Though it is not a common job, there are people who want to know how to become a beer tester. The duties of a beer tester may seem easy enough, but the job actually requires more than knowing how to drink beer. Instead, beer tasters spit out the beer that they taste during their workday. Their job is to determine if new and existing beer flavors are good enough for a brewery to continue producing or if they meet the standards that the brewer expects.http://www.careerbuilder.com/Article/CB-813-Changing-Jobs-20-Odd-Jobs/ Being a beer tester is not a new occupation. In the 1890s, a London census transcription listed "ale taster" as an occupation where people tested ale and beer for quality.http://www.census1891.com/occupations-a.htm

To be a competent beer tester, you must be in control of your senses at all times. You will need to be able to differentiate many smells and flavors during a work shift. For this reason, you should not eat or smoke one hour prior to beginning work. Depending upon the brewer's rules, you may be prohibited from wearing perfume or after shave while on duty.http://living.oneindia.in/cosmopolitan/cosmo-life/2010/drinking-beer-tasters-job-quality-testing-220610.html Beer testers make an average salary of $35,000 per year, but it depends on where you live. A beer tester in Boston, MA averages about $47,000 per year, while one in Indianapolis, IN makes $34,000.http://www.salaryexpert.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Browse.Beer-Tester-salary-data-details&PositionId=12062

If you want to become a beer tester, you will need to know the difference between lagers, pilsners, ales and other types of beer. You will need to know what ingredients are used in the beers you review and have an understanding of the brewing process for different beers.http://www.videojug.com/interview/life-as-a-beer-writer#what-skills-do-you-need-to-be-a-professional-beer-taster

To be a beer tester, you must have a finely honed palate. Many people fail at beer testing because they do not pick up on subtle differences between types of beer. Even if you can tell the differences between certain beers, it may take years of practice to perfect this ability.http://www.videojug.com/interview/life-as-a-beer-writer#what-skills-do-you-need-to-be-a-professional-beer-taster

Being a beer tester involves more than gulping a beer and commenting on whether or not it tasted good. There is a process that beer testers need to master when it comes to reporting on the quality of a beer. This process includes:

1. Look — You need to look at the beer and check its appearance. Check the color, the head and the consistency of the beer. When checking the appearance of the beer, do not hold it up to direct light as this will dilute the color.
2. Agitate — You must learn how to swirl the beer in the glass so that you can check the aroma and how well the beer maintains its head.
3. Smell — This is probably the task that will be most important to you. About 90% of the experience of beer tasting involves the olfactory sense. This is why it is important to test in an area where there are no overwhelming scents in the air. In this way, beer tasting is similar to wine tasting, because you will be testing the beer's bouquet, or the mixture of aromas that the beer contains.
4. Taste — The last task is to sip the beer. Again, not a big gulp, but just enough to get the flavors of the beer and the feel of it in the mouth. You will let the beer stay in the mouth for a while, swishing it around to detect different flavors such as sweetness, bitterness, saltiness or acidity.http://beeradvocate.com/beer/101/taste http://drinkwine.com/wine_guide/evaluating_wine.html

What you may have started as a hobby can become a career. If you have practiced the craft of beer testing and want to further your training, you may try working for a brewery to learn how beer is made. Your training may consist of not just quality control but other parts of the process, such as fermentation and bottling. Some brewers expect their employees to be able to work in various aspects of brewing. Once you have accrued more experience in the brewing industry, you may be ready to start a more specialized career such as beer tasting. http://www.redgoldfish.co.uk/job-roles/177-brewery-worker-job-role.aspx

One career option as a beer tester is to review beers and to write about the different beers you review. Some freelance writers choose to mix their hobby with their career and write articles for magazines or blogs about their taste experiences.http://www.videojug.com/interview/life-as-a-beer-writer#what-skills-do-you-need-to-be-a-professional-beer-taster Another job that you could have as a beer tester is to be a beer quality assessor. In this job, you would tour taverns, pubs and microbreweries to help brewers and owners know the quality of the products they are serving.http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1041398/Its-tough-job--someones-got-Meet-Britains-female-beer-taster.html