Tony Kiss

Asheville

ASHEVILLE – Be prepared to put a little muscle into heaving a sack of grain from one place to another. You'll need to know how to clean out a keg, too.

And — increasingly — people wanting to land a job in a brewery in the Carolinas will have to hit the books if they want better wages.

"Everyone offers to be a taster," said Leah Wong Ashburn, vice president of Asheville's Highland Brewing Co., which has about 50 employees. "But we are full up on tasters."

Local breweries offer many jobs, including keg cleaner, packager, social media director, sales staff, tasting room crew, brewer and even a job at New Belgium Brewing called director of fun.

But working in a brewery isn't everything it might seem, something the businesses sometimes finds themselves telling applicants.

The number of brewery jobs is growing, and the pay can reach $50,000, but landing a job in a brewery isn't getting any easier.

Those willing to start out at the very bottom can often find entry-level jobs without a beer background. But they will need a passion for beer and a willingness to work hard.

At Asheville Brewing, most every employee needs to do different jobs every week, company president Mike Rangel said.

"One day they will be on canning and packaging and the next they will be sanitizing equipment or delivering beer," he said. He has a 22-member brew crew.

To land the highest-paying jobs, experience or education is a must.

"If we were going to hire someone for a brewer's position, we would want them to have either real-world brewing experience or a degree," he said.

Demand is high for any brewery job.

"People ask, 'How can I get a job? I will do anything,'" Ashburn said. "So many people want to work in beer. You need to know something about the company. Do your homework."

Counting heads

Tracking employment at local breweries isn't easy because the number is fluctuating and some count all employees such as tasting room servers and others just the brewing staff.

An informal survey by the Asheville Brewers Alliance shows that once New Belgium and Sierra Nevada are at full force, more than 1,000 people will be working in beer around Western North Carolina.

Sierra Nevada soon will double its employment as it hires another 150 employees for its brewery restaurant opening early next year.

Across North Carolina, about 10,000 people work in some aspect of beer, from production to serving, said Margo Knight Metzger, executive director of the North Carolina Craft Brewers Guild. The state has 120 breweries.

In South Carolina, about 3,000 jobs are directly linked to beer, said Brook Bristow, of the South Carolina Brewers Association.

There are 20 breweries and 13 brewpubs in South Carolina, he said, and at least 15 more are planned.

Some of the toughest work involves moving bags of grain and removing spent grain once brewing is done, Rangel said.

But there are fun jobs, too, like working at beer festivals, where employees get to meet staff from other breweries, he said.

"It's a lot of work to do social media (such as operating Facebook and Twitter accounts) but that's fun too," he said.

Education is more important than ever, and brewing degrees will help technical candidates stand out, said Jennifer McLucas, director of the Asheville Brewers Alliance, which represents 40 breweries and supporting members.

"The right attitude and work ethic will go a long way, but as the craft brewing workforce becomes more educated and experienced, the possibility (of getting work without a background) is less likely."

Pay varies by job and brewery.

At Asheville Brewing, entry level jobs start at $10-$12 an hour, but a skilled head brewer can make $50,000.

At Highland Brewing, an entry level job starts at $11.

Oskar Blues in Brevard offers an "hourly living wage" and benefits.

Most of New Belgium's jobs are full time and pay an average of $13-$18 and benefits. New Belgium is employee owned, so after a year on the job, workers receive ownership in the company.

Hitting the books

As craft brewing has grown in the Carolinas, so too have college programs on brewing and the craft beverage industry.

At Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, the Craft Beverage Institute of the Southeast has 21 students in its first graduating class, set to get degrees in the spring. Another 23 are in the class of 2016, program director Scott Adams said.

The program requires two years of study.

Students take classes in beverage marketing and sales, beverage tourism, tasting room management, legal issues and brewing, fermentation and distilling.

They are also required to do an internship at a beverage industry, he said.

"As the craft industry continues to grow, the need for trained staff will be even greater," he said.

Among the A-B Tech students, Amanda King interned at Asheville Brewing and quickly landed a job there.

"I do a little of everything — washing kegs, cleaning equipment and some canning," she said.

Before enrolling at A-B Tech, King, 38, earned an English literature degree at UNC Chapel Hill and then "bounced around" in various jobs, working in the service industry and at a video store. She had no brewing background or experience before her A-B Tech studies.

She will graduate in the spring and wants to continue working in brewing.

"I went in (to Asheville Brewing) knowing that I would be learning," she said. The A-B Tech program has been "tough," she said, but it has given her the foundation for a brewing career.

Other North Carolina schools have similar programs. Blue Ridge Community College in Henderson County has an emphasis on brewing equipment, packaging and maintenance and Rockingham Community College in Eden has a more agricultural setting, with courses on hops selection and malting.

In Boone, Appalachian State University has a Bachelor of Science degree program in fermentation sciences.

South College in Asheville offers studies in Applied Science Business Administration with a concentration in professional brewing science.

Getting in the door

Area breweries each have their own systems for hiring. At Asheville Brewing, Rangel said the best route is to just walk in and apply.

"But do your homework," he said. "Try the beers. Look the brewery up online."

Ashburn at Highland agreed. "Spend some time here, have a beer, meet the folks working the bar and then meet the manager," she said.

At RJ Rockers in Spartanburg, owner Mark Johnsen said he would rather get an application by email with an attached resume than set up a time for an interview.

"No experience is necessary" for any Rockers job, he said. "We hire for attitude over aptitude." He has a crew of eight employees, six full time and two part-timers.

Another route to a brewing job is through home brewing, said Barry Bialik, owner of the Thirsty Monk pubs and the new Open Brewing brewery, which will debut soon in Asheville.

Open Brewing will let home brewers make beer on their system, which then will be sold through its tasting room in Gerber Village in South Asheville.

Open Brewing "is really providing a stepping stone to working in the industry," he said. "We're hoping that Open Brewing will serve as a sort of spring training camp for future commercial brewers."

Sierra Nevada uses a web page to list jobs and take applications. The brewery is hiring for restaurant jobs and sensory lab manager.

New Belgium, which is building a brewery in West Asheville, will begin most of its local hiring in early 2015 through "multiple channels," spokeswoman Susanne Hackett said.

New Belgium's most unusual job is the director of fun, based at the Fort Collins, Colorado, brewery.

But that job is filled by an employee, who is "our keeper of history, catalyst of camaraderie, barometer of culture and planner of amazing retreats," Hackett said.

New Belgium has a team of 575 workers in 33 states and will hire up to 50 initially in Asheville, then build to 140 employees here, she said.

Thomas Creek Brewery in Greenville has 20 employees, company spokesman Josh McGee said. "It is absolutely possible to come in with a healthy eager-to-learn attitude and work your way up," he said.

McGee began at Thomas Creek on the packaging line and is now a member of the sales and marketing team. The best route to employment there is an internship, he said.

At Oskar Blues, applicants often apply for a "specific advertised opening and have relevant experience to that position," said spokeswoman Anne-Fitten Glenn.

Hi-Wire Brewing in downtown Asheville employs 14.

Co-owner Adam Charnack said he is impressed with the A-B Tech students.

"I would bet that all the students in that program will have jobs lined up as soon as they graduate," he said.