Working in a brewery

I have a question for you guys, I hope it's not too controversial.

Would you take a pay cut to work in a brewery? I.e. do you think the reduction in earnings would be worth all that experience - and to make a career out of it.

over worked

under paid

under appreciated

I would do it if I could afford it...

Hell, if cnbudz gets his venture off the ground, I'm going to go do grunt work for him for beer!

I couldn't imagine giving up my career to brew, I like what I do too much and I have a family. Were I still single, no kid, I might have considered it.

Only if I can have the job of checking the bottles for mice.

I can't wait, Worked out a deal with SWMBO that after she gets her doctorate, I can quit and get a job in a brewery, I told her that it would be a huge pay cut and she was ok with it because she'll Finally have a job.

Cheers

Will the pay cut put you out on the street? If so, definitely not worth it. If you can still maintain a normal lifestyle and you really want to do it, go for it.

As Bird mentioned I'm in the midst of starting a small scale brewery, doing all the applications now and they sure do suck, and I don't plan on stopping my regular job until I know I can support myself with brewing and even then I won't completely stop what I do now.

Bird, I'm saving the title of "Head Fermenter Scrubber" for you

cnbudz said:

Bird, I'm saving the title of "Head Fermenter Scrubber" for you

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I believe that would be a cellerman, and he would get to shovel out the 170deg mash tuns too

Cheers

wop31 said:

I believe that would be a cellerman, and he would get to shovel out the 170deg mash tuns too

Cheers

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Wasn't that an episode of "Dirty Jobs"?

Although it would be cool, I don't think I'd want to do it as a profession. I'm worried it would take all the fun out of it if I had to brew every day vs. doing it when I want to.

A few years back I took an extra job with a couple guys that were running an operation at one of the "card clubs" here in LA. I played blackjack about 30 hrs/week. The game holds no interest for me now. It's all about numbers.

arturo7 said:

Although it would be cool, I don't think I'd want to do it as a profession. I'm worried it would take all the fun out of it if I had to brew every day vs. doing it when I want to.

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That's the cycle that I went through with my original profession, I thought that teaching was the ****. I quickly realized that work is work, you can either ***** about it and have a hobby or you can turn the hobby into something that makes you some money.

I guess my whole thing is, I know I won't enjoy every part of my professional life, but why not enjoy as much of it as possible while you can??

Thanks for the replies....
I'm undecided at the mo. I'm still pretty young - and I trained as a chemist at uni, so am looking at QC roles.

wop31 said:

I can't wait, Worked out a deal with SWMBO that after she gets her doctorate, I can quit and get a job in a brewery, I told her that it would be a huge pay cut and she was ok with it because she'll Finally have a job.

Cheers

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My SWMBO will have her PhD in a year or so....but then we have student loans to worry about....am I crazy, or isn't pretty much everyone post-doc in this situation?

strangecarr said:

I have a question for you guys, I hope it's not too controversial.

Would you take a pay cut to work in a brewery? I.e. do you think the reduction in earnings would be worth all that experience - and to make a career out of it.

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Yep. I sure did and I'm loving it.

I also hope to one day open my own brewery and they are paying me to learn.


To be fair, I really lost love with my old job and was looking to do something I truly loved (finally). I'm actually almost making as much as I was with all the overtime that I'm now getting paid for and I smile before, during, and after work.

I agree with other posts that you shouldn't let it get you in a bind finacially, but if you can swing it, go for it. You may not get another chance and we all go around only once.

Good luck!

ScubaSteve said:

My SWMBO will have her PhD in a year or so....but then we have student loans to worry about....am I crazy, or isn't pretty much everyone post-doc in this situation?

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Well hopefully the army is going to pay for her grad school. She is going ot owwe some active duty time, but that is better then the alternitave, but yeah we will still have some smallish student loans to worry about.

Cheers

Two words about working in a brewery. Free Ingrediants.

Ingredients, hell. I want free output!

Yep, the wife and I are not renewing our contracts in April when the new school year starts. From there it will be some time as hobos and then brewery job for me. I can't wait.

the_bird said:

Ingredients, hell. I want free output!

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that is the key right there! my best friend is the head brewer at a local brewery (best in CT, I'll let you guess) and he brings home all the partial fill kegs. I get a 3/4 full log of my favorite brews at least twice a month! He also brings home all the ingredients he wants. I piggy back my grain orders on his. It's an all around great hook up.

I have 5 tap lines going and leave a sanke on one of them and always have a free "guest tap"

They just accidentally ordered a shipment of grain pre-crushed and didn't want it. they sold me two 55 lb bags of two row for $25.00!!! yes it is pre crush but if I use it fast it should stay good.

I

krispy d said:

They just accidentally ordered a shipment of grain pre-crushed and didn't want it. they sold me two 55 lb bags of two row for $25.00!!! yes it is pre crush but if I use it fast it should stay good.

I

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I think you should drive up to Yankee Ingenuity IV and bring it along to share!

Originally posted by Catfish
Yep, the wife and I are not renewing our contracts in April when the new school year starts. From there it will be some time as hobos and then brewery job for me. I can't wait.

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Did I recently read about this on Probrewer?...Boston area?

If all goes as planned I will be doing it part-time hopefully starting before November....

Brewtopia said:

Did I recently read about this on Probrewer?...Boston area?

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Yep, although I'm taking some time to be a bum first. So it'll be a few months later than I originally thought. My bum plans are not set up yet, but I was thinking of something in Belgium for the summer...

I have been stuck in a quagmire lately, so I decided I am moving to Denver and starting at the bottom. The plan is to find a job at as many breweries as possible, no matter what it is, and just start getting my foot in as many doors as possible. The ultimate goal is to become head brewer at a brewery, but I am ready and willing to put many many years of work into that goal.

The only problem is that I have lived in Florida all my life, and am planning on moving to Denver in November. I am going to freeze my skinny ass off quickly, but hey, I think it is worth it.

Ok,
I am going back for second interview to work as a chemist at a regional brewery in UK. The pay decrease is around 15% (I'm still quite young and not earning the big bucks yet!) and the holiday allowance is a lot worse. However, I think the experience may out-weigh this factor, not to mention all the free ingredients...

where can you find brewery jobs? and how can you get one if you never worked in one before?

im in NY, long island to be exact. im kinda in a weird spot myself. got laid off and not sure what i wanna do with myself.

I graduated in Chemistry two years ago. Been working in an office since. I just sent off my CV to lots of breweries in my area. I am from the UK so the breweries are a lot closer together!

udt89 said:

where can you find brewery jobs?

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http://probrewer.com/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=27

strangecarr said:

I have a question for you guys, I hope it's not too controversial.

Would you take a pay cut to work in a brewery? I.e. do you think the reduction in earnings would be worth all that experience - and to make a career out of it.

Click to expand...

strangecarr, I hope you get some good replies on your CV - and best of luck!

Right now I'm actually going through a similar experience. I was working in a safe, stable office job for a decent amount of money when the opportunity to work in a small brewery came up. I weighed my options (I'm 26, no kids, not married, and would be able to find another office job if the brewery job ended) and decided to go for it. So I ended up taking a 35% pay cut but when you've got an opportunity like that you've got to take it. I just started work at the brewery this week!

Congratulations and good luck!

MuckSP said:

strangecarr, I hope you get some good replies on your CV - and best of luck!

Right now I'm actually going through a similar experience. I was working in a safe, stable office job for a decent amount of money when the opportunity to work in a small brewery came up. I weighed my options (I'm 26, no kids, not married, and would be able to find another office job if the brewery job ended) and decided to go for it. So I ended up taking a 35% pay cut but when you've got an opportunity like that you've got to take it. I just started work at the brewery this week!

Congratulations and good luck!

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This is almost exactly my situation right now, or rather, what I hope for it to be in 6 months. I'll be 27 by then, so maybe that's the only difference. I'm ready to leave my job, and will be next summer. I have nothing tying me down, and am dying to find a job in a brewery, somewhere small enough that i'm not just stuck counting kegs. I'd like to actually LEARN something - I know I'm capable but have no formal training. I can't afford a class at the Seibel Institute right now, and would much rather find somewhere that'll pay me SOMETHING to learn with them.

It's too early I feel to start looking though, so here I am, just talking about it.

kvh

I retire in under 2 years...I would take a PT job in a brewery...

Spyk'd said:

Yep. I sure did and I'm loving it.

I also hope to one day open my own brewery and they are paying me to learn.


To be fair, I really lost love with my old job and was looking to do something I truly loved (finally). I'm actually almost making as much as I was with all the overtime that I'm now getting paid for and I smile before, during, and after work.

I agree with other posts that you shouldn't let it get you in a bind finacially, but if you can swing it, go for it. You may not get another chance and we all go around only once.

Good luck!

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Just curious, I see you're from MS. What brewery are you working at?

Sorry, but I couldn't resist.