Beverage Scientist: Craft Brewing QA & Innovation

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We’ve had some great feedback about this column lately. I hope you enjoy today’s interview as much as you seem to have liked the first couple we’ve covered. There’s more coming soon, looking at scientists who made the move into areas like Marketing, Regulatory Affairs, University Teaching and lots more in the pipeline. Today, we’ve got Dr Tim Wadkins – a scientist with a job that’s just a little bit different……

My most recent job was a short stint in winemaking during the last (2010) harvest season, and, prior to that, I was ‘Director of Quality Assurance’ at Victory Brewing Co. As far as job responsibilities go, the daily tasks tend to vary widely. The scientific aspects of the job include microbial testing of the product, monitoring of fermentation (specific gravity, temperature, etc.)

and performing chemical tests to determine that the product is up to specification. Yeast strain maintenance, both in the laboratory and in the plant for production use is a critical role, as you can imagine. Sensory evaluation (taste, smell, visual) is also particularly important for ensuring the product is developing the way that it should throughout the production process – and also for final product release to the consumer.

And, finally, acting as the customer interface for any product questions, complaints etc. that may arise, is a pretty standard part of the job.

I’m a biologist at heart. I have a B.S. in Biology from the University of Illinois and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Duke University. Just after finishing my Ph.D., some friends at Rogue Ales in Newport, Oregon invited me out to brew with them for a little while, which allowed me to explore whether or not I might want to pursue a career in the industry.

I loved it! However, just after this quick venture into the brewing world, I was invited to help with the start-up of a biotechnology company (Serenex, Inc.) in Durham, NC, where I was still living at the time. I felt this was an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up, so I decided to put the idea of a brewing career on the back burner.

This turned out to be a fantastic experience, and Serenex quickly grew into a very successful company over the next few years. During those years, I continued to maintain and grow my connections to the brewing world, always thinking that it would be fun to jump into that realm at some point. While attending a beer festival, I learned that Victory Brewing Co.

was creating a Director of Quality position and was ‘motivated’ to apply. A few weeks later I was living in Pennsylvania and finally in the beverage industry!

I truly love the combination of art and science that goes into crafting amazing, wonderful beverages. I get to work with my hands, which is important to me, and also because I get to bring the science that I love so much into practical use. I also love the immediate reward aspect where, at the end of the day, I’m able to see people enjoying the products that I’ve worked hard to create.

I’m not sure this is a ‘hot career choice’ quite yet, but I do feel like employment for scientists in this sector is continuing to expand, especially with the growth of the craft brewing industry. Many of the breweries that ten or so years ago were too small to have a budget for a scientist are now getting to the size where they can afford a full-time quality assurance person.

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