Did You Know? Hops are predominantly grown in the eastern states, with Australia's largest producers located in Victoria and Tasmania. However, Hamish Coates is now growing hops on his family's fifth generation dairy and cattle farm in Jindong, Western Australia. With audio file The hops will be grown on 12, five-metre high posts that will form a trellis for the long stem, or bine, of the hops to climb over. (Source: ABC Rural)

   Manufacturing & Production

Brewery Workers operate machines and perform routine tasks to make beer, and package, store and despatch beer in bottles, cans and kegs. Brewery workers/technicians are part of a brewing team that makes and packages beer, lager and stout for sale to pubs, shops and other outlets. Beer making involves a number of different stages:

- Weighing and measuring the ingredients

- The mixing and fermentation process

- Conditioning the beer

- Monitoring quality

- Labeling, packing and loading

Beer making starts with mixing malted barley, hops, yeast, water and sugar. The ingredients are then allowed to ferment. Brewery workers may be responsible for unloading raw materials, operating machinery, monitoring the temperature and quality of the beer or testing samples.

Once brewing has gone through the fermentation and processing steps, the beer is conditioned. For cask-conditioned beers (real ales), the beer goes directly into the cask, barrel or bottle. Other beers are brought to condition in the brewery. Some are clarified and filtered and some are pasteurised to guard against deterioration caused by microbes. They reach the consumer in casks, kegs, bottles or cans. For lagers, there is a longer period of conditioning in the brewery, at low temperatures.

Brewery workers/technicians may also be involved in packing and loading the beer for delivery to customers.

Most breweries use computerised machinery for much of the process and only certain work, such as weighing and measuring, is done by hand. Brewery workers have to be extremely careful about health and hygiene. Sterilising equipment and cleaning the work area is an important part of their job. They also have to keep a close watch on temperatures and keep records of ingredients.

Brewery workers might be involved in the whole process, or just certain stages. They usually work under the supervision of a technical brewer, who is responsible for the entire brewing process from start to finish, including the quality of the final product.


ANZSCO ID: 831112

Alternative names: Brewery Technician

Knowledge, skills and attributes   

• Be practical, with good manual skills to operate machinery.
• Be aware of the importance of hygiene and health and safety regulations.
• Be prepared to work on a range of different jobs.
• Be able to work well in a team.
• Be numerate, for weighing ingredients.
• Be able to cope with the physical demands of the job.

(Source: The Lead)

Duties and Tasks

• Weighs, measures, mixes, and processes ingredients.
• Adds materials, such as spices and preservatives.
• Operates processing plant.
• Monitors product quality before packaging by inspecting, taking samples and adjusting treatment conditions when necessary.
• Cleans equipment, pumps, hoses, storage tanks, vessels and floors, and maintains infestation control programmes.
• Regulates speed of processing machinery.
• Moves products from production lines into storage and shipping areas.
• Packages and bottles products.

Working conditions

Employees in larger breweries normally work around 37 to 40 hours a week, usually on a shift system. Breweries not operating a continuous shift system tend to work a minimum of 40 hours plus additional overtime shifts.

Workers are likely to be operating machinery. They have to wear clothing such as overalls, boots and masks to protect themselves and to minimise the risk of contamination.

Most brewery workers/technicians are employed by the large brewing companies, but there are also smaller, independent breweries. Many of these are family run or employ few staff.

Education and training/entrance requirements

You can work as a Brewery Worker without formal qualifications, however, they may be useful. A course in brewing might be helpful. It may be possible to start as a production assistant or brewery technician and work up to the role of brewer.

  Manufacturing & Production



This position is responsible for ensuring that customers have a positive and memorable experience at the brewery. Servers are crucial for success in brewpubs, breweries, and taprooms. A single inexperienced server or careless dishwasher can ruin that experience for your customer, possibly forever. This, coupled with the risks of over-serving and serving to minors, can literally destroy a business. So Tasting Room Staff or Beer Servers are crucial to a brewery.

The Beer Server should have a passion for craft beer and for learning the details of the beers produced and general business operations.

ANZSCO ID: 831112

Alternative names: Beer Server

 

Knowledge, skills and attributes  

• Excellent people skills

• Able to project a friendly and helpful manner at all times

• Able to perform quality work efficiently with minimal supervision

• Able to be responsive and flexible at last minute requests

• Open to working on site special events after hours if needed

• Open to working other special events off property if needed

• Acquires and maintains thorough knowledge of the brewery and the beer

• Work in a team environment and open to performing other duties as assigned 

• Professional appearance and demeanor    

(Source: Brewers Association)

 

Duties and Tasks

• Greeting customers promptly and courteously;

• Guiding customers to beers they will enjoy;

• Setting up and cleaning up daily operations and special events;

• Stocking beer and retail merchandise in the tasting room;

• Handles routine purchasing transactions which include operating cash register

• Accurately performing daily keg inventory and money handling procedures.

• Promotes the sale of beer and non-beer products sold in the Tasting Room.

• Describes beers, beermaking techniques, beer and brand history

• Answers visitor's questions and provides general tourist information.

Working conditions

Must be able to stand, walk, lift and bend for up to 8 hours a day. Shift work required especially on weekends.
  

Tools and technologies

You must be able to pull a beer and use the cash register.
   

Education and training/entrance requirements

No educational requirements are needed however previous experience in sales would be an advantage.

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Materials sourced from
Jobs & Skills WA [Brewer; ]
CareerHQ [Brewer; ]
Black Plague Brewing [Tasting Room Staff; ]
Input Youth [Brewery Worker/Technician; ]
Your Career [Brewery Worker; ]

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