Current commercial breweries/brewers who posted on homebrewtalk

[Nate R]

Ok all. This may not be the right location/tab/whatever it is called place to start this thread. I did not see it anywhere else. (I am not a social media guy. Swmbo handles that. I kill spiders).
Please be kind if this is not the right location.

Ok, so i am really curious to see (older) posts from any homebrewers on here that are now pro. Specifically, in my local area (northern cali). I know the breweries that make beer I love. I would like to see their journey from homebrewer to pro here.
Did they post opinions on fresh hop vs. Pellet?
Did they post on favorite yeast brand?
Etc. Etc.

Call me crazy but being a beer lover i would love to pick a professional brewer's brain. But since making beer for a living must take time and is long hard days, i dont want to bug them on the job. If i could read their posts i think it would be cool.

Does anybody know if this site tracks this? Where to go/ what to search for to find it.

Thanks all!

 

[madscientist451]

Guys that I know that brew for a living don't post on homebrewing forums anymore, they're busy people are always juggling a lot of tasks.
There are lots of books and other resources available that will give you some of the information you're looking for.
Here's a podcast that consists of mostly interviews with brewing business owners talking about starting/running a business.
https://microbrewr.com/

 

[CodeSection]

...Ok, so i am really curious to see (older) posts from any homebrewers on here that are now pro. Specifically, in my local area (northern cali). I know the breweries that make beer I love. I would like to see their journey from homebrewer to pro here.....

Why not approach those breweries and ask them if you could work for them for FREE for a day or two in exchange for their advise..their story...their processes and procedures...and their opinions? Hopefully, they would share their failures as well and what they did to make those failures turn into successes.

 

[Nate R]

Guys that I know that brew for a living don't post on homebrewing forums anymore, they're busy people are always juggling a lot of tasks.
There are lots of books and other resources available that will give you some of the information you're looking for.
Here's a podcast that consists of mostly interviews with brewing business owners talking about starting/running a business.
https://microbrewr.com/

Agree- I meant I want to read their old posts... kind of a way to watch their journey, via their homebrew experiences.

 

[Nate R]

Why not approach those breweries and ask them if you could work for them for FREE for a day or two in exchange for their advise..their story...their processes and procedures...and their opinions? Hopefully, they would share their failures as well and what they did to make those failures turn into successes.

That's actually a great idea!

 

[NGD]

Ok all. This may not be the right location/tab/whatever it is called place to start this thread. I did not see it anywhere else. (I am not a social media guy. Swmbo handles that. I kill spiders).
Please be kind if this is not the right location.

Ok, so i am really curious to see (older) posts from any homebrewers on here that are now pro. Specifically, in my local area (northern cali). I know the breweries that make beer I love. I would like to see their journey from homebrewer to pro here.
Did they post opinions on fresh hop vs. Pellet?
Did they post on favorite yeast brand?
Etc. Etc.

Call me crazy but being a beer lover i would love to pick a professional brewer's brain. But since making beer for a living must take time and is long hard days, i dont want to bug them on the job. If i could read their posts i think it would be cool.

Does anybody know if this site tracks this? Where to go/ what to search for to find it.

Thanks all!

There are a few pro brewers who post hereon occasion though its pretty rare. Being from the Sacramento area myself, I’ve had the privilege of getting to know a few brewers and watching them hone their skills. They each have their own process and types of materials they like to use.

My recommendation would be to find a new brewery..rather one thats recently opened. Often times they aren’t overly crowded yet and you may have the brewer tending bar and have a chance to chat during downtime. One of the cool things about the Nor Cal region is many of brewers are pretty happy to chat about their process if they have time. My understanding is in some states/areas its much more competitive and the brewers don’t want to waste time chatting with a potential competitor.

Why not approach those breweries and ask them if you could work for them for FREE for a day or two in exchange for their advise..their story...their processes and procedures...and their opinions? Hopefully, they would share their failures as well and what they did to make those failures turn into successes.

This would be a great idea if Cal-Unicornia didnt have a labor law preventing unpaid volunteers from helping a for profit business. I’m not a lawyer so my understanding of the law is rudimentary at best. Essentially a brewery owner takes on the responsibility of a volunteer at their own risk.
Some light reading https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/crackdown-wineries-use-volunteers-could-chill-local-wine-industry

 

[Nate R]

Yeah- all great points!
My point was- I wanted to see their OLD posts as a homebrewer, on here. Like if I hit the lottery one day, people can read about my opinions on stuff. I guess I just meant it would be fun the see, through their old posts, their journey. Not where they are today- where they came from.

 

[treacheroustexan]

Yeah- all great points!
My point was- I wanted to see their OLD posts as a homebrewer, on here. Like if I hit the lottery one day, people can read about my opinions on stuff. I guess I just meant it would be fun the see, through their old posts, their journey. Not where they are today- where they came from.

Take a look at this thread.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/muddy-creek-brewery-hot-break.528499/

It is his journey of opening a brewery, but if you go here you can read through his old posts as a home brewer.

 

[NGD]

Yeah- all great points!
My point was- I wanted to see their OLD posts as a homebrewer, on here. Like if I hit the lottery one day, people can read about my opinions on stuff. I guess I just meant it would be fun the see, through their old posts, their journey. Not where they are today- where they came from.

Gotcha bud. Also
Check out this thread https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/finally-opening-my-brewery.661897/

Do a general search for “opening a brewery” and you should have a few morn pop up

 

[CodeSection]

....This would be a great idea if Cal-Unicornia didnt have a labor law preventing unpaid volunteers from helping a for profit business. I’m not a lawyer so my understanding of the law is rudimentary at best. Essentially a brewery owner takes on the responsibility of a volunteer at their own risk.
Some light reading https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/crackdown-wineries-use-volunteers-could-chill-local-wine-industry

Interesting read. It appears in this article, the volunteers were only picking the grapes and not involved with other aspects of the business and not involved with any type of education. Clearly, there was a positive financial impact to the winery. I'm not so sure the same claim could be made for someone shadowing a brewer around for one day to learn and get a glimpse of the brewery business. I would imagine a basic contract labor arrangement would fail as well since the independent contractors probably would not carry workman's comp insurance.

With that said, in this OP's situation and desire to learn, I believe it can still be accomplished for him to shadow a brewer around. The brewery could provide a "private one-on-one class" to eligible individuals that they feel are appropriate or qualified. They could charge whatever they wanted...even one dollar. They could keep the private class proceeds or donate it to the non-profit of their choice. There are so many options.