Finding and Keeping Staff

The brewery industry has a particular staffing problem: the work is physically demanding, often unsociable hours, and you can't afford to pay much. The people who are attracted to working in a brewery are often attracted to the romance of it — the same romance that got you into this mess. Once the novelty wears off and they're scrubbing fermenting vessels at 6am on a Saturday for not much above minimum wage, they move on.

Skilled brewers are hard to find and harder to keep. If you train someone up and they become good, a bigger brewery will poach them with a better salary and actual benefits. You've invested months of training and wages into someone who's now making beer for your competitor.

Taproom and bar staff bring all the usual hospitality headaches: high turnover, no-shows, weekend availability issues, and the challenge of finding people who are both reliable and good with customers.