There have been a lot of changes since I made the transition from working at a brewery producing just under 3,000-barrels to one that produces a combined 100,000-barrels in two locations.
Brew School: Brewing Up Something New
Thursday, March 10th, 2011Brew School: Learning by Doing
Thursday, January 6th, 2011
Despite everything I’ve been learning at the brewery I constantly want to know more. Fortunately, the brewery I work in consists of three people: the head brewer, an assistant brewer and myself. This small crew provides me with many opportunities to not only flood my mind with beer knowledge, but also get my hands into many of the daily brewing operations.
I currently work six days a week. Although I spend three great days in the brewery, the other three days are spent waiting tables. In all honesty, being a waiter is the pits. However, it pays the bills.
Lately I’ve found some of my brewery hours getting cut in order to work more in the restaurant—the brewery is part of a brewpub, so we have a full restaurant and my two jobs are thankfully located in the same building.
Initially I was bummed, since I viewed this as stepping backwards from my ultimate goal of full time brewing. However, I spent one of these forced days off visiting another local brewery and checking out the operations there.
A friend of mine starting interning at a brewery in Brooklyn around the same time I started my tenure at Chelsea. On my day off I hopped the train over to his neck of the woods and had the chance to see the inner workings of another commercial operation. My initial reaction was to the size of this brewery. It dwarfs the facility in Chelsea and produces about 5 times as much brew. Also, the brewery had 8 full time employees and 2 interns.
Although my buddy is now full time, like most people, he started as an intern. Most interns start as the brewery monkey, shlepping around pallets and cleaning kegs. While this is essential to any brewing operation, it also takes the least amount of time to learn. I’m not saying that keg cleaning isn’t important, but when it comes to the mindset of brewery interns, it’s only the first few backbreaking steps down a long road of brewing knowledge.
As he showed me around the space I got curious and began asking a lot of questions about their procedures. Since I now possess a pseudo-working knowledge of a brewery, I started contemplating how the practices at Chelsea were different from the way things were done here. After a few minutes of questioning my pal conceded that he wasn’t sure about most of the procedural activity since he didn’t get many chances to take part in the actual brewing. Most of his time, he said, was spent on the other side of the brewery cleaning and filling kegs and directing transfers.
As I sat on the train home I realized how often I’m able to get my hands in many of the essential brewing activities. While I definitely clean my fair share of kegs and spend a great amount of time completing the less desirable tasks at Chelsea, I’m also allowed to take part in the actual brewing and many other aspects of life in the brew house.
Working in a small brewery—like working for any small operation or company—definitely has its setbacks, but the rewards outweigh these issues by far. Although I may be forced to wait a few extra days for my paycheck, or the beer I make isn’t as readily available as bigger breweries, I have the opportunity to get my hands dirty and actually learn the craft. Despite the little inconveniences, the hops stuck underneath my fingernails and the wort that sticks to my boots is a true testament to the value of learning by doing. Besides, how many other people get to pour themselves a pint in the middle of their workday?
Brew School: Brewing with Wet Hops
Sunday, October 24th, 2010
Recently we brewed our second wet hop beer of the year with about 50-pounds of Cascades from the Yakima Valley. Our head brewer had the day off so I was brought in the brewery to assist with the brew day. I decided that within 6-months I want to be able to run a brewday completely solo so I decided to take the opportunity to sketch out some diagrams and take detailed notes to help me remember some of the more minute details of the process. Since there were only two of us working that day, I didn’t have to surrender my services to deliveries. This meant not only that I could focus all of my energy on brewing—loading and unloading kegs around NYC gets very physically draining—and even had some spare time to take a few photos.
Brew School: Learn To Love The Wet Hops
Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010
More and more I find myself enamored with the smell of hops. Now, I’m no hophead, but there is something about dumping Amarillo pellets into the brew kettle or manning the hop back that really gets to me. Although I may go for a malty porter more often than a sharp IPA, the utilization of hops while brewing has really got my mind—and palate—intrigued.
Brew School: It’s Not Rocket Science
Thursday, August 12th, 2010
For the past month I’ve been in charge of Saturday brewery tours at the Chelsea Brewing Company. Four months ago, I never would have though myself capable of giving an informative and in-depth brewery tour. However, the hands on education I’ve been receiving has really beefed up my beer knowledge and more importantly, it has giving me a real, physical understanding of the beverage I’ve spent the last several years studying while enjoying the occasional pint.
Brew School: Changing the Way I Drink
Sunday, July 11th, 2010
Friend of Beeriety Justin Lloyd recently began working at Chelsea Brewring Company in Manhattan as a cellar man. Below is the latest in his series of articles about what it’s like to work in the brewing industry.
The last month at Chelsea Brewing Company has been like a crash course in everything from brewing technique to boiler maintenance. Unlike most jobs, being an employee in the brewery forces one to become proficient in many things that at first may seem completely unrelated to beer. However, after a few weeks it now seems obvious to me how essential things like properly functioning heat and consistent pH levels in water are to the job.
Brew School: Becoming a Brewer
Wednesday, June 16th, 2010
Friend of Beeriety Justin Lloyd recently began working at Chelsea Brewring Company in Manhattan as a cellar man. Below is the first in a new series of articles by Justin about what it’s like to work in the brewing industry.
Last year I set out across the country in search of the ultimate job—professional brewer. After three months of visiting numerous breweries, pubs and festivals, I landed in Portland, Oregon and set out to find a job in a commercial brewery. Despite dropping off resumes at every brewery, distribution company and beer bar in the area, I simply could not get a job in the industry and resigned myself to home brewing. I eventually found a job in a restaurant but kept an eye out for a chance to work with beer. Hours were spent scanning websites like ProBrewer.com and beer blogs for internship opportunities; pint and after was consumed while chatting up brewers trying to discern their secrets for success; I even convinced a film-making friend of mine to edit a video submission for a chance to work at Full Sail Brewing in Hood River, Oregon:
