n Name: David Sharpe
n Job: Regional brewer
n Location: Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant Group, DBA Big River Grille & Brewing Works
n First job: Worked for his father’s Sears catalog franchise
n Favorite part of the job: Sharpe said he appreciates many aspects of his job, but he most enjoys being able to see customers appreciating the fruits of his labor. “At the end of the day, being able to sit down and watch people enjoy the finished product that we’ve worked so hard to make is very gratifying.”
n Least favorite part of the job: Because Sharpe deals with facilities outside Chattanooga, sometimes he has to solve problems from a distance. This, he said, can present its own challenges. “Trying to manage production processes from hundreds of miles away in other locations, there may be issues going on that happen in all breweries, but not being able to be there and having to diagnose issues via e-mail and telephone calls can be challenging at times.”
n Best advice: The ins and outs of brewing science are still heavily debated, and as such, Sharpe sometimes finds himself dealing with associates who might have a different perspective than he does. He has learned the value of listening. “Go into business conversations with an open mind before determining a course of action or an opinion,” he said. “Try to see things from other people’s point of view.”
n How to make a career of it: Hopeful future brewers can be educated at various breweries and even through extension programs at some universities, but Sharpe learned to make beer on the job. In retrospect, however, he believes a more formal brewing education might have helped him.
“If I would have known that I wanted to be a brewer,” he said. “I would have done things differently.”
– Compiled by staff writer Holly Leber, hleber@timesfreepress.com