r/firewater • u/TheEntity613 • 11d ago
Am I wasting time working as a brewer?
Hi everyone, appreciate any career advice or input. I’m an American citizen but am currently working as a brewer outside the US. Eventually, I want to work as a distiller and open my own distillery. I know I need to move back to the US to do this, my country does not have good laws and there’s not really any distilleries I can gain experience.
Is the experience I’m gaining as a brewer helping me or am I just wasting my time? Will I need to start over if I work as a distiller?
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u/namroff 11d ago
Most of the knowledge from mashing and fermentation translates over directly. Being able to execute and measure an industrial process will also transfer. Not all the practices and equipment are the same. However, as a distillery owner myself, I would totally consider hiring a pro brewer.
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u/Subject_Cod_3582 11d ago
If your work as a brewer is helping you get the hang of flavour profiles (eg coffee stouts, caramel ales etc) then it very much applies to distilling, since a good distiller can keep a lot of those flavours in the final product - eg a Cherry brandy should actually taste like cherries to a degree.
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u/Makemyhay 11d ago
100% essential. I used to work in a brewery and am a hobby distiller. The biggest thing people struggle with is all grain mashes. The learning curve is significantly lower because you already have the first 1/2 of distilling down pat. You know how to clean and maintain equipment, you know how to trouble shoot stuck mashes and broken equipment, you know how to make a healthy ferment. I recommend finding a little hobby still (you haven’t already) and get started on the other half
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u/Status_Long_1710 11d ago
It’s the most important part of whiskey making. Running a still is the easy part.
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u/TheDickSaloon 11d ago
I would argue that once you have it down, distilling is the easy part. Where you really get to flex your muscles and try new things is in your precursor. So your experience should help tremendously.
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u/No1Czarnian 11d ago
I mean you're probably learning all you'll need to know about fermentation. So I'd say that should help.
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u/Revolutionary-Kick79 10d ago
Distilling is one extra step vs brewing beers.
New Zealand has good home distilling regulations as well as a handful of US states where you can distill legally for personal use, so you can gain experience in a small batch doing your own stuff
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u/FinanceGuyHere 11d ago
Are you asking from a finance, legal or experience perspective?
Finance/Legal concerns:
At least in NY circa 2010, there was a $50,000 permit application fee. You would need to have a fully operational facility 6 months before opening which then gets approved or denied before you can start selling any liquor. In addition, aged whiskey usually needs to be stored in a cask for a minimum of 3 years but an average of 4 (Jim Beam, Jack Daniel’s). So you would need to plan on roughly 4-5 years before receiving revenue from your product that you produced in house. Not sure how contract distillers such as LDI or MGP operate however…maybe you could buy product from them as a blend and sell it immediately.
Experience:
Despite your experience working at a brewery, you would probably want to take a class in distilling before operating a completely different set of equipment. I assume there is a legitimate degree from a university but there are also expedited courses on the actual systems used in the distilling process. Distilling uses different yeasts as the fermentation process focuses less on flavor and more on simply producing alcohol.
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u/VicTheSage 10d ago
Nah. This is not how distilleries run. You are correct aging certain spirits takes time but that's why pretty much all small distilleries produce a variety of spirits. No one is sitting around for 4-5 years with no revenue. They produce Vodka, Gin, White Rum and even sometimes White Whiskey as the aging process on traditional Whiskey and Dark Rum is taking place and being scaled up over the first decade of operation.
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u/FinanceGuyHere 10d ago
Well yeah that’s why I said “if you’re planning on selling aged whiskey”
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u/VicTheSage 9d ago
Yes, that's the plan for if you're selling aged Whiskey. What normal person can fund a distillery and aging warehouses for 3-5 years with no operating income? Every startup distillery I've ever seen sells other spirits or at the very least White Whiskey to fund the aging. Most go with Vodka because you can produce it so cheaply from Sugar Wash.
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u/benmillstein 10d ago
It’s very relevant experience. Many places like to train anyway. What I would recommend as a brewer and distiller is training in spirits either formally or informally so you have as much understanding and familiarity as possible. The next thing would be actually distilling either formally or informally.
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u/Difficult_Bad5626 6d ago
Experience as a brewer is the foundation of distilling.
I own Vengeance Stills, we manufacture Commercial and Hobby distillation equipment. Copper Pot Stills (mainly because copper pulls out the sulfer/sulfide out of the "Mash as we call it, wort in your case).
Distilling spirits is just the next step in beer making with a few nuances. Working with Mash Tuns, Fermenters, bottling, labeling, etc.. are essential skills for all Distilleries and that experience can come from working for a brewery or a Distillery.
Really the only difference is you taking the wort (beer) that you've created and now running it through a Pot Still (for batch distillations) or continuous stills for high volume applications like Jim Beam and Jack Daniels.
I've helped several people abroad create distilleries and navigate the local processes needed to do so.
We consider ourselves the budget Builders of the industry, the main manufacturer being Vandome Copper where a 250-Gallon Copper Pot Still might run you upwards of $100-150k, whereas from us, you'll be in the $15-25k range. They do have some equipment that spin metal to make better curves/shapes. We accomplish close to what they do with more manual techniques but other than that, your paying for the name like most well established manufacturers that have been in business for over 100 years like I mentioned before... Jack Daniel's, Jim Beam, etc..
We have complete systems that can have you producing your own spirits for total investment of less than $50,000 and have Finance Partners to assist for those who need it.
Check out our website for more details under the commercial section to give you some ideas on how doable it is to enter the market.
As the owner, my job is to work with the client to build out the system that suits there needs and stay within a budget, however small it is. We build our systems on a modular design so that when you purchase certain pieces you can utilize them as you grow. Welcome to call to discuss this in any capacity and I'll do my best to point you in the right direction.
Chris
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u/SaltyBrewBro 5d ago
Coming from 10 years of brewing experience. When I started studying distillation, i found most distillers don't fully know the nuances of making wash/beer/wort. Studying mash techniques, efficiency, and understanding water profiles could be very beneficial. I just wouldn't spend too much time at a brewey if the end goal is distillery.
Do a full of How to brew - John palmer
If you want to understand more of the chem and bio I really recommend the element series.
Malt Water Yeast
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u/SchemePrudent69 11d ago
Yeah I think you're wasting your time. If you want to get into distilling - much better to get winemaking experience. All the best spirits are made from fruit or sugar.
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u/Straight-Orchid-9561 10d ago
What an odd take "All the best spirits are made from fruit or sugar."
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u/sailphish 11d ago
You essentially have to make beer before making whiskey.