Beer Buyer
Corvallis Brewing Supply
As the Beer Buyer on one side of a Beer&Brewing store, I learned how to keep an extremely close eye on the market, to see both what kinds of exotic and esoteric beers our customers would want to drink, or to make - or sometimes both. Mixed in to these responsibilities was the opportunity to immerse myself in the technical skills behind fermenting not only beer, but also other beverages (cider, kombucha, fruit-wine/honey-wine/"wine"-wine) and foods (yogurt, sauerkraut, cheese) - in order to helpfully aid customers on "the other side" of the store.Working in an active "hub" for a Corvallis Community (the town hosts a large club of avid homebrewers, as well as the Oregon State University programs for food- and fermentation-science, as well as agricultural/varietal research & development) gave me a chance to learn from certain customers while educating others, and occasionally even connecting one customer's in-store question with another customer's off-hand expertise. Overall, a very rewarding role to play.