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Brewer in Alaska looking for a long-term brewing home
A few months ago I moved up from Montana to Alaska to take a promising position at a small brewery that turned out to be a very disappointing operation with quite the reputation for going through brewers (looks like I should have asked around to other Alaskan breweries first). I quickly picked up another job, but it was a packaging manager position. I miss brewing; it's just a better fit for me. Plus, the cost of living in Anchorage is way too high and having to commute sucks the life out of me.
Basically what I'm looking for is a brewery [and/or distillery (while I've never *professionally* distilled, I am very passionate about distilling too)] located in a small community where you can still afford buy a house and a small piece of land on a modest income; that's passionate about brewing a wide variety of beers where quality actually comes first; that believes in spending money on having the right equipment for the yearly production volume they do; that believes in paying their employees well for the hard work they do; that believes in giving ownership to those that help make the company thrive; that the owners believe in investing in their company and employees before themselves. I'm also into malting science and would be open to starting a path in that direction too.
I'd still like to give Alaska a chance and go through at least the yearly climate cycle, but know my options are limited up here. For the right company, I certainly could be convinced to move back to Montana (I do love that state and I still have most of my stuff in a storage unit in Missoula). I also would be open to considering places in Oregon, Northern California, Colorado, maybe Vermont and other countries (certainly Europe for sure). If your town has Victorian architecture, and a stream and forests in or nearby, you get bonus points. It's just my dog Sunna and me, so I'm quite mobile and flexible.
I've done just about everything in a brewery outside of lab work over the past several years, but my current brewery has one and I've been apart of regular monitoring for TPO and DO levels, and doing ATP tests. Being a person of sufficient intellect, OCD and a science nerd, I would really like to get involved with QA/QC lab work more (I've had a year of chemistry, some microbiology and statistics). While I'm at home reading through science journal papers (I have a background in archaeology, with a dash of geology and having done some geological fieldwork as well.), I grew up drilling water wells with my grandfather at a very early age, and working on my aunt and uncle's berry farm, so I've also had a lot of experience with operating machinery, plumbing, electrical work and maintenance too. Then add in about 16 years with the Army and Air Force both active duty and the Guard, I've done a lot of different things and not afraid of hard work. I'm not one to try to cut out as early as possible; I take ownership in what I do. That said, I'm better suited for salaried work. I'd rather just do what has to been done; if that's 60 hours a week or 30 at times, then so be it. I live for brewing and the industry, so I don't leave my work at work. I listen to brewing podcasts all the time, and I read about brewing science, what's going on in the industry and history whenever I have time. Yes, I have other hobbies, interests and talents, but brewing holds a special place in my heart.
Based upon my current pay, I'd need to make at least around $38,000. I'm also currently in the Air National Guard, which I have very affordable healthcare through, and makes me around an extra $6,000. This requires me to spend at least one weekend a month with my unit (or new unit in your area), and a week or two usually in the summer. It also means I could be activated for a state emergency or be deployed for a federal mission (keep in mind the Air Force is pretty good with taking people's civilian needs into consideration to fill mission needs). I'm coming up on the end of my enlistment, and since I'm getting sick of continually jumping through hoops that I have to for balancing civilian work life and military work life, I would be open to not reenlisting if my next brewery can provide healthcare and compensation to make up the difference. Speaking of, my current job in the Guard is a broadcast journalist for our public affairs office, so I'm pretty good at telling a company's story through visual, audio and written means if that's of any interest to you.
I love all styles of beer, from a simple Pilsner to multiple-culture, barrel-aged creations. It's not uncommon for me to have over 50 different types of beer in my fridge at home--I love variety. That goes for my whisk(e)y too--I love me some Scottish whisky from all the regions. If you don't have a pilot system, I have a Blichmann 30 gal electric HERMS system I set up several years ago to act a such. I believe strongly in trying some wild ideas, but also think, and like to see, traditional styles done well. The last brewery I worked at in Montana, we brewed a GABF gold medal winning Irish Red this past year. Although, if you brew a "New England IPA" I may have to pass
I've brewed on a 7 bbl system up to a three-vessel 30 bbl with our bottled beer going into 100 bbl tanks. I've ran canning and bottling lines at multiple breweries (and I've learned I do not like packaging--I can do it once a week, but the daily monotony of doing it drives me mad). I have extremely high standards. I believe in constantly learning and trying to do things better and more efficiently. There's a lot I'd like to learn more about, but I'm a fast learner (I've also forgotten too a lot of stuff because it's been awhile since it's applied or never had a chance to apply it to begin with). While I don't have a formal brewing education (which I was wanting to get, but it didn't work out), one of my former head brewers with a brewing science degree and years of experience wasn't aware of some of the stuff that I'm privy to, so it's not everything (being a lifelong lover of learning, I tend to expand my knowledge faster and beyond others that may slow or even plateau throughout their career). And hey, if you want to send me to any course or school for anything, I'll gladly do it! I do learn pretty quickly and can figure out just about anything on my own.
If nothing good comes up soon, I may just get back on the road as an over-the-road truck driver so I can save money to start own place (I did this for a bit after I wasn't making enough at a brewery to pay bills due to reduced hours and pathetic pay) or take a military deployment for a while. Send me a PM with any questions or for a resume.
Basically what I'm looking for is a brewery [and/or distillery (while I've never *professionally* distilled, I am very passionate about distilling too)] located in a small community where you can still afford buy a house and a small piece of land on a modest income; that's passionate about brewing a wide variety of beers where quality actually comes first; that believes in spending money on having the right equipment for the yearly production volume they do; that believes in paying their employees well for the hard work they do; that believes in giving ownership to those that help make the company thrive; that the owners believe in investing in their company and employees before themselves. I'm also into malting science and would be open to starting a path in that direction too.
I'd still like to give Alaska a chance and go through at least the yearly climate cycle, but know my options are limited up here. For the right company, I certainly could be convinced to move back to Montana (I do love that state and I still have most of my stuff in a storage unit in Missoula). I also would be open to considering places in Oregon, Northern California, Colorado, maybe Vermont and other countries (certainly Europe for sure). If your town has Victorian architecture, and a stream and forests in or nearby, you get bonus points. It's just my dog Sunna and me, so I'm quite mobile and flexible.
I've done just about everything in a brewery outside of lab work over the past several years, but my current brewery has one and I've been apart of regular monitoring for TPO and DO levels, and doing ATP tests. Being a person of sufficient intellect, OCD and a science nerd, I would really like to get involved with QA/QC lab work more (I've had a year of chemistry, some microbiology and statistics). While I'm at home reading through science journal papers (I have a background in archaeology, with a dash of geology and having done some geological fieldwork as well.), I grew up drilling water wells with my grandfather at a very early age, and working on my aunt and uncle's berry farm, so I've also had a lot of experience with operating machinery, plumbing, electrical work and maintenance too. Then add in about 16 years with the Army and Air Force both active duty and the Guard, I've done a lot of different things and not afraid of hard work. I'm not one to try to cut out as early as possible; I take ownership in what I do. That said, I'm better suited for salaried work. I'd rather just do what has to been done; if that's 60 hours a week or 30 at times, then so be it. I live for brewing and the industry, so I don't leave my work at work. I listen to brewing podcasts all the time, and I read about brewing science, what's going on in the industry and history whenever I have time. Yes, I have other hobbies, interests and talents, but brewing holds a special place in my heart.
Based upon my current pay, I'd need to make at least around $38,000. I'm also currently in the Air National Guard, which I have very affordable healthcare through, and makes me around an extra $6,000. This requires me to spend at least one weekend a month with my unit (or new unit in your area), and a week or two usually in the summer. It also means I could be activated for a state emergency or be deployed for a federal mission (keep in mind the Air Force is pretty good with taking people's civilian needs into consideration to fill mission needs). I'm coming up on the end of my enlistment, and since I'm getting sick of continually jumping through hoops that I have to for balancing civilian work life and military work life, I would be open to not reenlisting if my next brewery can provide healthcare and compensation to make up the difference. Speaking of, my current job in the Guard is a broadcast journalist for our public affairs office, so I'm pretty good at telling a company's story through visual, audio and written means if that's of any interest to you.
I love all styles of beer, from a simple Pilsner to multiple-culture, barrel-aged creations. It's not uncommon for me to have over 50 different types of beer in my fridge at home--I love variety. That goes for my whisk(e)y too--I love me some Scottish whisky from all the regions. If you don't have a pilot system, I have a Blichmann 30 gal electric HERMS system I set up several years ago to act a such. I believe strongly in trying some wild ideas, but also think, and like to see, traditional styles done well. The last brewery I worked at in Montana, we brewed a GABF gold medal winning Irish Red this past year. Although, if you brew a "New England IPA" I may have to pass
I've brewed on a 7 bbl system up to a three-vessel 30 bbl with our bottled beer going into 100 bbl tanks. I've ran canning and bottling lines at multiple breweries (and I've learned I do not like packaging--I can do it once a week, but the daily monotony of doing it drives me mad). I have extremely high standards. I believe in constantly learning and trying to do things better and more efficiently. There's a lot I'd like to learn more about, but I'm a fast learner (I've also forgotten too a lot of stuff because it's been awhile since it's applied or never had a chance to apply it to begin with). While I don't have a formal brewing education (which I was wanting to get, but it didn't work out), one of my former head brewers with a brewing science degree and years of experience wasn't aware of some of the stuff that I'm privy to, so it's not everything (being a lifelong lover of learning, I tend to expand my knowledge faster and beyond others that may slow or even plateau throughout their career). And hey, if you want to send me to any course or school for anything, I'll gladly do it! I do learn pretty quickly and can figure out just about anything on my own.
If nothing good comes up soon, I may just get back on the road as an over-the-road truck driver so I can save money to start own place (I did this for a bit after I wasn't making enough at a brewery to pay bills due to reduced hours and pathetic pay) or take a military deployment for a while. Send me a PM with any questions or for a resume.
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