The growth of the brewing industry has developed an opportunity for a lot of people to live their passions and follow a new direction in life that may have not been in existence 10-15 years prior.
That’s exactly what happened for Kristen Ewer, the newest brewer at Flagstaff, Arizona’s Historic Brewing Co. “I was just pretty unsatisfied at work,” she said. “I was working in the chemical industry and I always loved science, but I also liked a lot of creative things; and was kind of at the point where I could keep being miserable at work, or try and do something about it and make my life better.”
Ewer said it dawned her one day that someone’s got to be making a living brewing beer, why not her. “A couple years later, one day I needed a big change and decided to go to school for brewing,” said Ewer.
She proceeded to go to school for brewing at Heriot-Watt University in Scotland. After graduation, Ewer received a first job at Dogfish Head. “I was sad to leave,” she said. “But it was a change that had to be made.”
Ewer was told by a friend about a job opening on Pink Boots Society’s website. The position was for a brewer at Historic Brewing, and she applied. “I was looking for somewhere smaller to work,” she said. “I wasn’t sure I wanted to start somewhere that was brand new, and I don’t know a lot about starting up businesses and breweries and that sounded a bit too much for me to take on. The Historic job just kind of came across … and it just sounded perfect.”
Historic was just about two years old when Ewer first interviewed for the position. “I love barrel aging beer and that was a big part of the job description,” she said. “It just kind of clicked. No other job I was looking at or interviewing for sounded like the right one, and this one just felt right.”
Historic Brewing produces about 2,000 bbls a year. The brewer and assistant brewer already in place had been busting at the seams without the ability to work on barrel aging, which everyone, including the ownership, wanted to accomplish. “Hopefully bringing me on we’ll free up a little more time and energy to focus on that,” said Ewer.
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