the way that I want them, then go home in time to have dinner with the family.

There's just no way that I could take the paycut that would be required.

Well...

My wife's going back to school for her doctorate, she's going to teach Classics at some liberal arts school. This means a paycut for us right and that I've got to start paying for our health insurance again.

What I've told her to tell me... if/when I get frustrated about the finances, to remind me that once she's a tenured professor at some rich university somewhere, it could be theoretically possible for me to quit my job, hit up some old clients for capital, and start a brewery.

I can't imagine going through with that - but knowing that it at least is a possibility....

the_bird said:

Well...

My wife's going back to school for her doctorate, she's going to teach Classics at some liberal arts school. This means a paycut for us right and that I've got to start paying for our health insurance again.

What I've told her to tell me... if/when I get frustrated about the finances, to remind me that once she's a tenured professor at some rich university somewhere, it could be theoretically possible for me to quit my job, hit up some old clients for capital, and start a brewery.

I can't imagine going through with that - but knowing that it at least is a possibility....

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That's what I told my wife she is currently getting her masters in Chemistry so I'm figuring she'll be the moneymaker in the household

I've been thinking about this alot too. I'm a voice engineer and I get paid good, and most of the beer related positions I have found pay about 25k and require nights, weekends, etc. I couldn't affort the pay cut due to bills and kids, but it's still a dream. I hope to make it work someday soon. Opening up a brewery is an idea that keeps dancing in my head. Having read "Brewing up a Business" by Sam from Dogfish definately makes it seem feasible. I guess you can't follow your dreams by sitting in a cubicle all day.

freyguy said:

I've been thinking about this alot too. I'm a voice engineer and I get paid good, and most of the beer related positions I have found pay about 25k and require nights, weekends, etc. I couldn't affort the pay cut due to bills and kids, but it's still a dream. I hope to make it work someday soon. Opening up a brewery is an idea that keeps dancing in my head. Having read "Brewing up a Business" by Sam from Dogfish definately makes it seem feasible. I guess you can't follow your dreams by sitting in a cubicle all day.

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True, I'm sitting in one right.

I am in a cube too! At least mine has bottles of barrel aged stout and about 20 empty 22's in it.

This is constantly on my mind as well. The flip side is I am still young and don't make all that much yet. I am looking for a new (higher paying) job, and working for a brewery, or any entry level beer related job is my dream but would require a pay cut, when I barely make enough as it is. Tough decision, I bet if I made a lot of money it would be even harder, but I know where you are coming from with this.

carnevoodoo said:

I am in a cube too! At least mine has bottles of barrel aged stout and about 20 empty 22's in it.

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I have a few empty bombers as well, people at work give them to me to refill for them, I have to hide them however because certain people here wouldn't find them amusing. One thing I could really dig is drinking on the job the owner of the brew store told me I would have to do a lot of sampling so I could make suggestions

If anyone told me to hide the beer bottles here, I'd likely leave. Also, with Alesmith being about a mile from here, I have their beer here fairly often. It is a nice thing to look at all day.

Tough choice. I could not walk away from my job, as much as I'd like to. Kids in college, car payments, house, etc... But if I had no bills, no kids and could do it all over again, I would probably start low at some brewery and work my way up, as I did in my current career. Of course, as someone else said in so many words, it stops being fun when it starts being work.

My sister owns and is the chef of a trendy restaurant. When I feel comfortable with my quality, I'm going to demo the brand there. Anything could happen but I'm not making a goal of it. It seems the greatest successes are often by accident. We'll see. I can't help but dream a little. Find a local pub that would tap your keg if you gave it for free as a promotional item. You could have a local hit with the regulars and from there you can branch out to other establishments. This is how many micro brews start. If after time you are comforatble spending every spare moment keeping up with the demand (a good problem to have) then you have truly found your calling.

Good luck.

Im a cook and i get payed quite well for what I do but i cant stand where I work. I enjoy most of the people I work with and what I do quite thoroughly. But all the Bull just wears you down. I think that even with the paycut you would be able to make it, you may have to cut back in other things, but you can still make it as long as it's something you truly want. You may have to work harder and longer for it but everything always works out in the end, or you die in which case you don 't have to worry about it anyway. And as for happiness that is always much more important than money. Money only makes things easier it doesn't make you happy. And how good would life be if it were easy all the time. I personally think it would be boring and not much fun if it were easy all the time. Remember though that BS will be at anyplace so don't think it will all be fun. Think this out and good luck, I hope it works out for you.

If it were me, I'd stay at the job that pays well and then try to find a part time job at a brewstore or something. I would start saving up some of that money and invest it well so that when I got older I could "retire" young from the good paying job and get a job I really like. Starting part time would help me decide if my dream job is really as good as I hoped.
I'm retiring young from my real job in 4 years and I tell everyone that I'm either going to become a brewer or a fishing guide. It sounds nice but I'm not sure either job would really live up to the fantasy.

nyer said:

If it were me, I'd stay at the job that pays well and then try to find a part time job at a brewstore or something. I would start saving up some of that money and invest it well so that when I got older I could "retire" young from the good paying job and get a job I really like. Starting part time would help me decide if my dream job is really as good as I hoped.
I'm retiring young from my real job in 4 years and I tell everyone that I'm either going to become a brewer or a fishing guide. It sounds nice but I'm not sure either job would really live up to the fantasy.

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When I said I make good money I don't make enough to retire early so that's not really an option, good to me is $40k a year and here in the NW that's not really all that great when you look at tech jobs and such, but I live simple so I live well on what I make, especially with my wife still in school.

The other thing is I don't think I could work here another 30 years and retire early, I would be severely unhappy for a long time and I just don't think that is a way to live your life no matter how much money you make.

Hey! I'm in Salem, too!
If I were you, I'd ask myself what I really wanted to do with my life and find a way to make that happen. If you really want to own a brewery, that may entail working at a job you hate to build up startup funding. I haven't decided what I want to do yet.

I love home brewing, and I think I would enjoy commercial brewing as well. In my mind I see myself working in a beer related industry when I retire from the Navy, but the reality is that I'd have to be pulling in some serious bucks to maintain my standard of living, and that's the one thing that would probably keep me from being a full time brewer.

Definately try to do some part time work at a brewery and decide if the job is as fun as the hobby.

mew said:

Hey! I'm in Salem, too!
If I were you, I'd ask myself what I really wanted to do with my life and find a way to make that happen. If you really want to own a brewery, that may entail working at a job you hate to build up startup funding. I haven't decided what I want to do yet.

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We should get together and brew sometime. I agree that I should try to work at a brewery but we really don't have anything close (Salem area anyway) so I'm at least thinking that working at the LHBS would get me the necessary contacts to start in the right direction. I couldn't see myself saving up the money to just start a brewery, you need some serious capital, but I can see myself starting from the bottom at a already established brewery. The other thing is my current work takes up most of my time so it seems like I should just go all in and make the plunge if I'm going to do it.

Life, she is a mother fudger.

Im currently going to college in a major I dont want to be in at all. I really wanted to be a pilot my first year but couldnt afford the extra tuition. I would go back in a heartbeat and take the extra debt. Now im stuck doing BS insternships, taking BS classes, and working BS jobs. Im a senior at Illinois right now and my dad thinks im looking up Grad Schools to get my masters (again for something I dont enjoy at all). I even took the damned GRE, but what my paps doesnt know is that im really looking to go to brew college and get a degree in that and live my life being a professional brewer.

However, I dont even know where to start going about changing my life so radically....

At this point in my life and at my locale, IF I could work in a brewery I want the job as part time taster.

I just can't afford the dream of starting up my own brewery nor, can I afford the pay cut to be a full time grunt lubing the bottler or cleaning the tun. Not that I would mind that but, I gotta family to support here.

EamusCatuli said:

Life, she is a mother fudger.

Im currently going to college in a major I dont want to be in at all. I really wanted to be a pilot my first year but couldnt afford the extra tuition. I would go back in a heartbeat and take the extra debt. Now im stuck doing BS insternships, taking BS classes, and working BS jobs. Im a senior at Illinois right now and my dad thinks im looking up Grad Schools to get my masters (again for something I dont enjoy at all). I even took the damned GRE, but what my paps doesnt know is that im really looking to go to brew college and get a degree in that and live my life being a professional brewer.

However, I dont even know where to start going about changing my life so radically....

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Do it I was in my last year of college and I really wanted to get into the fermentation science program at OSU but I was burned out and just wanted to be done with school. Looking back I should have stayed in school I would have been much happier. Trouble is the longer your out of school the harder it is to get back because of lifestyle changes and such so just go for it now you'll thank me for it.

GilaMinumBeer said:

At this point in my life and at my locale, IF I could work in a brewery I want the job as part time taster.

I just can't afford the dream of starting up my own brewery nor, can I afford the pay cut to be a full time grunt lubing the bottler or cleaning the tun. Not that I would mind that but, I gotta family to support here.

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Yeah I hear ya man, if you have responsibilities there is nothing you can do. Believe me, my wife and I had to have some serious discussion before I sent my app.

Don't you have to have taken science classes in college to go in to a brewing program? I have a degree in Landscape Architecture, so I took very little science in college. I'd assume I'd have to take some night classes at the local CC to get the science credits needed to enroll.

Austin_LSU said:

Don't you have to have taken science classes in college to go in to a brewing program? I have a degree in Landscape Architecture, so I took very little science in college. I'd assume I'd have to take some night classes at the local CC to get the science credits needed to enroll.

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I don't really know I guess it would depend on the degree, I know that fermentation science would require chemistry and biology courses as a core so likely any degree in fermentation would require some sort of science background. You could do most of it a community college however I should think. The only things I saw that I would still need to do is organic chemistry and microbiology to be allowed into the fermentation science program. I will say that I talked to a friend that is currently in fermentation science and he said that he had talked to some brewers and they recommended working for a brewery as a better alternative. Likely even with a degree you would start at the bottom, work experience goes a long way in the industry.

Hey farmer - where are you working? Is it in the Salem area?

blacklab said:

Hey farmer - where are you working? Is it in the Salem area?

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Actually I work more or less in the metro area (sorry my work doesn't know I'm looking so I'm trying to be somewhat nonspecific, you never know if there's a closet HBTer that you don't know about )

Just wanted to let you all know that I have an interview tomorrow night with the owner of the LHBS, he has even offered to go out and grab a brew and some grub over the interview (at the local brewery I assume). Wish me luck.

farmbrewernw said:

Just wanted to let you all know that I have an interview tomorrow night with the owner of the LHBS, he has even offered to go out and grab a brew and some grub over the interview (at the local brewery I assume). Wish me luck.

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Sounds way better than the job interview I had yesterday. Good luck!

I would totally work in the beer industry if I could get away with it. Unfortunately, life demands I make as much money as I do, so I'm stuck in this craphole place until I find another 'real' job.

EvilTOJ said:

I would totally work in the beer industry if I could get away with it. Unfortunately, life demands I make as much money as I do, so I'm stuck in this craphole place until I find another 'real' job.

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There is nothing wrong with being responsible, if it was not responsible for me to take this job I wouldn't even think of it, however my wife and I know we can make it work with a lower income. I don't think I'll be buying brewing equipment like mad anymore though, although I will get a mad discount!

EamusCatuli said:

Life, she is a mother fudger.

Im currently going to college in a major I dont want to be in at all. I really wanted to be a pilot my first year but couldnt afford the extra tuition. I would go back in a heartbeat and take the extra debt. Now im stuck doing BS insternships, taking BS classes, and working BS jobs. Im a senior at Illinois right now and my dad thinks im looking up Grad Schools to get my masters (again for something I dont enjoy at all). I even took the damned GRE, but what my paps doesnt know is that im really looking to go to brew college and get a degree in that and live my life being a professional brewer.

However, I dont even know where to start going about changing my life so radically....

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Starte taking molecular and cellular biology and then apply to get you Ph.D. at the the food and brewing science program at UC-Davis. UC-Davis is a consulting client of mine, and their brewing and food science program is top notch. They even have 2 breweries on campus a 7 barrel brewhouse and a brand new 33barrel brew house donated by anheiser bush.