10 years’ experience. 2 years’ study. 1 Master Brewer.
Max has always had an interest in beer. His family were hops growers outside Munich and his mother worked at a local hops research centre. He even has a tattoo of the Munich mascot holding a glass of local beer. So it makes sense that he’d pursue his ambitions at AB InBev’s Spaten-Franziskaner and Löwenbräu breweries in Germany, brewing Spaten, Franziskaner and Becks beers.
“It was when I was offered an internship at AB InBev that I knew I wanted to become a brewer and maltster,” says Max. “After the internship, I applied to be an apprentice – and I got the job! I thought it was the greatest thing that ever happened to me,” he smiles.
No two days are the same
At the moment, Max works as a Brewing Operator producing non-alcoholic beer. “My team and I are responsible for bringing fresh beer to our customers, which involves controlling the brewing and maturation processes, transferring beers from fermentation to storage to filtration, and planning the overall production process. We also have to meet German purity laws,” he explains. “Right now, we’re preparing for the world-famous Oktoberfest, so it’s really busy. No two days are the same in this job.”
Developing his skills
According to Max, his role has changed since he began at AB InBev about 10 years ago, which means he’s had lots of opportunity to develop his skills. “I was really interested in learning about the brewing process, so I spent two years studying to be a Master Craft Brewer at the Doemens Academy in Gräfelfing, which AB InBev were really supportive of.”
During his studies Max learned all about the different aspects of brewing beer, from microbiology and brewing technology to personnel management and business economics. “Understanding all those details made me even more passionate about my work,” he explains. “And it made me prouder than ever of the beer we produce.”
Dark beers are real chemistry
Max says his favourite summer beer is Franziskaner Weissbier, which is a wheat beer, but dark beers are his favourite to brew. “Dark beers have a strong tradition in Germany, and I think it’s amazing what you can do with the flavours and ingredients. Depending on what you do with the different malts, you can produce beers that are really smoky, with chocolate or coffee flavours. There is a real art to brewing dark beers and I love being involved in the process and seeing what we can create."