How do you get into pro-brewing?

It's a great question. I'm a home brewer and would argue that most professional brewers started out as home brewers too; you could just ask the ones local to you. The two big professional schools that come to mind are:

UC Davis
https://extension.ucdavis.edu/areas-study/brewing

Siebel Institute
https://www.siebelinstitute.com/

I'd have to say that most brewers got a massive amount of experience working at an already established brewery to hone their skills and develop new ones.

 

Drank my first beer at 2 years old; drank my first "craft" beer at 14 years old. The genie was out of the bottle at that point.

Started homebrewing at 19; worked at a homebrew supply store until I was 20, and got hired as a brewer's apprentice one month before I turned 21 years old, started Sixpoint at 25.

Read every single homebrewing book that was available to me at the time; favorites include The New Complete Joy of Homebrewing and also loved Designing Great Beers.

If you're really motivated, a combination of reading, experimenting with homebrewing, and apprenticing at a local brewery will be a sufficient entree for you into the brewing community.

cheers

 

I'll second everything that's been said and add a few notes. Noonan's "Brewing Lager Beer" is also excellent and touches on pH which is something that most craft brewers don't even bother with although it's extremely important.

Also learn your basics first, meaning don't just rely on hops or some other additive to prduce a brew, there are too many breweries doing that these days. Learn to make simple ales and lagers first (which can be very hard when you want to experiment and do your own thing). Learn balance!!! Learn your ingredients - only by truly being familiar with your materials will you know how they'll work in the finished beer. And learn to be detail oriented.

 

It sounds like dedication and hard work also played a part in your success. Cheers.

 

don't forget luck ;-)

 

Luck favors the prepared!!

Cheers!

 

Ph is handled in depth by John Palmer in How to Brew. there is a whole section on the mash ph.
definite must read fro anyone who wants to start brewing

 

What you don't do: after couple years of homebrewing, open up a brewery with a 10 or 15 BBL brewhouse with no commercial brewing experience, put out some crappy beer because you need cash flow, make a bad first impression in a crowded market, and then go belly up because you are over-extended financially.

After reading the back stories on a bunch of the new breweries opening/being planned in PA, I expect a lot of flameouts in next couple of years.

 

Take the advice of the people who have done it and succeeded. The only source for info I haven't seen mentioned is homebrewtalk.com. Take stuff there with a grain of salt as it is the internet, but that is my go to source info if Palmer's book doesn't completely satisfy me.

 

Hmm, no love for the BA homebrewing forum!?!

Cheers!

 

Sorry but the other one mentioned is much more active.

 

The free online version has be re-vamped http://www.howtobrew.com/

 

BYO (Brew Your Own) Magazine recently did a piece on getting a certification/brewing degree. It has a ton of information on programs across the globe. Too many to list in this thread. Easy enough to Google the article.

 

true, but the quality of the brewers who post here, as well as how receptive they are to new brewers makes it much easier for a beginner to get started

 

There's a brewing program at Central Washington University I believe.

 

The year I graduated from college, my university started offering a Sustainable Brewing bachelor's degree... I was so close

 

you're allowed to go again and get another degree

 

I started home brewing, got lucky enough to get an assistant position at a local brewpub, then took the full on site Craft Brewers Apprenticeship program at the American Brewers Guild. Work experience is great, but having a brewing education will set you assist from all the homebrewers asking for jobs (not that it's wrong, I started there too!)

 

Since you are in Europe, you might consider a degree based program there. Here are a few notable ones:

• International Center for Brewing and Distilling
• Heriot-Watt University
• Scotland, UK
• Website: icbd.hw.ac.uk
• Email: [email protected]

• VLB Berlin
• Berlin, Germany
• Website: VLB-Berlin.org

• Weihenstephan
• Freising, Germany
• Website: WZW.tum.de/index
• Email: [email protected]

• Doemens Academy
• Munich, Germany
• Website: Doemens.org
• Email: [email protected]

If you want to brew in the US, a degree is not required but is helpful. In other countries its required.

More options here:

https://www.brewersassociation.org/resources/schools-organizations/