how to gain employment in a brewery??

I hope this is the right forum to ask but how does one go about getting their foot in the door working in the brewing industry?? while I understand it wouldn't hurt to have many years of experience home-brewing (I don't yet; only been brewing since May).

What kind of experience and education would brewery employers look for when hiring?

I have about 8 until I can retire from state job and was kicking around the idea in my head that it would be awesome if I could land a part time/full time job at a local brewery (NC) after I retire.

I would love to hear how others made it to the industry.

I had the same question, and I asked the staff down at Lonerider Brewing how to get a foot in the door. I even went as far as to say that I was willing to come on on my days off from work and be their gopher-boy and do all the crappy work that no one wants to do like clean the tanks and haul/mill grain for free. The manager there mentioned that many breweries do "internships" for aspiring brewers/beer geeks to help get a foot in the door. The problem is that this position often requires working several days during the week during normal business hours. This was not feasible for me, since I still have a full time job that keeps me occupied during "normal business hours".

I would visit the local breweries and ask the head brewer/brewery manager if there is anything you can do to help them. If you really just want a foot in the door, and are not looking to make money, then you will probably find someone who is willing to let you try it out. There are SO many breweries in this area, we are pretty lucky in that regard. I would try Lonerider (Raleigh), Aviator (Fuquay Varina), White Street Brewing (Just opened a few weeks ago in Wake Forest), Roth Brewing (Raleigh), Fullsteam (Durham) and Raleigh Brewing Company (Brand new brewer in the process of opening now) and see if anyone bites.

+1, there are lots of stories of people that ask about filling an internship position and then as a part/full time position opens up they are the first to be asked assuming they have done a great job working for free....

Just keep looking, and be willing to make some sacrifices. I have been looking for the last 2 years, emailing, calling, and knocking on every brewery door close to me asking to clean tanks and kegs. I'm those 2 years I was turned away every time, even when asking to volunteer. I just got a job at a winery/home brew store that plans on buying a brewing system soon. Strangely enough I found the job on craigslist, showed them that while I didn't have professional experience, I had been self studying for 2 years and was beyond eager to learn. I am commuting an hour each way for this though.

So main advice, look constantly, make yourself visible, and don't be afraid to make sacrifices.

Maybe my issue is that I'm not looking. I LOVE beer so, through being a weekly customer, make friends with local brewers and then over time, I volunteer for them, help clean up and do weekend work and we sort of email back and forth. Eventually, I'll get a small nudge that they need more full time help and see if I'm interested.

Maybe that's not the answer you need but it's what has worked for me although I'm happily employed

What I've read and heard quite a bit is that the breweries have lots of homebrewers that want to come brew but don't want to do the actual work and don't have any skills the brewery could use that make them stand out from the crowd. So if you have some engineering/construction/electrician/plumbing/welding/etc. skills make sure you are making that known. If you don't have those skills, look at developing them.

ReverseApacheMaster said:

What I've read and heard quite a bit is that the breweries have lots of homebrewers that want to come brew but don't want to do the actual work and don't have any skills the brewery could use that make them stand out from the crowd. So if you have some engineering/construction/electrician/plumbing/welding/etc. skills make sure you are making that known. If you don't have those skills, look at developing them.

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As an example, I work in a winery, but its a similar deal. Most of my day is spent cleaning, recleaning, re re cleaning fermenters, labeling bottles, and spent today moving 15 tons of grapes with a pallet jack. Its not easy or glorious, but if you want to work as a brewer, winemakes, etc you will end up doing dirty jobs, heavy lifting, and back breaking work, thats just how it is. Cleaning is 90% of your job or more. It gets said over and over again, but I dont think it hits people. You will go home sore every night, luckily there is usually a beer waiting for you.

My boyfriend apprentices with a local brewery and before even asking to apprentice we became friends with the owners and the 3 other people that work there. That's really the best advice I can give, esp since becoming friends with them has helped me find a beer related job because they know I know my stuff and am very personable with people of all ages and all walks of life, so they recommend me to every brewery and distributer in the area looking for smart beer people.