I’m strongly considering applying to a few local commercial breweries and am wondering if there is an etiquette regarding passing along a couple examples of what I’m capable of. I LOVE sharing my beer with friends and family, but in a professional setting I don’t want to be too overbearing. My wife suggested I bring them and keep them in the car just in case you get to a point where they might be useful.
Any thoughts?
I don’t work for a brewery or anything, but I think bringing them beers is the right thing to do. You can be unobtrusive about it and keep them in a backpack/shoulder bag or whatever, but if someone came to me looking for a brewing job and brewed at home I would expect to get a sample, and I’d want to talk to you about it while we shared it. I can’t imagine any similar interviewer wouldn’t want to have a taste.
Unless of course your beer is crap, then leave it at home. 
I would handle it totally differently. Rather than bring them some of your beer to show what you can do, go volunteer to clean out the mash tun, mop floors, clean kegs. Ask for a part time job helping the brewers (don’t expect much money). Compliment the head brewer on his/her beers. Ask a few questions on what they do during the process to get their beer right. You might mention you are a homebrewer, but don’t make a show of trying to get them you beer at first. Then, after you have gotten to know the group a bit ask if they would mind sampling your beer.
Remember that there’s already a head brewer there that will be pretty proud (hopefully) of his or her beers, as will most other folks around him. So you don’t want to come off “cocky” like you think you are going to walk in and blow them away with your beer. Get to know the people, and especially the brewer(s), and then they will be much more likely to give you both honest feedback and, perhaps, a chance to showcase your skills.
Now, that said, if the brewery is totally or mostly incompetent you might handle it a different way. But you might also be getting in way over your head. While the brewing process is essentially the same the tools pro-brewers use, the sanitation methods and the volumes they handle are quite different. If they have problems with their beer there is a good chance they are just going to turn around and brew your recipe with the same flaws in tact.
I agree with your wife. Leave some cold beers in the car and if the opportunity presents itself, bring them in.
As for doing manual work to get a job, that’s up to you, but I wouldn’t do it. If I was applying for a management position in my field of expertise, I certainly wouldn’t offer to clean the restrooms, in hopes of getting hired.
I agree with Keith on the methodology. Even if your skills DO eclipse those of the people working at the brewery, you have zero chance of employment if you make a point to prove that. .even in an amiable way.
What most people are looking for these days is a reliable, conscientious, butt busting worker who they can count on for whatever they might need. The higher rungs on the ladder will come in time.
Field of expertise eh? :D Seriously - we are talking HOMEBREWING here. No offense meant to anyone here but we may be experts at HOMEBREWING - but few people here know much, if anything, about professional brewing. And if you think you are going to walk in and start designing recipes and manning the control panel while the head brewer goes off to clean kegs (or the restroom) you are seriously fooling yourself.
You have to start somewhere. And, like it or not, cleaning MTs and kegs - and even restrooms - is all part of what a brewer does. You CLEAN! EVERYDAY!
Absolutely! And that goes for any field. The problem with kids these days coming into the work force is they think they deserve to start with a corner office job.
Thanks for shattering my dream…next thing you’re going to tell me is that brewers don’t get paid insane amounts of money 
Luckily the women come easy though. 
[quote] No offense meant to anyone here but we may be experts at HOMEBREWING - but few people here know much, if anything, about professional brewing.
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True, but there’s a big difference in brewing, on any level, and doing grunt work. Just because you know how to clean a mashtun, that doesn’t mean you know how to brew. There is such a thing as selling yourself short.
True, but there’s a big difference in brewing, on any level, and doing grunt work.
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Mikey - brewing is grunt work. You obviously have never been in a professional brewery before. The head brewer is running around cleaning kegs, cleaning restrooms, mopping floors, cleaning more kegs, cleaning out the mash tun, cleaning more kegs, cleaning fittings, cleaning fermenters, cleaning more kegs.
Its not all glamour and escort girls and dom perignon.
True, but there’s a big difference in brewing, on any level, and doing grunt work. Just because you know how to clean a mashtun, that doesn’t mean you know how to brew. There is such a thing as selling yourself short.
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Aw c’mon’ mikey, 90%+ of brewing is grunt work on ANY level. That’s why we have 4 fermenters and 8 kegs sitting waiting to be cleaned and sanitized. Or is that just me?
Keith, just wondering, all this starting a new brewery and all, you still have time to post? Or is there a cash prize for outposting Denny?
Dave - I haven’t been posting much lately but I hurt my back yesterday unloading 4000 lbs of grain and am waiting for the advil to kick in before I go into work. Wish I had some grunt to have helped me unload that. :P
I’ve been to plenty of professional breweries and spent a lot of time talking to the head brewer of one. Yes, I’ve seen him with a hose in his and brooms, etc. However, if I was hiring someone, I could be fairly certain that he/she could learn to clean. What I want to know is if that person knows something about sanitation, the handling of yeast, etc. Having them present me with a nice home brew would prove to me that they know something about brewing, other than cleaning mash tuns.
Should he expect to walk into a head brewers position, no and I think don’t any of us would expect that. However, I still think his wife’s advice was spot on. Take some homebrew with you. Even if you don’t get the job or have a chance to give it to them, you have something to drink in the parking lot while you reflect on your interview.
Well, as part-owner of a small brewery, and the head brewer, I will tell you that I am not interested in brewing your recipe. I’m also not really interested in tasting your beer until I see you clean out the MT a few times. ;)
Well, that’d work out well, because I would have desire to work for anyone that is only interested in my cleaning skills.
I’m just not sure why you don’t get it. Cleaning skills are what most pro-brewers are interested in. And if you are going to work at a brewery your are going to start at the bottom - unless you start the business yourself. Its simply not that complex. You clean. Why would a head brewer hire someone who brings him their homebrew, no matter how great it is, for the assistant brewer position, when there are probably 2 or 3 other guys that have been scrubbing floors for several months and who probably know how the place is run?
Regardless, I’m glad you don’t want the job because the guy who literally helped me for at least 60 hours or more of free work during construction is the first guy in line for the job - and he knows nothing about brewing. But he has earned the job. Plus, I’m not sure I like your attitude. :P
I’ll excuse myself from the discussion now because I have 40 kegs to clean.
You know you can unload them 1 sack at a time… ;) Hope the back gets better. No go find yourself a grunt.
Sorry, I was just expressing my views just as you have. Didn’t realize that I had an “attitude”. Also, I never even mentioned recipes or about asking anyone to brew them. That would certainly be very arrogant in an interview.
Now that I know you are a head brewer, I can see why you might feel strange about hiring anyone with actual brewing knowledge. You obviously want your recipes and skills to shine above all others. That’s not my management type, but I’ve known many managers like that. FWIW I have no desire to have anything to do with professional brewing. I’m merely basing my views on my management experience in far different areas.
You really, really just don’t get it. Or you simply refuse to.