Not Everything It Seems To Be

Not Everything It Seems To Be - An Interview with Trevor Watkins

Trevor Watkins looks like your typical head brewer… he has a bushy beard, bellowing voice, and tons of black tattoos. He has worked in the San Diego craft beer industry for the last 6 years working, working his way from cellar work and bottling, to the top position of head brewer. Through his work and personal experiences brewing beer, he has been able to work as the production brewer, who focuses on brewing the core beers that have a formula, as well as the R&D brewer who is tasked with experimenting with new possible beers. All of this experience has given him a solid background and should set him up for a long career as a brewer, but he isn’t so sure.

Much of the San Diego market has been flooded with new craft breweries and gastropubs over the last few years, but the increase in business hasn’t quite trickled down to the brewers, based on Trevor’s outlook on his prospective income as a brewer long term. Because of this, Trevor has begun the process of going back to school so that he can create a new path that will give him the lifestyle he wants.

Even Mike Hess of Hess Brewing kept his financial advisor job when he opened his brewery, Hess Brewing (Dickerman, 2012). Much of the responsibilities of the head brewer amounts to manual labor in the form of large amounts of production of beer which ends up becoming the same repetitive process that never really changes. It’s easy to see how someone’s favorite hobby of brewing beer can quickly become monotonous work. Especially if the pay isn’t too enticing. Either way, the San Diego beer scene is a burgeoning one and has filled the souls of San Diegans with a sense of community and given us something to call our own.