Call out to commercial brewers! What are you looking for in an employee?

I recently got the opportunity to meet up with the brewmaster of Mill Street Brewery here in Toronto, and am hoping that by the time I meet up with him I will have a good enough handle on technical brewing to get a job at the brewery. I have a Biology degree and have a good understanding of chemistry and the like, so my research so far has been fascinating and fun. I have been reading the 750 pg reference guide called Handbook of Brewing Processes, Technology, Markets and have learned all about commercial production. But for the interview, what should I be prepared for? If/when you hire a new technical brewer, what do you ask them/what do you look for? I really want this opportunity, and want to make the best of it.
Thanks for any input!

There is a "help wanted" section over on the probrewer forum. I'd read through some of the ads to see what other breweries are looking for.

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

From what I've read on there, the two biggest factors are ability to lift a full keg of beer (~72kg), and being willing to work for minimum wage.

It also takes someone passionate about cleaning, since that's probably what you'll spend most of your time doing. I don't remember which brewery it was, but their "head brewer" had a business card that listed his title as "head janitor."

I think in terms of weight lifting 55 pounds seems to be a bit realistic, 72 kg is a lot for anyone to lift on a regular basis. But cleaning, yes and lifting, for sure but what about technical skills? Thats more what I want to know about. Grunt work is easy, anyone with a good work ethic can do that. I am a scientist, though, also. So how can I make that worth something?

siobhangeraldine said:

I think in terms of weight lifting 55 pounds seems to be a bit realistic, 72 kg is a lot for anyone to lift on a regular basis.

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It's not a TERRIBLE lot. Go to the gym and do some basic barble exercising. If you're a healthy, strong male you should pretty quickly (months) get into the upper 100's as far as deadlifts go, and hopefully do a decent fraction of that as power cleans (jumping and lifting over your head). After a few months, lifting a 72kg keg will seem like a breeze.

As a fellow scientist with a BS in Biology and 6 years work experience as an analytical chemist, who also tried to break into the brewing industry, I can tell you that the number 1 thing breweries are looking for in new employees is experience. It doesn't matter how ****ty, lowly, or poorly-paying the job is, they want someone with previous brewery experience with brewing coursework preferred. It's kind of F'in annoying and I got tired of being rejected for jobs that would pay a fraction of what I'm making now so I stopped trying.

siobhangeraldine said:

I think in terms of weight lifting 55 pounds seems to be a bit realistic, 72 kg is a lot for anyone to lift on a regular basis. But cleaning, yes and lifting, for sure but what about technical skills? Thats more what I want to know about. Grunt work is easy, anyone with a good work ethic can do that. I am a scientist, though, also. So how can I make that worth something?

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Well, you don't have to lift the kegs up over your head. If you haven't already, search for "lift" here:
http://www.probrewer.com/vbulletin/search.php

and:
http://www.probrewer.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=22046&highlight=lift

read through the job postings. All of them require ability to repeatedly lift 55 pounds over your head, and most require you to occasionally lift/maneuver kegs.

And grunt work is really, really hard. As someone who does grunt work for probably 40 hours a week (of my 80 hour workweek) I think you're underestimating how much it sucks to lift really heavy things when it's really hot.

Over on the AHA forum there's a homebrewer-turned-probrewer who talks about how during the heat wave this summer, they would take breaks by standing in the sun outside on a 112*F day, because it was a lot cooler than inside the brewery.

A brewery is a factory. They make cool stuff there, but it's still a factory.

siobhangeraldine said:

I am a scientist, though, also. So how can I make that worth something?

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Don't work at a brewery.

Wow, you guys sure are encouraging. Talk about stamping out a lady's dreams. Well in my world, things aren't so ****ty as they seem to be in your worlds. I am excited about working in a craft brewery, I am sure I will do lots of grunt work but I am used to that. I have been working for myself as a contractor for years now, and I'm pretty sure some of the hard work I have done in 45 C weather is comparable to moving around kegs. And eventually I will get involved in the brewing. Or I will quit and move on with my experience to carry me to the next one.

So lay off with the negativity, please. I am looking for advice, not peoples bad feelings.
Thanks.

Well, the first thing is that this is a homebrewer forum. While many of our fine regulars have been commercial brewers at one point and many have moved on to commercial brewing, you're going to get a typical homebrewer response. Most of us realize that working in a brewery is going to ruin the hobby for us.

The second thing is, and sorry for airing my pet peeve on your thread, but posting anything on a public forum is going to garner comments and opinions that stray slightly from the exact question you asked because not everyone shares your goals.

Hypothetical exaggeration:
Q: What's the best round to use to shoot myself in the head?
A: You shouldn't kill yourself, there's still hope.
Q: Jerk, just answer the question.

What do you want to do with your bio degree? If it's microbiology with a focus on yeast, then you can get a scientist job in a brewery(most likely not a craft brewery though, few are big enough to need/afford a yeast specialist) other wise you are going to have to start at the bottom like everyone else which is cleaning kegs, shoveling out mash tuns, etc.

Not being negative, just realistic. Sorry

When you ask for advice on anything, be prepared for people to give you advice you may not want to hear.

My suggestion: Ignore everything everyone has said here. Approach this problem like a scientist. Read through as many "help wanted" advertisements on probrewer you can find. Record the types of experience, qualifications, job requirements, etc. by frequency. Record salaries and expected hours by frequency. Arrange the data however you'd like.

Draw your conclusion based upon the real data from real brewers looking to actually hire someone for a position. That will tell you more than anything any of us here can.