Head Brewer Salary

[MikeRoy]

Ok it's nice to see everyone's input, but we still haven't answered my question. On a personal note, I'm coming up on my year anniversary at the brewpub I'm at and would love to have something to base things on when I ask for a raise. If you do not wish to post numbers/thoughts PLEASE feel free to message me personally. I've sacraficed one year of my life for experience, but I don't want to get bent over a barrell for too much longer.

[GlacierBrewing]

Have you tried contacting the Brewer's Association at www.beertown.org? They would probably have the most current/accepted data. Also, if you know what the "official" salary range is, it might help negotiate your salary.
Luck to ya'!
Dave

[billings]

I work in a brewpub that is located in a city with a population of 120,000. I will produce about 775 bbls this year which will be an increase of 24% over last year. I am the only employee in the brewing department most of the year. I do have an assistant that washes kegs once a week (4 hours). I am also responsible for all the distribution to outside accounts. My salary is $30,000/year with a bonus at the end of the year that is based on nothing (they just pull a figure out of the blue?). I also get my families health insurance paid for. I hope this will get things started on this thread since no one has really answered the original question.

cheers,
billings

[Michael Murphy]

I find US craft brewers are underpaid, brew pub or micro. The employer knows how much brewing is a passion for us brewers and we brewers sacrafice alot to do it.
That said its also a hard buisness to profit from. Therefore its only natural for a buisness person to pay what most brewers are willing to work for. I know most of us brewers will do anything it takes to get the work finished, and satisfy our bosses. Maybe some of us can enjoy the extra benifits such as artistic outlets, personal satisfaction on creating a great tasting beer, some lucky brewers get to relish in the credit given by the drinkers of their beers, some have bosses that take the credit. We brewers will always be the same.

I believe a brewer can make alot of money if he can somehow achive higher status, Garret Oliver for example, I have no clue how much he is paid, but Brooklyn Brewery has a great rep for their beers, He seems to be in Europe more than he should be if he is keeping up with a high demand of brewing.

Some of us if we had the chance and time could consult or give crash brewing courses, or homebrewer courses to raise a little extra cash, some may want to orginize beer tastings or events. There are many other ways to make your status as a brewer work for you. there are plenty who will value what you have to offer.

[BigWilley]

I remember an old issue of the New Brewer had a good breakdown of brewpub brewer salaries. It was either 2000 or 2001. I cannot find my copy. A back issue should be available. We should all petition New Brewer for another Salary Survey issue. It would be the most read article of the year i can garauntee that!. Can we do an anonymous poll here on Probrewer? It would be great to get an idea of average salary related to production, benefits, bonuses etc.

[zbrew2k]

A poll on salary would be fine, but the range is from 20-100+K/yr. The upper being maybe 1-2 people in the world right now, and 90% of the other brewers under 40K per year, avg=37K/yr.

So what does that tell us in the end? As discussed in another thread about salary, there are too many people willing to work for peanuts right now (and happy about it too!!). There is always someone out there willing to do your job for less than you make right now! Many owners are willing to take advantage of that also. As long as someone is ready to undercut you, we will all make less money. It is a fine example of a free market system operating at peak efficiency!

Employers who are willing to pay for your knowledge and efforts are far and few between right now.

[BigWilley]

The 20,000-100,000 line is funny because its true. I guess the best thing to do is to find out what your local brewers are making accounting for their production benefits, bonuses, etc. and if you are being underpaid at least you are armed with relevant info. Owners/managers dont care that Garret Oliver makes XX amount of dollars they will be more influenced by the fact that Joe Blow down the street makes $10,000 more a year than you do plus he has a full time assistant and you are pushing out 1000 Bbls by yourself. Obviously if you live in the Northwest where brewers seem to be a dime a dozen your bargaining power is reduced. In the end you always come down to the simple question of "is this worth it?" If so push on if not go for broke and you may win or you may be looking for another job/career. It is very frustrating to be underpaid (disrespected) when you know others around you are getting paid far better and have more help. Turnover in the well paying jobs is nearly nonexistent so a catch 22 results and we brew on........

[Mr.hops]

Like the wise man once said: You pay peanuts, you get the monkey.

Brillant!
Except,...monkeys fit nicley into the profit plan and the "better apes" at the bar wouldn't know a great beer from a bannana.....or somthing thrown from the cage.

[3dogbrew]

I'm digging up an old relic of a topic here, but I am putting together a business plan and was digging for some numbers.

The question I have is; in a 700 bbl/yr brewpub what do you as head brewers want to make? Some of the other ideas I would like to explore are pilot brew batches for seasonal beers (brewer creative outlet) as well as a "beer-ducation" program where the brewers get to socialize with the customers in a style comparison class.

Any feedback would be great. I'm am considering The Woodlands, tx for location.

[Natrat]

what to offer

Offer 50k, and you will have *great* brewers beating down your door. Offer 40k, and your choices will be slimmer. I'd say that would be a pretty darn good investment of 10k.

nat

[Graydon]

recent interviews

I have been in the market and just want to tell you one story.

A potential employer informed me that he was offering just at or under the cost of living in his location, for a brew-masters pay. As I look at the postings here his company has the same opening every 3 to 6 months. The owner spent at least a weeks time talking to me. I just thought about the amount of his time he was wasting and figured with 5 candidates each go around he was wasting 1 to 2 months a year of his own time(min).

My guess is that his time was worth about 10k to 15k a month. 15k to 20k on top of what he was offering wood be cheaper and he would have a brewer for life.(one of the best brewers around is my guess)

Just a thought.

Graydon

[3dogbrew]

I have been in the market and just want to tell you one story.
...

My guess is that his time was worth about 10k to 15k a month. 15k to 20k on top of what he was offering wood be cheaper and he would have a brewer for life.(one of the best brewers around is my guess)

Just a thought.

Graydon

I have been in various forms of employee management for over 10 years and will second what you are saying. When (not if) I get financing approved for my brewpub, this will be a key claim in the risk mitigation column to investors. Paying an extra $10-20K a year is more cost effective than training a new employee every 6 months. Especially when you consider all the productive time that this employee is spending to find their next opportunity. I could go on and on, but I'll spare you.

[liammckenna]

Small comfort to young/aspiring brewers out there I know, but , the pendulum swings. And it is swinging right now to your favour.

As brewing becomes more labour intensive again (read: the rise of 'small' brewing), skilled labour will become scarcer. Those reaping the rewards will be forced to offer larger carrots to their prospective mules.

That sounds harsh. Almost Marxist. Ach well.

I won't comment on actual salaries but I will say this: I have generally found that when I pay peanuts, I get monkeys (and a lot of grief).

Pax.

Liam

[jerrymcmahan]

This is why I've not been involved with the industry for 15+ years. I love brewing but am not eager to cut my salary in half, double the hours I work and lose a lot of my benefits for it. Maybe if I was 20 years younger and single...

[Roger Greene]

30k or 50k, not much difference...

So doing some rough calculations, the difference between a $30k brewer and a $50k brewer in a 700 bbl brewery is just $0.12 per pint. Bump it up to 800 bbl and it is only $0.10 per pint (assuming no spillage at the tap).