Who works in the beer industry?

[cvisinho]

Im entertaining a career change and a possible opportunity has been presented.

Im just curious if any of you other beer lovers work in the industry on the distributor side of things?

Do you like it? Good pay and bonus/incentives? etc etc
I know every company is different.

Ive always wanted to get involved in the growing craft industry. I have the professional background to support the business side of things but ive never talked to any of my contacts to see if being a rep is actually worth it.

I mean I do want to retire someday but maintaining a work/life balance is big for me and my family.

just looking for other experiences out there if anyone cares to share.

 

[gspot]

Brother-in-law is craft beer manager for a distributor. His job is finding and signing new distribution contracts with breweries while predicting future trends in beer popularity. Can be problematic because the number of breweries ready and able to meet demands is relatively small, and then the beer might not sell in his area for some reason.

He's also responsible for promotion to try to get those beers to move, so he's always doing tastings and visiting retail locations. Holidays are his busy season. Occasionally he gets to go on trips to breweries/wineries/conferences.

Obviously there's almost unlimited beer involved. He's really good at moderating himself (better than I would be). If you have problems in that area, probably not a good job.

He seems to enjoy it, and appears to earn a decent living. He used to be a wine rep and experienced a bit of pettiness from a supervisor. Seems to like this new gig better, and I think I would too.

Good luck in your choice!

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I work in the tail end of the distribution chain. It's my job to evaluate shelf space for new product placement, critique packaging, and then evaluate product freshness to determine future demand for my immediate market.

I don't report to anyone directly, my work is not-for-profit, and I do not get reimbursed for my expenses but this job has it's rewards.


My wife just says I drink too much.

 

[Firewalker11]

I am in one of those gray areas where I am a paid volunteer, whatever the heck that means. I work with a brewer and clean the equipment after he's done. I don't really have any input as to the recipes or as to any changes in the Brewing System or the way he does it.

Often times he will ask me for advice since I am a home brewer and we will often times do small batches on my equipment! That's kind of nice because we get to have a sense of what a recipe could do and most of them don't turn out all that well.

Since I am technically doing the Brewing, except for pitching the yeast, it's technically my beer and the ttb doesn't get involved so if it goes down the drain it's just part of my yearly brew allotment.

It pays for crap, my paid volunteer position is very close to one quarter of my hourly rate elsewhere.

Dont let me deter you. If you have a passion for the industry, I would expect you to charge Full Ahead and figure out where you fit best in the industry. Good luck and cheers!

 

[bfish]

Worked the first 9 months for the first local growler store to the area. I worked days, so I was dealing with salesmen, delivery drivers, draft techs, and others from 4 different distributers.

Each distributer operated differently, but it was easy to tell who enjoyed their job. Being at the end of the route for most, I got to hear a lot of their belly-aching. I think the three biggest gripes that I heard were (in no particular order): 1) others within not carrying their weight, 2) management underestimating or making unrealistic promises (mostly time/effort related, not sales), and 3)salesmen selling more than what is in the warehouse (i.e. selling 20 kegs of spring release, but only have 10 in the warehouse). Another issue that heard from those that did not stay in very long, is that job descriptions quickly change depending on need and that you (the new employee) must be able to adapt.

Selling beer at the growler store was fun (14 rotating taps), especially since many customers were brand new to the whole growler and tasting/flight concept. Being that I was days, I didn't have to deal with crazy crowds or any of that nonsense, so I got to spend more quality time with the customers.