Employment In The Brewing Industry

[Liberate88]

I was wondering if anyone on the forums would have any knowledge of as to how I could find work in brewing or at least in a brewery. I have recently completed year 12 and obviously (being on this forum) I do my own homebrew but I would very much like to take it on as a career in the future. I live in Victoria and I am aware that there is a brewing course in Ballarat you can do, however the last thing I want to do is finish a course only to find there are no job prospects in the industry. Is it worth pursuing as a career? I assume it would be near impossible getting work with a large company but what would smaller microbreweries be looking for in a worker? It would be great having half a million dollars or so to set myself up with... but somehow I dont see that happening anytime soon haha

any help or information as to what my options are would be greatly appreciated

 

[beernography]

Put on a nice outfit and doorknock them. Ask the breweries themselves this question...they might be looking for someone to sweep the floors that week. I have gotten more work from talking to people and asking questions than from any resumes I've handed out.

I have also found more work by needing work and actively looking for it than from any of my paper qualifications. Maybe it only works cause I'm a chatty bitch though ;P

For real though, get out the yellow pages, look on the backs of bottles for addresses/phone numbers and get off your bum. Nothing ventured, nothing gained! Good luck - truly a dream job

 

[Kai]

The small guys are ultimately looking for the passion you need to really want a career in brewing, and the ability to gain the knowledge to achieve this. Generally speaking you're better off to get experience first (even if it's just cleaning kegs and doing other gimp work) and follow that up with the theoretical knowledge. However, if you choose to progress in the study field then that does show some dedication and might give you an advantage in initial part-time work. If you're really lucky, you might even find an employer willing to finance the rest of your studies. Whatever you decide, best of luck!

 

[joecast]

adding on to what the others have said, it really seems like now IS a good time to get into the brewing industry. the jobs may not be the best paying, and the work certainly is hard, but there are jobs out there. plenty of breweries starting up and jobs shifting around here and there. if you are willing to follow the jobs (not that victoria is short of breweries) i doubt you would be unemployed for long. best of luck.
joe

ps, and yeah, a bit of experience to go with the education would put you in a very good position.

 

[Gerard_M]

Check out this topic from about 18 months ago

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...ic=10597&hl

Cheers
Gerard

 

[b_thomas]

There's definitely work out there. A mate of mine was working as a bottler at the Narrellan brewery in Sydney. What it comes down to is getting your self out there and looking, it's the same with any position in any industry, but you're fresh out of school and keen so I don't see why you couldn't land yourself something somewhere.

If you're really keen go get yourself a science degree and become a zymergist, at least if you can't get work straight away as one there's HEAPS of other career paths you can take while you're waiting for that ideal position.

 

[dig]

What Kai said. Get your foot in the door at a good brewery. LC, MSB, Goat, AIB, MB Garage, Burleigh, places like that. Learn your craft. Unlearn all of your homebrew foibles.

 

[Murcluf]

Fosters have Open Expression of Interest for anyone who would be intersted in working for them, Basically send them your CV and you might get lucky. here is the place to start http://careers.fosters.com.au/

 

[reVoxAHB]

Mountain Goat in Richmond is looking for a new brewer atm. From their newsletter:

"New Brewer
We're looking for a new full time head brewer. Must have excellent
commercial brewing experience and be able to manage a team of
brewers in a dynamic and growing environment.
CVs to [email protected] By the way Dave isn't going anywhere,
just trying to free him up from day to day stuff."

You are obviously not qualified, but I point out that work is available and yes there are job prospects in the industry.

I am friendly with other commercial brewers who directly hire out of the graduating class of Ballarat Uni, too.

reVox

 

[reVoxAHB]

A bit more info on Ballarat (from BYO, not sure how accurate the figure$ are):

University of Ballarat
Whether an undergraduate program, a graduate program, or a brewing short course, students can pretty much choose how much they want to learn. There's even advanced training on a state of the art, 6-hectoliter brewing system.

Contact:
Rob Greig
Phone: +61 3 5327 9247
Fax: +61 3 5327 9240
Email: [email protected]

General Contact Info:
Phone: +61 3 5327 9018
Fax: +61 3 5327 9017
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]

School of Science
University of Ballarat
P.O. Box 663
Ballarat
Vic 3353
Australia

Brewing Short Course
Dr Peter Aldred
Phone: +61 3 5327 9243
Fax: +61 3 5327 9240

Student Administrative Services
University of Ballarat
P.O. Box 663
Ballarat Vic 3353
Australia
Phone: +61 3 5327 9552
Email: [email protected]
Website:
www.ballarat.edu.au/ard/
sci-eng/food/brewing

Tuition and Fees:
Undergraduate Program: $15,000 AUD ($10,000 USD)
Brewing Short Course: $1,760 AUD ($1,200 USD)
Graduate Program: The cost for each 15 credit point unit is $1,425 AUD ($960 USD), and $2,850 AUD ($1,910 USD) for each of the 30 credit point units. These prices include the cost of texts and course material.

Degrees and Diplomas Granted:
Bachelor of Applied Science (Food Science and Technology)
Bachelor of Business (Brewing Studies)
Graduate Certificate and Graduate Diploma of Brewing
Honours and higher degrees in brewing (Master's and PhD)

 

[DarkFaerytale]

just for something different, maybe even get yourself a job at a LHBS, perferably one of the better known ones (but if ya want a job quickly i know brew and grow will hire any crack head off the street *i has issues with B+G obviously*). try grain and grape, greensborough homebrew or the brewers den as these seems to be the better ones in melbourne. transport might be a problem tho.

if anything it could be a job while your saving or waiting for the ballarat course and is still part of the same industry and you'll most likely learn a few things

-Phill

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

Give yourself the edge by starting to read as much as you can get your hands on now.Be prepared.You will find some thing. Good Luck.
GB

 

[Liberate88]

wow good amount of response there. good suggestions... I think I will go door knocking actually. getting my foot in the door early couldn't do me any harm. I do intend on doing the Ballarat grad certificate and diploma courses also hearing that some companies directly hire out of the course is quite encouraging. Now I'll just have to find out which Melbourne breweries need someone to clean their tanks ect. thanks for the advice everyone!

 

[pint of lager]

There are so many levels that you can brew at, this is one facet of brewing that I really like.

From King (or Queen) of the can opener and master of the sugar bowl to doctorate level.

The more I learn about brewing, the more I realise there is so much to learn.

One suggestion, find out the books that the courses at Ballarat use and purchase them. That will give you alot of background knowledge. Plus read the BJCP site and do some study there.

All the best with your career.

 

[Jazzafish]

I just called a few breweries and offered my services. After explaining my brewing set up and technique and competition results, I was asked in for an interview. Next thing you know I was shown how to operate the brewing system and away I went...

Sure you can go down the chemical engineering path, and the info is important at the end of the day... but if you can AG brew at home and hit target specs, you can do it at a commercial level.

 

[gerald]

ive worked causaly in the bottling and canning joint at lion nathan here in adelaide for a fair while. its through an agency and when they need someone, im one of the ones on the list. once your in, lots more options open up and many of the people there started off as i did doing casual work through the same agency. one even applied to work in the brewing section and scored a job there (though he did have brewing experience in england)

so if you live near a big brewery, try and find out what employment agency fills in casual spots for them and sign up.


all that said, im off to uni this year :-D
yay

cya
gerald

 

[Millet Man]

wow good amount of response there. good suggestions... I think I will go door knocking actually. getting my foot in the door early couldn't do me any harm. I do intend on doing the Ballarat grad certificate and diploma courses also hearing that some companies directly hire out of the course is quite encouraging. Now I'll just have to find out which Melbourne breweries need someone to clean their tanks ect. thanks for the advice everyone!

I need help shoveling spent grain and cleaning out my mash filter press for the next 2 days if you're interested.

Seriously, if you want to see how brewing and bottling is done on a 36 hL system then come on up the highway and pay me a visit. I don't have any jobs open atm as there's only me and a casual for bottling days, but I'd be happy to have you ride shotgun on a brew day and see what's involved in being a brewer - same goes for any AHB member btw.

My story on becoming a brewer is a bit different as it was more a matter of necessity, in 2003 I was diagnosed with Coeliac Disease so as a consequence I could no longer have a regular beer and there were no commercial gluten free beers in Australia at that time. So I learnt how to make my own malt from sorghum, millet, buckwheat, maize and rice and then how to brew with them and what beer styles, yeasts and hops the malts work best with. I entered in home brew comps and scored some placings and even qualified for the nationals with gluten free beer masquerading as normal beer.

By then I knew I wanted to be a brewer and invested in setting up O'Brien Brewing to make commercial gluten free beer (18 years as a mining engineer helped with the cash) with the understanding that I would be the brewer if and when we got our own brewery. Started making beer under contract with Bintara (Rutherglen) in late 2005 and in March 2007 raised enough extra cash to buy Bintara's old brewery (they downsized to a 13 hL system) and my career as a brewer had begun, in November 2007 it was relocated to Ballarat where it is cranking along.

Cheers, Andrew.

 

[Gerard_M]

Andrew I will take you up on that offer some time in the next few weeks.
Cheers
Gerard

 

[Thirsty Boy]

I know its not really what people mean when they say "employment in the brewing industry" but...

Nearly every year Fosters employs a whole bunch of seasonal workers to deal with the increased throughput of summer peak. Probably the vast majority of their employees at Abbotsford started that way.

They usually start to put people on in September and they might be employed anywhere from 4 weeks to 6 months. Its great money (you might well make 50 Gs if you last six months) and it is after all the brewing industry. A stint at a major brewery can't but help increase your experience points... and it can occasionally lead to a career.

Give the HR department at Fosters Abbotsford a call sometime in late July early August and they will point you towards the recruitment company they use. Stress that you would like to work in the Brewing Department rather than in the Packaging or Distribution departments.. although both of those are good jobs too.

Cheers

Thirsty

 

[Millet Man]

Andrew I will take you up on that offer some time in the next few weeks.
Cheers
Gerard

Gerard,

Looking forward to it. Will brew a couple more batches in about 2-3 weeks, I'll PM you to let you know when.

Cheers, Andrew.