Getting a brewery internship in India

What an internship really looks like

Forget the image of an intern tasting beer and taking notes. In a brewpub or a small production brewery an intern mostly cleans. You will scrub hoses, rinse fermenters, wash kegs, sweep spent grain off the floor and carry sacks of malt. Somewhere in between you will watch a brew day, help with a transfer and take a gravity reading.

That is not a bad deal. Cleaning is most of brewing. The brewers who will one day hire you want to see that you do it properly without being chased. The interns who get remembered are the ones who could be trusted with a hose on the second day.

Who takes interns and how to find them

Very few Indian breweries run a formal programme. Most internships happen because someone asked at the right moment. The best targets are brewpubs and microbreweries in cities with a cluster of them: Bengaluru, Pune, Mumbai, Gurugram, Hyderabad and Goa. A brewpub brews on a fixed rhythm, so the head brewer can tell you exactly which days are worth your time.

Larger breweries sometimes take students from food technology, microbiology or biotechnology courses for a set period, usually through the college. If you are enrolled in one of those, ask your placement cell before you approach anyone directly.

Read our guide to jobs in a brewery first so you know which department you are asking to join.

The message that gets a reply

Head brewers get a steady trickle of messages that say "I love beer, can I intern with you?" Most go unanswered. Yours should be short and specific:

• Who you are and why brewing, in two sentences.
• What you already know: a homebrew batch, a course, a college module.
• Exactly what you are offering, for example three days a week for six weeks, any shift.
• That you have your own safety boots and will follow their hygiene rules.

Then visit. Go on a quiet weekday afternoon, buy a drink, ask whether the brewer has five minutes. A face is harder to ignore than an email.

Before you turn up

Brewery floors are wet, hot and full of chemicals. On your first week you may stand next to a tank being cleaned with caustic solution at 75 to 80 °C. That liquid will burn skin and eyes before you notice it has splashed. Wear closed, non-slip boots, bring safety glasses and ask before you open any valve.

Check the age rules too. The legal age for drinking (and sometimes for working where alcohol is made or served) differs from state to state and some states set it above 21. A brewery will not risk its licence on an intern who is under age.

Making the weeks count

Keep a notebook. Write down every number you see: mash temperature, original gravity, fermentation temperature, how many days to terminal gravity. Ask why each one is what it is. By week four you should be able to explain a brew day from milling to pitching without notes.

This is also where most interns feel the gap. The brewer says "we mash at 66" or "that tank is stuck" and you nod without knowing why it matters. A grounding in mashing, yeast and fermentation before you start means you learn the brewery's habits instead of the basics, which makes you far more useful in a short stint.

What a good week looks like

A useful internship week has a shape. One brew day where you shadow the brewer from milling to transfer. Two or three cellar days spent on readings, yeast harvesting and cleaning. A packaging session if the brewery kegs or cans that week. Ask the head brewer to plan it with you on day one, so you do not spend six weeks only washing kegs.

Ask to be shown one thing properly each day and then do it yourself under supervision: a gravity reading with a hydrometer, a hose connection, a sanitiser dilution. By the end you should be able to do a short list of jobs unsupervised. That list goes on your CV. It is also what the next brewery will ask about.

Take the tasting seriously too. When the brewer tastes a tank, taste it with them and say what you notice before they tell you. Being wrong out loud is how palates are trained.

Turning an internship into a job

Internships turn into jobs when a vacancy opens and you are the obvious person. Stay in touch after you finish. Offer to cover a shift when someone is on leave. Ask the head brewer which brewery near them is hiring, because brewers talk to each other constantly.

The usual first paid role is in the cellar or on packaging, then assistant brewer. A reference from a head brewer who watched you work counts for more than any certificate.

Common questions

Are brewery internships in India paid?

Some are, many are not. It depends entirely on the brewery, so ask plainly at the start and agree the terms before your first day.

Do I need a degree to get a brewery internship?

No. A science background helps, especially microbiology or food technology, but most brewers care more about attitude, reliability and some basic brewing knowledge.

How long should a brewery internship be?

Four to twelve weeks is common. Shorter than a month and you will not see enough brew days or a full fermentation cycle to learn much.

Can I intern at a brewpub instead of a factory brewery?

Yes. For most beginners a brewpub is better. You see every stage of the process in one small room and work directly with the head brewer.