Brew house operator

Description

Brew house operators monitor the processes of mashing, lautering and boiling of raw materials. They make sure that the brewing vessels are clean correctly and timely. They supervise the work in the brew house and operate the brew house equipment to deliver brews of good quality within the specified time.

Other titles

The following job titles also refer to brew house operator:

brewing operator
brewery operator
brewery worker
brew house worker

Minimum qualifications

A high school diploma is generally required to work as brew house operator. However, this requirement may differ in some countries.

ISCO skill level

ISCO skill level is defined as a function of the complexity and range of tasks and duties to be performed in an occupation. It is measured on a scale from 1 to 4, with 1 the lowest level and 4 the highest, by considering:

  • the nature of the work performed in an occupation in relation to the characteristic tasks and duties
  • the level of formal education required for competent performance of the tasks and duties involved and
  • the amount of informal on-the-job training and/or previous experience in a related occupation required for competent performance of these tasks and duties.

Brew house operator is a Skill level 2 occupation.

Brew house operator career path

Similar occupations

These occupations, although different, require a lot of knowledge and skills similar to brew house operator.

cider fermentation operator
cocoa mill operator
distillery worker
germination operator
cocoa press operator

Long term prospects

These occupations require some skills and knowledge of brew house operator. They also require other skills and knowledge, but at a higher ISCO skill level, meaning these occupations are accessible from a position of brew house operator with a significant experience and/or extensive training.

malt house supervisor
green coffee coordinator
distillery supervisor
animal feed supervisor
water treatment systems operator

Essential knowledge and skills

Essential knowledge

This knowledge should be acquired through learning to fulfill the role of brew house operator.

  • Grain-for-beverages milling process: Milling process, which combines advanced and conventional wet and dry milling. Milling methods of grain for beverages ensure good husk conservation and optimal grinding of the endosperm, which provide numerous advantages for the brewing process and final products.
  • Wort boiling process: Process of wort boiling where the brewer adds hops to the wort and boils the mixture in a wort copper. The bitter compounds of the wort give the beer a longer shelf-life.
  • Mashing process: Managing the mashing process and understanding its influence on wort quality and character of the finished fermented beverage.
  • Modern brewing systems: The most updated systems and best available techniques in the brewing industry.
  • Lautering process: Process of lautering, where the mash is separated into clear, liquid wort and residual grain. Lautering usually takes three steps: mashout, recirculation and sparging.
  • Brewhouse processes: The processes and techniques through which raw materials are converted into fermentable substrate for beer manufacturing.
  • Wort fining process: Transfer of the wort from the wort copper to the whirlpool to clean the wort of undissolved hops and protein flocks and ready it for cooling.
  • Ingredients for beer production: Basic ingredients of beer, which consist of water, a starch source such as malted barley, brewer’s yeast to produce the fermentation and a flavouring such as hops.

Essential skills and competences

These skills are necessary for the role of brew house operator.

  • Tolerate strong smells: Tolerate strong smells expelled by the goods being processed during the production of goods.
  • Measure density of liquids: Measuring the density of liquids, including oils, using instruments such as hygrometers, or oscillating tubes.
  • Operate automated process control: Operate process control or automation system (PAS) used to control a production process automatically.
  • Operate a heat treatment process: Apply heat treatment aimed at preparing and preserving half-finished or finished food products.
  • Manage staff: Manage employees and subordinates, working in a team or individually, to maximise their performance and contribution. Schedule their work and activities, give instructions, motivate and direct the workers to meet the company objectives. Monitor and measure how an employee undertakes their responsibilities and how well these activities are executed. Identify areas for improvement and make suggestions to achieve this. Lead a group of people to help them achieve goals and maintain an effective working relationship among staff.
  • Clean food and beverage machinery: Clean machinery used for food or beverage production processes. Prepare the appropriate solutions for cleaning. Prepare all parts and assure that they are clean enough to avoid deviation or errors in the production process.
  • Apply HACCP: Apply regulations regarding manufacture of food and food safety compliance. Employ food safety procedures based on Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP).
  • Measure pH: Measuring pH which is a measure of acidity or alkalinity.
  • Check bottles for packaging: Check bottles for packaging. Apply bottle testing procedures to verify if the bottle is fit for containing food and beverage products. Follow legal or company specifications for bottling.
  • Sterilise fermentation tanks: Sterilise workspaces and equipment using hoses, scrapers, brushes, or chemical solutions.
  • Be at ease in unsafe environments: Be at ease in unsafe environments like being exposed to dust, rotating equipment, hot surfaces, sub-freezing and cold storage areas, noise, wet floors and moving lift equipment.
  • Support management of raw materials: Support management of raw materials and plants required by the department for production. Oversee the needs for material and notify when stock levels reach re-order levels.
  • Adhere to organisational guidelines: Adhere to organisational or department specific standards and guidelines. Understand the motives of the organisation and the common agreements and act accordingly.
  • Apply requirements concerning manufacturing of food and beverages: Apply and follow national, international, and internal requirements quoted in standards, regulations and other specifications related with manufacturing of food and beverages.
  • Apply GMP: Apply regulations regarding manufacture of food and food safety compliance. Employ food safety procedures based on Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP).
  • Follow production schedule: Follow production schedule taking into account all requirements, times and needs. This schedule outlines what individual commodities must be produced in each time period and encapsulates various concerns like production, staffing, inventory, etc. It is usually linked to manufacturing where the plan indicates when and how much of each product will be demanded. Utilise all the information in the actual implementation of the plan.
  • Plan medium to long term objectives: Schedule long term objectives and immediate to short term objectives through effective medium-term planning and reconciliation processes.
  • Work in a food processing team: Collaborate in a team with other food processing professionals in service of the food and beverages industry.
  • Manage medium term objectives: Monitor medium term schedules with budget estimations and reconciliation on a quarterly basis.
  • Exert quality control to processing food: Ensure the quality of all factors involved in a food production process.
  • Operate pneumatic conveyor chutes: Use air-conveyor chutes to transfer products or mixtures from containers to storage tanks.
  • Tend grinding mill machine: Operate a grinding mill that grinds grains such as cereals, cocoa beans or coffee beans to obtain powders or pastes with different consistencies and grain sizes.

Optional knowledge and skills

Optional knowledge

This knowledge is sometimes, but not always, required for the role of brew house operator. However, mastering this knowledge allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

  • Health, safety and hygiene legislation: The set of health, safety and hygiene standards and items of legislation applicable in a specific sector.
  • Temperature scales: Celsius and Fahrenheit temperature scales.
  • Milling machines: Milling and mills and their operation in theory and practice.
  • Financial capability: Financial operations such as calculations, cost estimations, budget management taking relevant commercial and statistical data into account such as data for materials, supplies and manpower.
  • Mill operations: Details of milling operations related to grind size, particle size distribution, heat evolution. Milling processes for different cereals and grains.
  • Cleaning of reusable packaging: Methods of cleaning and disinfecting reusable packaging to prevent or remove deposits of organic or inorganic nature of the packaging.
  • Variety of beers: Variety of beers and their fermentation, ingredients and processes used during their production.

Optional skills and competences

These skills and competences are sometimes, but not always, required for the role of brew house operator. However, mastering these skills and competences allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

  • Write production reports: Make up and complete shift schedules and production reports in a timely manner.
  • Liaise with colleagues: Liaise with fellow colleagues to ensure common understanding on work related affairs and agree on the necessary compromises the parties might need to face. Negotiate compromises between parties as to ensure that work in general run efficiently towards the achievement of the objectives.
  • Assess cereal quality for brewing: Assessing barley variety, germination potential, moisture content, nitrogen content, and screening for grain size.
  • Monitor roasting: Monitor the roasting of coffee beans and grains for proper degree of roasting to produce the desired flavours and colours.
  • Monitor temperature in manufacturing process of food and beverages: Monitor and control required temperatures in the different phases of production until the product reaches suitable properties according to specifications.
  • Measure the strength of distillation: Measuring the alcohol concentration based on the information in the spirit safe and maintaining the distillation process and the distillation strength within the parameters asked by regulations for taxation purposes.
  • Provide improvement strategies: Identify root causes of problems and submit proposals for effective and long-term solutions.
  • Comply with checklists: Follow checklists and ensure compliance with all the items included in them.
  • Liaise with managers: Liaise with managers of other departments ensuring effective service and communication, i.e. sales, planning, purchasing, trading, distribution and technical.
  • Ensure compliance with environmental legislation in food production: Make sure to comply with environmental legislation in food production. Understand the legislation related to environmental matters in food manufacturing and apply it in practice.
  • Label samples: Label raw material/ product samples for laboratory checks, according to implemented quality system.
  • Analyse work-related written reports: Read and comprehend job-related reports, analyse the content of reports and apply findings to daily work operations.

ISCO group and title

8160 – Food and related products machine operators


References
  1. Brew house operator – ESCO
Last updated on August 13, 2022

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