Head Brewer

HEAD BREWER

Bar 3 BBQ & Brewing – Belgrade, Montana
Full-Time

Position Summary

Bar 3 BBQ & Brewing is seeking an experienced, hands-on Head Brewer to lead all aspects of our brewing operation. This is a working brewer position with responsibility for the complete beer program—from recipe development and raw-material purchasing through brewing, cellaring, packaging, inventory management, quality control, and finished-product availability.

Because we operate a relatively small brewing program, the Head Brewer must be comfortable owning the entire process. The right candidate will be equally comfortable developing a new beer, maintaining tanks and equipment, managing inventory, troubleshooting systems, meeting with an outside account, and educating our restaurant staff about our current beers and brewing in general.

In addition to brewery operations, this position plays an important role in growing Bar 3's beer business beyond our restaurant. The Head Brewer will be responsible for developing new outside sales accounts, maintaining strong relationships with existing accounts, and working with management to increase wholesale beer sales and strengthen the Bar 3 beer brand in the local market.

Brewing & Production Responsibilities

The Head Brewer is responsible for all phases of brewery production and will:

• Develop and maintain brewing recipes, specifications, and production standards.
• Manage the complete brewing process, including milling, brewhouse operations, fermentation, conditioning, transfers, carbonation, canning and packaging.
• Develop and maintain an appropriate production schedule based on restaurant demand, outside sales, tank availability, and seasonal needs.
• Monitor fermentation and finished beer to ensure consistency and quality.
• Maintain accurate brewing, fermentation, packaging, tax, and quality-control records.
• Manage yeast handling and other brewery-specific production processes as appropriate.
• Perform kegging and other packaging operations.
• Clean and sanitize tanks, lines, kegs, brewhouse equipment, and production areas.
• Maintain proper brewery sanitation and food-safety practices.
• Identify production or quality issues and take appropriate corrective action.
• Coordinate routine maintenance and identify equipment repairs or improvements needed to maintain reliable brewery operations.
• Develop seasonal, specialty, and limited-release beers while maintaining consistency of Bar 3's core beer lineup.

Inventory, Purchasing & Cost Control

The Head Brewer will have primary responsibility for brewery inventory and production-related purchasing, including:

• Forecasting and ordering malt, hops, yeast, chemicals, packaging materials, and other brewing supplies.
• Maintaining appropriate inventory levels while minimizing unnecessary or obsolete inventory.
• Managing finished beer and keg inventory.
• Tracking beer movement between production, restaurant, and outside accounts.
• Maintaining accurate keg records and minimizing keg loss.
• Conducting regular physical inventory counts and reconciling discrepancies.
• Monitoring raw-material costs, beer yields, losses, and overall production efficiency.
• Work with management to establish and monitor beer cost and production targets.
• Develop production forecasts based on historical usage, restaurant sales, wholesale demand, and upcoming events.

Outside Sales & Account Development

Growing Bar 3's wholesale beer business is an important part of this position. The Head Brewer will:

• Actively identify and pursue new restaurants, bars, retailers, and other appropriate outside accounts.
• Introduce prospective customers to Bar 3 beers through meetings, tastings, samples, and account visits.
• Build and maintain productive relationships with existing wholesale customers.
• Maintain regular communication with accounts regarding beer availability, new releases, seasonal offerings, and upcoming opportunities.
• Follow up with accounts to encourage repeat orders and identify opportunities for additional placements.
• Monitor account performance and work with management to establish outside-sales goals.
• Represent Bar 3 professionally with distributors, vendors, customers, industry partners, and the local beer community.
• Participate in tastings, festivals, promotions, tap takeovers, and other events when beneficial to the Bar 3 brand.
• Communicate production availability with management so that wholesale growth remains aligned with brewery capacity and restaurant needs.

Restaurant & Front-of-House Beer Education

The Head Brewer will serve as Bar 3's primary internal resource for beer knowledge and education.

Responsibilities include:

• Develop concise, practical training content and materials for front-of-house employees covering Bar 3 beers.
• Provide staff with tasting notes, beer-style information, key ingredients, ABV, flavor profiles, and other relevant product information.
• Develop talking points that help servers and bartenders confidently describe and recommend Bar 3 beers to guests.
• Provide guidance on beer and food pairings, particularly pairings with Bar 3 BBQ menu items.
• Create training content for new beer releases and seasonal offerings.
• Conduct periodic beer tastings and educational sessions for front-of-house staff.
• Work with restaurant management to incorporate beer knowledge into new-hire and ongoing FOH training.
• Keep training information current as the beer lineup changes.

The objective is not to turn every employee into a brewer, but to ensure that every guest-facing employee can confidently explain what makes each Bar 3 beer distinctive and help guests choose the right beer.

Quality, Compliance & Brewery Standards

The Head Brewer is responsible for maintaining professional brewery operating standards, including:

• Maintaining a clean, organized, and safe brewery.
• Following appropriate sanitation and quality-control procedures.
• Maintaining accurate production and inventory records.
• Ensuring brewery operations comply with applicable federal, state, and local regulations.
• Assisting management with brewery-related reporting and recordkeeping.
• Maintaining appropriate documentation for beer production and movement.
• Following safe chemical handling, confined-space, lifting, and brewery equipment procedures.
• Identifying safety concerns and correcting them promptly.

Brand & Product Development

The Head Brewer will work closely with Bar 3 management to continually improve the beer program and strengthen its connection to the overall Bar 3 brand.

This includes evaluating existing beers, developing new products, responding to guest and wholesale-account feedback, identifying beer-market opportunities, and balancing creativity with the operational and financial realities of a small brewery.

Our beer program should complement the Bar 3 BBQ experience while also producing beers that can successfully stand on their own in outside accounts.

What We're Looking For

The ideal candidate will have:

• Professional brewing experience with a strong understanding of the complete brewing and cellaring process.
• The ability to independently manage day-to-day operations of a small brewery.
• Strong knowledge of brewery sanitation, fermentation, quality control, and packaging.
• Experience with brewery inventory, purchasing, and production planning.
• Strong organizational and recordkeeping skills.
• Mechanical aptitude and the ability to troubleshoot common brewery equipment issues.
• An understanding of beer styles, ingredients, sensory evaluation, and recipe development.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
• The ability and willingness to develop relationships with wholesale customers and prospective accounts.
• The ability to communicate beer knowledge in an approachable way to restaurant employees and guests.
• A self-directed work style and willingness to handle both the technical and less glamorous parts of brewery operations.

Previous professional brewing experience of at least 3 years covering all aspects of the brewing process is required. Previous outside-sales experience is helpful but not required. We are looking for someone who understands that developing and maintaining wholesale relationships is an important part of the Head Brewer position and is comfortable representing Bar 3 in the market.

Physical Requirements

This is an active production position. The Head Brewer must be able to work safely in a brewery environment, remain on their feet for extended periods, work around hot liquids and production equipment, maneuver kegs and brewing materials, and regularly perform the physical tasks associated with commercial brewing.

Success in This Position

Success will be measured by more than simply producing good beer. A successful Head Brewer at Bar 3 will maintain:

· Consistent beer quality.
Our core beers should taste the way our customers expect them to taste.

· Reliable product availability.
Production should anticipate restaurant and wholesale demand rather than constantly reacting to shortages.

· Accurate inventory and efficient production.
Raw materials, finished beer, and kegs should be well controlled, with unnecessary waste minimized.

· A clean, organized brewery.
Sanitation, safety, maintenance, and recordkeeping should reflect professional brewing standards.

· Growing outside sales.
Existing wholesale relationships should be maintained while new, sustainable accounts are developed.

· A beer-educated restaurant team.
Bar 3 servers and bartenders should understand our beers and be able to confidently describe and sell them.

· A strong Bar 3 beer program.
The Head Brewer should continually look for ways to improve beer quality, product mix, production efficiency, guest experience, and the reputation of Bar 3 BBQ & Brewing.

About Bar 3 BBQ & Brewing

Bar 3 BBQ & Brewing is an established Montana restaurant and brewery located in Belgrade. We combine scratch-made BBQ, hospitality, and locally brewed beer in a high-volume casual restaurant environment.

We are looking for a Head Brewer who wants genuine ownership of a brewery program and takes pride in everything from the quality of the beer in the tank to the way that beer is represented by our staff and wholesale partners.

The brewery includes a small footprint 15bbl steam-fired semi-automatic brewhouse, 1 15bbl uni-tank, 3 7 bbl uni-tanks, 1 10 bbl brite tank, mill and grain handling system, semi-automatic 2 head keg washer, small semi-automatic canning line, and basic lab equipment. We currently have 6 core beers (4 ales and 2 lagers) that are always available for on-site and wholesale, draft and canned. and 14 total available tap lines. We aim to have a wide selection of seasonal and specialty beers beyond our core offerings.

Compensation:

This position will start at $60,000 ( DOE) per year and includes paid time off and outside sales commission.

Pay: From $60,000.00 per year

Work Location: In person

Salary : $60,000