Luke
SuperDork
3/11/11 2:42 a.m.
EvanB wrote:
I have thought about this as well. From what I have seen you at least need a degree from a brewing school or a food science/fermented foods degree to start out with.
Would there be any merit in obtaining a more general 'food science' type qualification, rather than trying to get into a specific brewing/specialist school?
My thinking being the former route could potentially be cheaper, quicker, & provide more flexibility. (But I've got no idea, really.)
Best of luck with it!
Salanis
SuperDork
3/11/11 1:08 p.m.
Luke wrote:
Would there be any merit in obtaining a more general 'food science' type qualification, rather than trying to get into a specific brewing/specialist school?
Not if the goal is brewing. There are some pretty specific things to brewing and fermentation sciences. With fermentation is more biology. You're relying on living organisms to do a lot of work. Things like enzyme conversion of starch to sugar are pretty application specific.
It seems like a lot of the pro brewers out there just started out as home brewers who built up a business. My impression is that the trend is shifting towards needing certification as the popularity increases and there is a greater supply of more qualified labor.
Salanis wrote:
flountown wrote:
Have you considered Nanobrewing? A storage locker, some fancier bigger SS pots and you can begin selling your own beer. Grab the book Brewing Up a Business by Sam Calgione and get creative. You can maintain your normal work, most likely make more money by maintaining your current job and get your own creations out there.
I believe the CA laws are actually very favorable towards nanobrewing, and after about 4k in licensing fees/business bond and such you can be selling your beer.
I'll look into that. I'd heard government laws were really a pain where that was concerned, but maybe not. I've got three major beer spots that I could probably get to put my beers on tap, were I to sell some. When I first busted out my holiday ale, customers at one place told the owner he needed to put kegs of it on tap.
Your not wrong, gov laws on brewing and selling are huge, taxes, sanitation, thats a way to get noticed perhaps, but its a long road to being big time. The other issue you will run into is scale, its hard to move up in small increments, the local brewry around her had to triple his production not cause he HAD to but because no one made a system in between his current and 3x bigger at a reasonable cost...