Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Passionate Brewer looking for a brewery that's actually passionate about beer...

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Passionate Brewer looking for a brewery that's actually passionate about beer...

    ...and quality.

    Experienced head brewer quickly looking for a great brewery that’s passionate about beer and is truly quality first.

    Counting breweries/distilleries that I've worked for beer/spirits, I've worked at eight breweries and a distillery. I've had far too much experience on the packaging side of things (canning and bottling) at most of these places, and officially brewed on the deck at three. Like many, I started out as an obsessive homebrewer, in my case, as a geology major after getting back from being stationed in Germany. I've had my ear to the rail and finger on the pulse of the beer industry for over a decade, and got my first job on a bottling line early 2011 (it would have been 2010, but military training took me away for several months).

    Recently, I was engaged to help get off the ground from a very loose concept to a functional brewery, but due to immigration hurdles and a shift in direction I was staunchly against, that ended last month. Just moved down on a gamble that a established large-ish brewery with lots of red flags could be a potentially good opportunity to turn things around, but wow, have I never seen a brewery with such low morale and zero confidence in the future of the brewery by all its production crew. So that’s a no-go and I don’t think I’ll even bothering putting it on my resume at this point—I now do have some experience with Brumat automated systems, working with 500 bbl tanks (looking at unused 1,000 bbl tanks) and the basic operation of a 125 bbl Rolec system. 7-30 bbl systems is what I’ve worked most on.

    Currently residing in Eureka, CA, but that may change very soon—even though I just blew $550 registering my truck here and getting a CA license. I’ve worked at breweries in Montana, Alaska, BC, and Northern California.

    I only prefer to live in progressive places beyond Montana and Alaska, and have zero interest in living east of the Rockies anymore (I'm from Tennessee). I've lived in about a dozen states (I'm probably forgetting some), been to every state but Hawai'i, and been a dozen plus countries. The cost of living in a lot of place that I'd like to work is just too insane to justify, sadly. It's just me and my dog (which complicates renting even more). If you’re located in an expensive place to live, and cannot (or won’t) compensate accordingly, no use wasting either of our time.

    The gist is, I’m super passionate and nerdy about beer, but sadly though, I've worked for too many breweries that don't feel the same way about beer, either because they've lost their way or were started because it was a 'cool investment opportunity' or a 'cool business to own' or not willing to spend money on quality. I've lived and breathed brewing for so many years now, but getting sick of moving from one brewery to the next just to find out they are poorly run and/or thinking that are making great beer and it's mediocre at best. If I had the capital, I'd open my own place, but I don't, nor do I have wealthy friends or family. Right now I’m about to the point of about walk away from brewing, and just rot doing something I have no passion for to make ends meet for now or work full-time for the military (I'm in the Air National Guard too).

    Might as well be honest about things instead of putting up some sort of fake front so many people do when trying to find a job. If you think you can convince me to come work for you, let's hear it before a deployment somewhere opens up.

  • #2
    Put up your email so peoples can contact you. That being said, it's too early for me. I'm solidifying land/finance. Easily a year out. Looking for your passion for quality. Great eperience on packaging etc you have, but how about practical knowledge of brewing? You know secrets most don't?

    Comment


    • #3
      A DM is good for my contact info, resume, etc., but my personal email is my user name at gmail.com.
      There are rarely secrets in brewing; especially with over 7000 in the US alone. Those that are so proprietary are generally afraid of their ability to remain relevant or they want to hold onto some “special” for as long as they can before all the creative and smart people in the industry reinvent the wheel, or they are from the corporate world, which is the antithesis of craft beer. Brewing is a collaborative endeavour. The brewers know this; a lot of new owners the industry don’t. The macros played that game for a long time, but some of the best craft breweries and brewers would share their exact recipes and processes. It’s gotten more competitive and some more caged with some key techniques, but many figure it out independently eventually. But that said, a lot of people still do things that don’t make the best beer that maybe about 10% of brewers know as gospel. For instance only a handful of brewers knew about hop creep/“the freshening power of hops”. Honestly we’re going to being coming into a thinning of the heard and people brewing diverse, classic styles, in some areas will be the next hot thing. An innovative and open mind is worth more than the latest secrets of what’s hot. And some markets could care less about what’s hot and outliners become flagships. Know thy market. I’m a nerd about beer, brewing, culture, psychology, and how all those interact. Some call it public relations, marketing, brand strategy, just be authentic, whatever academic words each segment of industry apply to the basics of human existence, and exchange of goods and services.
      The best advance to anyone opening a brewery is to engage a professional brewer as soon as possible. And since there are easily 30,000 brewers in the US now, I guarantee most will have a different perfect brewery in mind moving into a new place and will have input on how you could made it better if you consulted a pro (or them) before you start pouring concrete or buying stainless. I was involved with a brewery almost a year before we opened, and yet the owners would do things totally wrong for a brewery, but they had started and operated successful other businesses, so they took it upon themselves to do their own thing ignoring the council of the person they we paying to advise them, which cost them more money in the long run and more frustration to everyone in production. Breweries are as personal as a favorite car, truck, boat or place. Either you hire a creative prinicpal of production or just a cog in the machine. Craft brewery vs. beer factory. One is both, but the other is only the one. One is a passion and the other a time card to punch.


      Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

      Comment

      Working...
      X