I need some advice please. I am currently a homebrewer and would like to start working at a brewery. I have been trying for quite some time to find a place that would hire me for any position, but here in lower Alabama, we do not have very many microbreweries at all. I would like to get some advice on what road to take that will help to pay off in the long run. I have studied alot and have found that people do not have a consistent answer to this question. Most of what I have heard is one of three options. 1. Get into the industry but working anywhere in the company just to start (this is the option I have been trying so far). 2. Get a degree or diploma from one of the top brewing schools such as the American Brewers Guild, Siebel, Niagra College, Olds College, etc. 3. Get a degree in Chemisty or Chemical Engineering.
I currently have a Bachelors of Science in Education (Sports Medicine), so going back to school, whether it’s option 2 or 3 that would be okay. I just don’t want to quit my job where I make decent money, move across the country, spend a fortune of money, just to end back where I started. Can you all please help? If you have any additional questions, please feel free to ask me. Thanks!!! 
http://digboston.com/boston-beer-brewing/2013/07/on-beer-and-brewing-so-you-want-to-be-a-brewer-eh/
I can’t find the thread but there is one already pertaining to this on this forum
If you make decent money now and want to continue making decent money for the immediate future, don’t quit your job.
We don’t brew for the money; we brew for the intangibles like wet feet and bearded groupies.
It’s in the Going Pro section, in the"so you want to be a brewer" heading.
You could do the Siebel online program. Cost $3K. But if your not willing to move to a part of the country where the jobs are it might not do you any good. There are a few breweries in S. Alabama - Fairhope brewing, for one. And a few others in planning as well. I have some connections through the Alabama Brewer’s Guild and can put your contact info out there if you want to send it to me over PM. But if you have a job making “lots of money” are you sure you want to go back to manual labor that involves standing in wet, sticky boots all day lifting heavy things for minimum wage? Even the head brewer position doesn’t start out much more that 30K in most small to mid size breweries.
Yep.
Bearded groupies.
Trust me when I say:
99% of craft breweries have no interest in hiring someone with a chemical engineering degree. Unless they are big enough to need an engineer (Sierra, Stone, New Belgium, etc.), in which case they hire one with a lot of hands-on experience.
I got an engineering degree to make money. Now I can’t stop making money because I have to pay for the degree.
Online courses may be the way to go, but if you’re in Alabama, chances are you’ll have to move to get a gig. And you’ll still start off as Squeegeemaster.
I think the ChemE degree is useful for getting a job at the big breweries. Plenty of people have left the big breweries and have been successful. Both the founder and a/the head brewer at New Glarus jump to mind here. In my personal experience, the ChemE degree is about process (my forte) and not so much about recipes (my weakness).
Actually, you may be surprised how many breweries are popping up around Alabama. We have 7 breweries in Huntsville/ Madison and who knows how many more in planning and a handful contract breweries as well.
I would consider microbiology and/or QA/QC. Still, only larger breweries are looking for that.