Issue retaining brewers at a brew pub. Please help!

It is nice you are asking us, but it seems this is a conversation you should be having with your brewer.

 

Pick the brain of the brewer who's been there the longest and ask why they're still there and what would make it even more attractive for them to remain.
Armed with that, talk with the new brewer to discover his WIIFM (what's in it for me) and see if what you learned from the old(er) guard can help him toward his concept of success/reward.
Unless you already know what gets the new guy jazzed, you're shooting in the dark by tossing out access to ingredients and equipment, offering creative license regarding branding, collaboration or off-site activities, etc.
Be upfront with the guy by explaining that others have moved on and the powers that be are interested in that not happening again. If he's aware that the others left for greener pastures, ask him if he's using his new station as a launching pad or if he has an interest in developing a brewery that can become a landing pad.

Best way to find out what could keep him there?......ask.

....what @darklager said, in many fewer words that I said it.

 

$

 

As a former head brewer of a brewpub that went over to a brewery. Here's what I noticed that caused me to decide I was willing to take a step down in my title to get a better paycheck.
LACK OF HOURS. I can only clean and organize so much, and if my tanks are full. My empty kegs are clean, and I'm not ready to move beer around yet, i.e. keg it off and wreck my back humping them into place just because. I have no place to brew anything new. Nor do I have shit to do. Look at your head brewers clocked in hours, and I'm pretty positive you will have at least one answer why turn over happens with that position.
FOCUS. My brewery was pretty much lost in the melange of other ideas my owners were trying to also accomplish. I'd do my own weekly inventory, and didn't need to go over the reports to understand how fast our product was moving. This also became very apparent to me that there was no driving motivation to get the brewery involved in driving profitability because I wasn't participating in managerial meetings, and I was not given much authority nor leeway to participate in a way that felt like I could take charge, or lead initiative in bringing the brew pub to a broader audience than a "nice to have". The profitability from brewing in house should be a no brainer for bottom line interested people. But, it's a matter of getting the rest of the staff, and your servers up to speed and also on board with selling it.
Festivals? I'm always iffy of beer festivals. Especially the further out they get from what your actual business capability for a footprint actively is. The sister brewery I also worked at to accomplish making up for what my head brewing position was not able to and was not going to provide had the good intention of pouring at festivals. But, honestly. If they are more than a couple miles away. They are a waste of time, and money, and product and don't do anything for your bottom line because it's not like such and such from a suburb three over is going to get a hankering to drive all the way up for a burger and a few of your beers. Unless there is some serious magic in them, and there is a hype train already in built. Honestly. I still doubt it.
Collaborations are sort of a neat idea. But, if you don't have an audience coming in already that is also interesting in hunting down THEIR product. Big whoopty ding.

The two things that stick out for me are these
- Make a further and more distinct separation between the bar and the brewery, in terms of branding. Allow the brewery to become, at LEAST from a marketing standpoint, its own entity.

- Involve the brewer in the brand and make him feel as though he is a vital part of its growth (as he may well be). We have 3 other locations with breweries, one of which is actually pretty successful apart from the brand; pay for him to travel to those locations in a learning/collaborative function.

What else would I want? Probably what you provide for your managerial staff. Salary and benefits. PTO, etc.

 

Dollars and work load would drive me.

Dollars: You said that you can't control the salary/wage that is paid, but you can make the recommendation to the owners that once a brewer has proven his skills, a nice raise should be given as a reward. That salary/wage should be in line with what other brewers make in your area, regardless of brewery size.

If your small brewery does not keep your brewer busy, hence less hours worked and artificially low wages, why not offer bar tending hours to enhance the wages, which would include tips. Customers always enjoy talking with the brewer.

Workload: If you are asking your brewer to work 70-80 hours a week to keep up with demand but the level of income does not justify that workload, it's time to hire some extra help.

Also, consider posting your question on probrewer.com. You'll get some BA members here that are brewers and can speak with personal experience, but I think you'll get a wider audience at probrewer.com. Good luck.

 

Gosh. With a 2 bbl system, and what has been mentioned. Burn out from being overworked is about the last thing I would expect. But. I don't know what product turnover is, nor what tank space, nor barrels a year is. But. if there has been an issue with quality of product mentioned on top of a lack of in house brand awareness and focus . I'll guess that it's going to be on the underperforming side.
I think it's honestly a lack of hours, and lack of input that is the motivator in turnover.

 

Some great ideas, the best of which is "ask the brewer".

One thing that hasn't been mentioned: who did these brewers who left report to? One thing that I read long ago: "Employees don't leave companies, they leave managers." It might truly be that some combo of the above will get people to stick around, but it also might be that whomever is over the brewers is a turd. I know this mantra has been true in my career, & have heard it over & over from friends. Just a thought.

 

^ ^ ^ profundity for the day.

I can see it now. @MatthewPlus is pulled in to the head office in front of BigWigs 1, 2 and 3.
"So Matthew, what'd you learn? How do we hold on to our brewers?"
"Well sir, (then turning and pointing to BigWig 2)......buddy, you gotta go".

 

First see what the ever wants.
Second, if his work is making big profiets for the buis, talk to the board nd give the Brewer some of it.

If the Brewer wants more than you and da bosses can give, look for another.

 

@MatthewPlus, it was mentioned above: "what product turnover is, nor what tank space, nor barrels a year is."

Can you please answer the questions above? That would provide us a better understanding of the working environment of this 2 barrel brewpub.

Cheers!

 

Money talks, Find out how much you have to pay him/her to stay. Than convince whoever you have to pay it.

 

To recap, monitor turnover of product brewed in-house, i.e. check the sales, and actually sit down and have a meeting with your headbrewer to figure out what can be done. So, far it sounds like they are just a body you use to make product. How's their headspace in your company? What say does it have beyond coming up with recipes you seem to find as solid?
If you are the "beer guy". It's in your best interest, and your companies to regularly talk with and meet with and plan shit out with the pubbrewer. If you are not, and if that's not something that's been broached as a "hey that's a great idea." No wonder they leave.

 

Every individual has different things than make them happy in a job/career. It's not always more money/a raise. As others stated you need to find out what makes the brewer happy and ensure that you can deliver the things they claim make them happy to keep them around and provide them something better than their other alternatives elsewhere.

 

I would have to start with this: Your tasked with keeping the talent but have no real authority over his compensation etc? I think you need to start with talking to who you report to and tell them if your in charge of keeping the guy who keeps the business going you need to have authority to negotiate his pay/perks. I am not being rude in any way, shape or form but if your looking to keep this guy from leaving but you cannot work directly with him on his perks then why would he care to talk to you??? You can offer him every fun thing on earth but if another brewery is willing to pay him way more and give him greater financial stake in the business that is what he probably will go for? At the end of the day he needs to earn a living, making it fun and giving him cool stuff to work with is great and all but who cares if your underpaid and another company wants to take care of it, that is why most folks leave. Anyway, I am not being mean I am just saying that the powers that be task you with keeping your talent but strip away the most important aspect of your duty and that is contract negotiation with him. Good luck.
Cheers

 

This comes across as a little weird? Are you implying your trying to make him think he is part of the brand when he is really not, that is how I read this and that is a red flag to me. LOL are you looking to actually make him part of the brand or just use him to make money for the owners, maybe this is why the other folks left? In my eyes if I am the guy creating the beer with my ideas then I am the brand, lol. Just my two cents but if he is the talent he would be part of the brand and should be.

 

Effective communication is not a last resort.

 

Here's my take on this. All of these young guys want to be Sam Caligone or Vinnie Cilurzo or whomever. You can't blame them for that. A 2 bbl brewery is peanuts, and they can see that it's only a stepping stone. You wouldn't blame a hot young guitar player for not wanting to join a cover band that plays every other weekend at a hotel bar, would you? So who does play those gigs? Older guys. Guys who've already proven themselves. They took a chance, didn't make it big, but still love it enough to do it almost as a hobby. That's who you need.

 

Another note... 6 house beers that are always available is a really outdated idea. 3 sounds more reasonable to me - unless those 6 beers are absolutely stellar and selling like hot cakes.

The brewer is like the chef in the kitchen. He should be able to create the menu within reason; and he should have access to sales figures that let him see what's actually selling.

 

Ask the last two why they left and don’t do those things anymore. If you can’t keep a brewer your business will suffer. The fact that your “allowed” to do most things aside from financial incentive tells me that may be the reason or part of the reason the last two left. If that is in fact the problem and you can’t fix it you should probably consider leaving as well imho.