I need all your help getting a job at a brewery!

hans_shu_east_gluff said:

So, I am getting a lot of mixed messages here. Is it possible to make a career out of brewing? I would like to. I feel a bit deterred by the few negative comments. I like a hard days work. Nothing makes a beer taste better. But I have bills to pay. Is it possible?

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Yes it is, but starting pay isn't great in most cases but it really depends on who you get on with too.

The craft/micro/brewpub size outfits vary a lot, but you can advance faster and learn more about the actual process of making and designing beer and stand a better chance of using some of your own recipes as well (in brewpub at least).

BMC you will make better pay and benefits as a whole, but you learn your job (think militaryesque) and that is it, so you may be swamping mash tuns for the next 5 years then you advance to grain weighing (just example). The plus is raises are more frequent and larger than a small brewery but you have to play some politics along with your work to stand out. Not a bad gig honestly but it can be stressful.

I work the brewpub angle and enjoy the hands on direct involvement from grain to glass aspect as well as seeing and talking to my customers to get feedback so I can make adjustments as needed or as I can. The bad is that it isn't a job that is gonna get me a house in the hills, but I am using it as a stepping stone to get to bigger things down the road.

I love the idea of working at a brew pub. But my ideal situation would be owning and operating one, or at least have some creative input. I live in a small town with no brewpubs, no microbreweries and not many people who enjoy my hobby other than my beer itself. I feel like a brewery would be where I learn the ropes and a brewpub would be later in life when I can say I've put my time in and know exactly what I am doing. Anyone skip brewery and go right into owning their own brew pub? Ultimately that's what this thread is all about. I just assumed working at a brewery would be the starting point and very beneficial. Anyone think taking a business class in college of University would be a better jumping off point?

hans_shu_east_gluff said:

So, I am getting a lot of mixed messages here. Is it possible to make a career out of brewing? I would like to. I feel a bit deterred by the few negative comments. I like a hard days work. Nothing makes a beer taste better. But I have bills to pay. Is it possible?

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Open your own.

After working at a brewery for a little while I realized that having any position other than "Owner" wasn't going to do it for me...and I didn't really think earning years of experience in a brewery was the only way to open my own someday. Learn the ins and outs of everything...connect with the right people...and aspire to be an entrepreneur. The things that you can't learn at home, go to a local place and ask to intern on weekends or nights.

True. There is no way around it. If you are an assistant brewer, you are the *****. With so few head brewer positions around, you could be an asst for years before an opportunity pops up.