Membership questions? Log in issues? Email info@brewersassociation.org

Author Topic: Typical brewers salary?  (Read 7626 times)

Offline DrewG

  • Brewer
  • ****
  • Posts: 359
  • Thread Killer
Typical brewers salary?
« on: May 23, 2012, 07:21:16 am »
For a brewpub?
"Well, the Mexicans got a saying - what cannot be remedied must be endured."

-Barbarosa

Offline Slowbrew

  • I spend way too much time on the AHA forum
  • ********
  • Posts: 2859
  • The Slowly Losing IT Brewery in Urbandale, IA
Re: Typical brewers salary?
« Reply #1 on: May 23, 2012, 07:35:42 am »
I have never seen any actual numbers but the descriptions I've heard are not much to very little.

Paul
Where the heck are we going?  And what's with this hand basket?

Offline hopfenundmalz

  • Global Moderator
  • I must live here
  • *****
  • Posts: 10687
  • Milford, MI
Re: Typical brewers salary?
« Reply #2 on: May 23, 2012, 08:07:45 am »
You won't get rich in dollars, but you will have a life rich in experiences.
Jeff Rankert
AHA Lifetime Member
BJCP National
Ann Arbor Brewers Guild
Home-brewing, not just a hobby, it is a lifestyle!

Offline micsager

  • Senior Brewmaster
  • ******
  • Posts: 1179
Re: Typical brewers salary?
« Reply #3 on: May 23, 2012, 08:36:12 am »
For a brewpub?

I've been offered $15.00/hr as a 1099 contracting employee. 

Offline tschmidlin

  • I must live here
  • **********
  • Posts: 8198
  • Redmond, WA
Re: Typical brewers salary?
« Reply #4 on: May 23, 2012, 05:19:00 pm »
The experienced guys around here get in the $40K range, maybe creeping up near $50k for some.
Tom Schmidlin

Offline Thirsty_Monk

  • Brewmaster General
  • *******
  • Posts: 2514
  • Eau Claire WI
    • Lazy Monk Brewing
Re: Typical brewers salary?
« Reply #5 on: May 23, 2012, 05:30:11 pm »
For a brewpub?

I've been offered $15.00/hr as a 1099 contracting employee.
That mean no benefits, no health insurance, no vacation and no unemployment if you loose job.
Just saying.
Na Zdravie

Lazy Monk Brewing
http://www.lazymonkbrewing.com

Offline bo

  • Senior Brewmaster
  • ******
  • Posts: 1141
Re: Typical brewers salary?
« Reply #6 on: May 23, 2012, 05:39:20 pm »
Minimum wage.

Offline corkybstewart

  • Senior Brewmaster
  • ******
  • Posts: 1368
Re: Typical brewers salary?
« Reply #7 on: May 23, 2012, 07:13:15 pm »
I was offered $30K and 6% of beer sales at a brewpub.  Minimum wage basically, and management was very limiting in what could be brewed.  They left no room for the slightest bit of creativity.
Life is wonderful in sunny White Signal New Mexico

Offline The Professor

  • Brewmaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 863
  • "In the next life, you're on your own"
Re: Typical brewers salary?
« Reply #8 on: May 23, 2012, 08:18:50 pm »
I was offered $30K and 6% of beer sales at a brewpub.  Minimum wage basically, and management was very limiting in what could be brewed.  They left no room for the slightest bit of creativity.

Leaving no room for "creativity" is probably smart business on their part   ???   since a lot of these places actually do employ homebrewers (mainly because they can get them cheap).  In a high overhead situation, there's a fine line between being 'creative' and catering to the clientele.
 
Though there are definitely some exceptions, many times  homebrewers in such a situation view the gig as a sandbox to play in rather than a business (I've seen it firsthand).  As a result they wind up making barrels of beers that ignore the public taste.  The vast majority of pub/restaurant operations are going to be much more concerned with the bottom line and the most profitable use of the brewing setup (and in this economy, I could hardly blame them).
 
Besides, there is no shame in offering a better, house-brewed  version of the type of beer that the vast majority of people drink... and any brewer worth his salt should be able to do that.    A brewpub/restaurant that does that is, ironically, very probably more poised for success than one mainly bent on educating philistine palates.  ;D
AL
New Brunswick, NJ
[499.6, 101.2] Apparent Rennerian
Homebrewer since July 1971

Offline corkybstewart

  • Senior Brewmaster
  • ******
  • Posts: 1368
Re: Typical brewers salary?
« Reply #9 on: May 23, 2012, 11:22:52 pm »
The best solution would have been 3 or 4 house brews and a couple of one-offs.  But they were strictly staying with the original brewer's recipes.  He brewed good beer, but his stout was a 4.5 ABV Guinnness clone, and everything else he brewed was similar.  He was a good friend, taught me lots about brewing(as did the brewers after him) but management got frozen in a menu where everything was basic and bland-wheat, pale ale, stout and amber.  The brewers that I knew there loved coming to my house to drink whatever adventurous brew I had on tap, and I always heard their lamentations about not being allowed to brew outside the box.
Life is wonderful in sunny White Signal New Mexico

Offline kylekohlmorgen

  • Senior Brewmaster
  • ******
  • Posts: 1363
  • Saint Louis, MO
    • The South House Pilot Brewery
Re: Typical brewers salary?
« Reply #10 on: May 24, 2012, 09:16:08 am »
Minimum wage.

Would take this in a minute, if I could keep my current job...

Damn college loans
Twitter/Instagram: @southhousebrew

Recipes, Brett/Bacteria Experiments: http://SouthHouseBeer.com/

Offline micsager

  • Senior Brewmaster
  • ******
  • Posts: 1179
Re: Typical brewers salary?
« Reply #11 on: May 24, 2012, 11:09:05 am »
For a brewpub?

I've been offered $15.00/hr as a 1099 contracting employee.
That mean no benefits, no health insurance, no vacation and no unemployment if you loose job.
Just saying.

That's right.  However, the guy's a friend, and his son just moved out of town.  So, I'll be helping him on the weekends for a couple months.  No illusions of giving up my day job. 

Offline Jimmy K

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 3643
  • Delaware
Re: Typical brewers salary?
« Reply #12 on: May 24, 2012, 11:24:01 am »
For a brewpub?

I've been offered $15.00/hr as a 1099 contracting employee.
Not sure how they can justify calling you a 1099 employee, but that's another thread.
Delmarva United Homebrewers - President by inverse coup - former president ousted himself.
AHA Member since 2006
BJCP Certified: B0958

Offline micsager

  • Senior Brewmaster
  • ******
  • Posts: 1179
Re: Typical brewers salary?
« Reply #13 on: May 24, 2012, 11:24:59 am »
For a brewpub?

I've been offered $15.00/hr as a 1099 contracting employee.
Not sure how they can justify calling you a 1099 employee, but that's another thread.

True, I should have said "contractor"

Offline a10t2

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 4696
  • Ask me why I don't like Chico!
    • SeanTerrill.com
Re: Typical brewers salary?
« Reply #14 on: May 29, 2012, 08:16:47 am »
I was offered $30K and 6% of beer sales at a brewpub.  Minimum wage basically

Just thought I'd point out that that's about double minimum wage (and a helluva starting salary for a brewer, to boot).
Sent from my Microsoft Bob

Beer is like porn. You can buy it, but it's more fun to make your own.
Refractometer Calculator | Batch Sparging Calculator | Two Mile Brewing Co.