Brewing engineer: Job description and activities

Brewing is a high technology industry offering opportunities for chemical, mechanical, electrical and production engineering graduates. Brewing engineers provide the engineering expertise to modify, design, install and maintain brewing, beer processing and high-speed packaging plants. The work also involves providing all site engineering services, including water, steam and electricity.

Typical work activities include:

managing a team of specialist technicians engaged in the provision of site services and plant maintenance to achieve and/or improve production targets;
evaluating new process technologies;
specifying new equipment;
preparing budgets.

There tend to be more employment opportunities in larger companies or specialist brewing engineering consultancies. See the British Beer and Pub Association website for information on brewing companies and industry bodies. There are opportunities available in engineering and production management with specialist roles in process control, project management, energy management, packaging, civil engineering, electronics and research and development. Many brewing engineers also move into other similar fields, such as process engineering.

Most entrants are graduates from biological sciences, microbiology, chemistry and chemical engineering disciplines. An MSc and a Diploma in Brewing and Distilling are available. There is also now an MBA in Brewing and Distilling aimed at those wishing to progress their career in management. Visit the Institute of Brewing and Distilling (IBD) website for more information about the wide range of training courses available and gaining master brewer status.

For more information see Chemical development engineer.

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