“Have you ever dreamt of being paid to drink beer?” That’s not a quote from a booze-themed Charlie and the Chocolate Factory parody. That’s the first sentence of a job posting on LinkedIn from the London-based Meantime Brewing Company. They will choose one lucky applicant to bear the title “Professional Beer Taster.”
For most people, drinking beer and working are usually done at separate times. Now the award-winning brewery is inviting people to mix business with pleasure in a way that’s setting the internet ablaze. Could it be too good to be true?
Requirements of a Beer Taster
Well, it’s definitely not so simple. See, Meantime won’t give the job to just any alcoholic. They require applicants to be connoisseurs, capable of analyzing flavor and differentiating types. The job itself involves taste-testing different brews and providing detailed feedback. Basically, a “Professional Beer Taster” would do the same thing as a wine sommelier. It’s not about liking a taste, but about having taste.
The posting asks, “Do you know your Pale Ale from your IPA, chocolate malt from dark malt, Fuggles from Cascade hops?” If you can’t answer that, you won’t get a callback.
Even qualified candidates face another potential issue: they would only work three hours a week, every Friday. Meantime lists this opportunity as a part-time job. Sure, the job posting states that the Professional Beer Taster’s salary is “competitive … with beer benefits.” With that said, any hopeful applicants may wish to find additional work to help pay the rent.
With All That Said …
Of course, these facts do not change that whoever gets hired will taste brews that no one else will taste. One lucky person will join a panel tasked specifically to try different concoctions and share their opinions. For someone who loves beer so much that they’ve taken the time to learn what makes a good one, this is a Golden Ticket.
On that note, anyone interested in knowing what makes a good beer can take courses on the subject. After that, they can earn a certification through organizations like the Cicerone Certification Program. Meantime may be pushing this job opening for publicity, but maybe some people are learning that they can do more with beer than just getting drunk.
Now, if you do qualify and do want this job, you better hurry. Meantime put up that posting on October 18, but news about the job go back as far as October 2.
For more beer-related news, here’s a story about a robotic cooler on wheels that follows your phone!
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