THE INSTITUTE OF BREWING & DISTILLINGCAREERSA GUIDE TO

PRODUCTION,ENGINEERINGAND SCIENCE

CAREERS IN THEUK BREWING

AND DISTILLINGINDUSTRIES

A GUIDE TOPRODUCTION,ENGINEERINGAND SCIENCE

CAREERS IN THEUK BREWING

AND DISTILLINGINDUSTRIES

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In the UK the brewing and distilling sectors support thousands of jobs in production and engineering.

The brewing process is a bio-chemical one, in which malted barley and othercereals are mixed with water, the extract boiled with hops, cooled and fermented withyeast. During the fermentation process sugars form alcohol and carbon dioxide. Thesame process to extract sugars from malted barley is used in distilling, but the sugarsolution is fermented without the addition of hops and without boiling. Afterfermentation the beer is matured and then packaged in a range of containers includingcasks, kegs, bottles and cans. While draught cask beer is much favoured by traditional aleconsumers it has a relatively short life and needs close attention in the pub cellar. In contrast, beerpackaged into bottles, cans and kegs is very stable and can be stored for some time.

In distilling, after fermentation the product is distilled and then stored andmatured in oak barrels.

To brew and distil on the scale required and to maintain the consistenthigh quality demanded in the thousands of pubs, bars, clubs and

retail outlets, the talents of skilled brewers, distillers andengineers are essential.

The brewing and distilling production sectorsprovide a huge range of opportunities across awide range of skills and competences.

Brewers and distillers have a number of routes tocommence and develop a career.

A solid background in Science, Technical andEngineering secondary education is required. Thereare now apprentice opportunities as well asopenings for those wanting to join after A-levels andalso for those intending to enter after taking arelevant degree.

The sectors require a mix of employees with skillscovering botany, bio chemistry, electricalengineering, mechanical engineering, chemicalengineering, IT and other disciplines.

There are also many more general career opportunities in the brewing and distilling business,where technical experience can be of real value. These will be found in distribution, sales andmarketing, and IT.

Brewing and distilling are practised around the world and it is worth remembering that similarcareer opportunities can frequently be found for those prepared to work overseas.

Similarly the distilling industry offers careers in a parallel discipline.

The role of the Brewer and Distiller

Work profileBrewers and distillers are in charge of the entireproduction process, which can range from hands-on manual operations to high levels ofautomation in many large sites. The role includesresponsibility for the raw materials from whichthe product is made, the condition and smoothrunning of plant and equipment, and formanaging the most important resource, people.

One of the major tasks is to make sure that thequality of each batch remains consistent, despitesmall, unavoidable variations in naturalingredients. This involves monitoring theproduction process at regular intervals, testingsamples and making adjustments wherenecessary. This is the skill of the brewer anddistiller.

In large sites, brewers and distillers are likelyto specialise at any one time in a single stage ofthe process, such as wort production (the sweetsugary extract from the malt), fermentation,filtration, packaging or quality assurance.

In smaller sites, the brewer or distiller willprobably be responsible for several, if not allaspects of the production process.

Breweries often introduce new, seasonal orcelebration beers which gives the brewers anopportunity to use their creative skills, designing,testing and producing new and original products.

Brewing and distilling are constantly changingas new scientific and technological advances aremade. For instance, there is an increasing degreeof automatic control and computerisation of theprocess, although the role of the brewer ordistiller remains a hands-on occupation.

Skills and interestsBrewers and distillers are practical people with astrong scientific bent who enjoy working at thecentre of a manufacturing process. They have to

be quick-thinking and able to apply theirscientific and technical knowledge to solvingproblems as they arise.

They need a wide knowledge of chemistry,biochemistry, biology of raw materials andmicrobiology. An aptitude for the chemical,mechanical and electrical engineering is requiredfor dealing with plant and equipment, adjusting itwhen necessary and identifying problems thataffect the brewing process.

Brewing and distilling involve the managementof production personnel so brewers and distillersmust have the inter-personal skills tocommunicate and to motivate the people workingfor them.

Information technology skills are becomingincreasingly important and brewers and distillersneed sound business and commercial sense.

Entry requirementsMany people who start as a trainee have adegree, such as biological science, microbiology,chemistry or chemical engineering. The sectorsalso need engineers so degrees in processengineering and mechanical engineering are alsoroutes to the sector. Heriot-Watt University offers a BSc (Hons) in

Brewing and Distilling. Modules include biology,biochemistry, chemistry and microbiology.

Nottingham University offers an MSc inBrewing.

The sectors also recruit many people withouttertiary qualifications who will join via anapprentice scheme or other training schemeswith GCSEs or A-levels as requirements.

There are a number of other universities offeringprocess technology and food technology coursesand naturally, degrees in life sciences includingmicrobiology are attractive to employers.

RecruitmentParticularly in demand are those who can demonstrate potential strength of leadership, initiativeand the ability to manage people and develop general business management skills.Some recruits will go directly into a programme of training and job experience to enable them toobtain the necessary qualifications for a technical management career. Others will go straight intotechnical or scientific work positions.

Training and qualificationsEntrants to the industry are usually expected tocontinue their education and training and pass one ormore of the professional examinations set by theInstitute of Brewing & Distilling (IBD).

The Diploma in Brewing (Dipl. Brew) and Diploma inDistilling (Dipl.Distil) examinations cover theunderlying scientific and engineering knowledgerequired; while the Master Brewer examination(M.Brew) requires experience and more practical

knowledge of raw materials, brewing ordistilling, packaging, dispense engineeringand quality assurance. Candidates for the Master Brewerexamination must first attain a Diploma inBrewing or Distilling.

The IBD also offers a General Certificate inBrewing and Packaging and a GeneralCertificate in Distilling. Both of theseexaminations, which are recognised by Cityand Guilds are equivalent to NVQ Level 3,are available to people who have not been

through tertiary education or may already work in breweries ordistilleries at team leader, technician/operator level.

For those at a very initial stage in a technical career orjoining/working in the sectors in a non-technical role than theFundamentals of Brewing and the Fundamentals of Distillingoffer an introductory level of knowledge

Those joining and who prefer a fully self-learning route may take the option of registering for theBrewers Diary route which is a work-based programme monitored by a work place mentor andassessed by the IBD on completion.

These introductory level exams are an excellent springboard to Diploma in Brewing/Distilling andMaster Brewer level examinations.

GeneralBrewing and distilling are generally capital-intensive, high-technology industries that offer a widerange of opportunities for mechanical, electrical, production and chemical engineering graduates.Engineers may be involved in the development, operation or maintenance of modern processingplants and there are opportunities for career development into senior engineering and othermanagement posts.

Engineering ManagementThere are opportunities to manage the engineering maintenance of production plants, which coversthe brewing and distilling processing plants, as well as high-speed packaging lines for kegs, bottlesand cans.

This involves the preparation and administration of the maintenance budgets and the trainingand motivation of a team of specialist craftsmen. Maintenance Engineers work closely with plantmanagers to plan and execute maintenance so that the production schedules are achieved. The engineering department also has the responsibility for the economic provision of all siteengineering services, including steam, water and electricity and shares responsibility withproduction management teams for their efficient use.

In many companies, the engineering department has responsibility for capital projects. Thisinvolves the preparation of budgets and specifications and the management and co-ordination ofthe contractors involved in the project.

Production ManagementSuitable engineers may be able to start in, or transfer to production. The first opportunitywill often occur in the highly mechanised packaging departments and progress willdepend on the demonstration of ability in general and technical management skills.

Specialist EngineersSome of the larger brewing and distilling companies offer specialist opportunitiesin central engineering departments. The skills required in this area are:

Project management

Process control

Energy management

Packaging

Civil engineering

Automation

Work in engineeringdepartments can vary and may involve design andimplementation of multi-million pound projects, either inhouse or with contractors.

Engineering in the industry

Engineering Technician rolesThere are good opportunities within the sectors for hands on engineering technicians. The routesinto the sector vary from apprentice schemes as well as entry to those with a relevant certifiedskill/qualification. Opportunities exist for mechanical, electrical, and instrument technicians

Research & DevelopmentThere are opportunities for all types of brewers, distillers and engineers in the research anddevelopment departments of the major brewing and distilling companies.

Bodies such as Campden BRi, Heriot Watt University, Nottingham University and others maintainactive research and consultancy services.

Other opportunitiesThere are all sorts of other career opportunities in the Industry, for instance in cellar services,human resources, finance, sales and marketing, IT and logistics.

Cellar service technicians can now gain a level 3 NVQ in drinks dispensing systems.Distribution and warehousing of the production is a major employer of people in the Industry andagain offers training and careers in these aspects of the business.

The Institute of Brewing & Distilling (IBD)The IBD is a registered educational charity.Its main objective is to promote educationalexcellence in education and training andprofessional standards in the science andtechnology of brewing, fermentation anddistilling.

It is the examiningbody for the sectors

and has classes ofindividualmembership. The IBD provides avariety of trainingcourses to help

candidates prepare for its examinations.For the Dipl.Brew or Dipl.Distil, there

are intensive modules devoted to theapplication of engineering and sciences to thebrewing and distilling processes, such as malting,wort production, fermentation and postfermentation. Graduates, depending on their firstdegree, may need to supplement their private study

by attending one or all of these modules inpreparation for the Dipl.Brew or Dipl.Distil.

Courses are arranged to support entrantsfor the M.Brew exam, which consists of fivemodules, along with recommended readingand past papers.

Similarly, entrants for the General Certificate in Brewing & Packaging, orDistilling have a programme of study, workbooks and courses available.Various awards are available to thoseachieving distinction in the examinations.

The IBD has a web-based learning zone that is mostly open access to non-members theLearning Zone hosts a wide range of learning material and guidance.

IBD PublicationsThe Journal of the Institute of Brewing is the worlds foremost Journal for original research inbrewing, distilling and fermentation and is published quarterly. It is available online and is fullyarchived and searchable back to 1890.

The Brewer & DistillerInternational is the IBD membersmonthly magazine, designed tokeep all members up to date withIBD and Industry affairs, althoughit also contains scientific andtechnical articles that are valued bytechnical staff in the Industry.

IBD UK SectionsThe IBD is organised into geographical sections, to enable members to meet in order to hear invitedspeakers and to provide opportunities for discussion at a local level. Some of the larger meetingsare often attended by members from all over the world.

The British Isles sections of the IBD are:

Southern, Midland, Great Northern, Scottish and Irish.

The IBD and its sections hold regular meetings and workshops to enable all members to keepabreast of the latest developments in Industry matters and to provide a forum for social activitiesand the interchange of ideas.

For further information, see contact details overleaf...

Brewer & Distiller International November

2010 www.ibd.org.uk

Brewery profile

32

Many readers will be

familiar with

Kolumbusplatz as a

station on the U2 subway

out of Munich on their

journey to the Messe and

drinktec. Just the other

side of the River Isar from

the city centre, they

probably do not know that

a short way up

Falkenstrasse past some

smart terrace apartments

above equally smart

bistros is one of the

symbols of Munichs

beery greatness - the

Paulaner brewery.

The current brewery lies at the

foot of a steep scarp with the

packaging halls, company offices

and the Paulaner biergartenat the

higher level. A tunnel links the two.

The hillside must be honeycombed

with old cellar workings for not only

did Paulaner store beer here but

other Munich brewers took

advantage of an easy dig and

brought their beers to the site as

well. They are long gone but the

traditional chestnut trees planted to

provide shade and evaporation from

the subsoil remain.Paulaner has been there for q

uite

some time too, it celebrated its 375th

anniversary last year. Not of its

founding but a letter of complaint

that the monks were selling beer to

local citizens too cheaply. The

monastery was set up by the order of

St Francis of Paola (hence Paulaner)

from Calabria in Italy in the early

seventeenth century. It was a strict

order with much fasting but beer was

OK to sustain the body particularly

during the Lenten period. The

monks obviously left their mark on

the local community for a brewers

widow left 90 bushels of malt in her

will for the brothers. The 80

buckets of beer they produced

proved too much for their own

satisfaction (there were only sixteen

of them) and so in microbiologicalunstable times they sold som

e of it.

Had the local brewers not written the

letter we would not have the date of

1634 to use as the foundation date.

Oktoberfest anniversary

Last year was the 375th, 2010 will

see the 200th anniversary of the

Oktoberfest. Back in October 1810 a

horse race was held to celebrate the

wedding of Crown Prince Ludwig

(later King Ludwig I) and PrincessTherese of Saxe-Hildburgha

usen.

Carnival stalls soon appeared and

the start day pushed forward into

September as the weather tends to be

better. The horse racing lasted until

1960. It is not the two hundredth fest

for it has been cancelled 24 times in

the past due to wars, cholera and

even inflation. No doubt some six

million visitors will guzzle through

70,000hl of 6%ABV Oktoberfestbier

this year including some 28,000hl

from Paulaner. The company has two

tents as it now controls one of the

other Munich brewers, Hacker

Pschorr. Paulaner has a new tent for

2010. Also on PR man Christoph

Bohnings mind was a new TV

commercial, the booming sales of

alcoholfrei products which arebeating forecast sales and a p

lan to

increase exports from 800,000hl to

1.5mhl by 2015. With the German

market still flat and very competitive,

Paulaner plans to promote its

weissbier (already the biggest selling

in Germany ahead of Erdinger and

Franziskaner) abroad supported bybiergarten advertisements es

pousing

the Bavarian virtues of relaxation

and tradition. Brazil, Mexico and

India are in the spotlight as well as

existing markets. There will also be

more pub breweries; there are

already six in Germany, eleven in the

Far East (mainly China), one inRussia and one on Cape Tow

ns

Waterfront.

by Roger Putman

Monks brewin MnchenThe story of Paulaner

PaulanerBrauerei GmbH

& Co. KGHochstrae 75 81541 Mnchen

T: +49 89 48005-0www.paulaner.de

Paulaner has beenthere for quitesome time too, itcelebrated its375th anniversarylast year.

Back to the monks

The monks carried on doing their

good works. Output is estimated at

3200hl a year in 1773 when Brother

Barnabas was reported to be getting

one and a half buckets of beer from

each bucket of malt while other

brewers squeezed two. He called his

Heiligvater (Holy Father) beerSalvator and some three hun

dred

other brewers followed suit to name

their Lenten beer Salvator as well.

The brewery wanted to sell the beer

at other times so applied to the

Elector, apparently it was so infected

after the journey that permission wasgiven should the monks be l

ucky

enough to find anyone to buy it!

Much later (1896) the companymanaged to trade-mark the n

ame

and everyone else had to change.

Thus strong Bavarian starkbiers are

all called something -ator, Animator,

Triumphator, Maximator or

Optimator, the brewers at the airport

rather imaginatively call theirs

Aviator! So popular are these early

spring beers that Bavarians call Lent

the fifth season. Doublebock

Salvator today weighs in at

7.9%ABV (18.1P) and is still soldin Mass glasses (one litre if you arevery lucky) on April 2nd (St Franc

is

saints day) at a huge party at thebiergarten on the hill (theNockherberg) above the brewerywhere invited speakers have

been

insulting politicians and other public

figures (Derblecken) since 1891.Back to the monks again; th

e

monasteries were secularised by

Napoleon in the early years of the

nineteenth century but the recipes

were kept and passed on to Franz

Zacherl in 1806 and he gained

outright control of the brewery in

1813. He is credited with the first

exports as King Ludwigs son Otto

was on the throne of Greece in 1832

and asked his father to send a

reminder of home. The Czech lands

and Italy followed. The latter is even

today the largest export market

followed by France, USA, Russia,

Spain and around seventy others.

Paulaner merged with the Thomas

Brewery about a mile back towards

the city in 1928. Paulaner beers had

traditionally been dark with

relatively high carbonate in the

water, Thomas brewed pale helles

beers vying with Spaten for the

accolade of being the first but was

Main picture left:

Bgelflasche swing top

bottles at the Paulaner

Brewery in Munich.

The picture below

shows the brewhouse

silo block and the old

maltings.

Brewery profile

33

Much later (1896)the companymanaged to trade-mark the nameand everyone elsehad to change.

Brewer&DistillerINSTITUTE OF BREWING & DISTILLING VOLUME 8 ISSUE 8 AUGUST 2012 INTERNATIONAL

This month: Major feature on waste water

The Institute of Brewing & Distilling, 44A Curlew Street, London, SE1 2ND

T: +44 (0)20 7499 8144 F: +44 (0)20 7499 1156 E: enquiries@ibd.org.uk

www.ibd.org.uk

Details of brewing companies and other industry bodies can be obtained from the IBD, The British Beer and Pub Association and The Society of Independent Brewers.

British Beer and Pub AssociationGround Floor, Brewers Hall, Aldermanbury Square, London EC2V 7HR

T: 0207 627 9136 E: enquires@beerandpub.com www.beerandpub.com

Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA)T: 01283 535351 www.siba.co.uk

Details of distilling companies and other bodies can be obtained from the IBD or the

Scotch Whisky Association20 Atholl Crescent, Edinburgh, EH3 8HF, United Kingdom

T: (+44) 0131 222 9207 F: (+44) 0131 222 9210www.scotch-whisky.org.uk

Other relevant bodies:

Heriot-Watt University, Nottingham University, Oxford Brookes University, Abertay University, Stirling University, Campden BRi, Harper Adams, University College of Cork, BrewLab, Sunderland.

Continuing Professional Development (CPD)The Institute of Brewing & Distilling (IBD) supports ongoing training and education within theindustry with a continuous programme of lectures, seminars and conferences and publications

designed to keep everyone up to date. The IBD operates a scheme to allow members to validate their annual CPD.

The IBD is also approved by the Science Council to award Chartered Scientist status to suitablyqualified members that commit to an annual CPD recording and monitoring process.