To address your original question there are a lot of things you can do to move into the brewing industry, while every brewery is looking for a different kind of person, especially in the craft industry where personality is so important, many companies have a great need for individuals who are passionate about what they do. So, to be a little less generic... I work in the brewing industry and the individuals that really excel are the ones who are very self driven, are skilled in time management and problem solving and possibly most important flexible. If you've never worked for an around the clock operation before I can't tell you what a culture shock it is when you find yourself covered in yeast at 400 in the morning coming off 3 days with no sleep... That said if you live what you do the rewards constantly outweigh the cost and at the end of the day it's that much better when you pour an appropriately chilled brew and unlike many jobs it only makes your love of the product stronger with every day. What is your current job? If you have experience managing shift workers that will be incredibly valuable, teamwork is essential in the brewing industry and breweries whether 10 people or 100 people are like families. Also a consideration when looking into working for a brewery is that you probably won't make a career of "brewing" per say, there are plenty of brewer positions but they are pretty well filled and more of a starting point although I'm not saying its out of the question. There are practically unlimited options for what job you can do within a beer company and the best advice I can give you is to schedule some interviews and just be as honest with yourself as possible, if what you are truly looking for is a job that is more fulfilling you need to make sure you are really a fit at the company. The brewing industry can be just as taxing and stressful as any other but if you truly are the right fit you will know pretty quickly. Interestingly enough when I started I actually didn't really drink at all and if anything I preferred cocktails... I have of coarse since then discovered the limitless fascination that is beer and brewing and I can't stop thinking about it every moment!!! On the note of the latter posts I am very young and haven't really even started a career yet so with nothing to lose it is in my 5 year plan to get more experienced in the brewing industry, perfect my flagships and start my own operation, ideally in 5 years I'll be looking back at this post and smiling as I enjoy a crisp malted masterpiece from the comfort of a warm brewpub full of my closest friends and fellow believers in the craft movement that's long overdue in America. Hope this helps and please ask me any more questions you have and ill do my best to answer.
