Nightshade
Well-Known Member
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?
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.