If your brewing, branding, sales, or communications aren’t capturing the essence of what you love to do, you may be losing sales.
Let me help you brew a story in every glass and let that story be told in every beer, label, sales call, and press release.
I have helped three breweries to start, including from the ground-up as well as new ownership of existing brewery locations. I have brewed professionally at five different brewpubs in San Francisco for a decade, from 2004-2012 and from 2015-2016. From 11.2-gallon firkins to 59-gallon wine barrels to 30-barrel fermenters to 60-hectoliter lager tanks, I have experience on a wide variety of equipment.
See my Brewing and Equipment Operation Resume for more information on the types of equipment I’ve worked on.
I have also consulted with breweries on recipe refinement and Certified Cicerone Program exam preparation, and I conduct regular trainings of sales staff for breweries, distributors, and retailers. Furthermore, I cultivate relationships with media and my press releases get media hits.
The Right Brewing — I’ll work with your brewing team on:
- recipe formulation
- recipe refinement
- brewhouse efficiency
- fermentation procedures
- identification of intended flavors and their sources so that you can accentuate them
- identification of off-flavors and their sources so that you can eliminate them
The Right Sales, Communications, and Branding — I’ll help you sell more beer by:
- training your sales and communications staff to truly understand your beers and brewing process
- creating open communication and a common language between your brewery and your sales team
- drafting language and curating food pairings for your sales sheets that appeal to retailers
- empowering your sales representatives to be confident ambassadors of your beer
- making your sales calls more memorable and repeat sales easier
- capturing your story, attitude, and beers in your branding and POS
- preparing staff for Certified Cicerone Program exams
Rich Higgins Brewing and Equipment Operation Resume
Social Kitchen & Brewery (Brewmaster, 2010-2012): Liquid Assets 15-bbl, 2-vessel, steam-heated brewhouse; single-infusion mashing; T-90 pellet hops, 15- and 30-bbl CC fermenters; 7-, 15-, and 30-bbl serving tanks; Biofine Clear fining; manual keg washer; sour barrel-aging (1998 initial installation)
ThirstyBear Brewing Co. (Brewer, 2004-2009): Liquid Assets 15-bbl, 2-vessel steam-heated brewhouse; single-infusion mashing; external calandria; T-90 pellet hops; 15- and 30-bbl CC fermenters; isinglass fining; automated keg washer; nitrogen generator and gas blender; cask-conditioning program with beer machine dispense; sour and non-sour barrel aging (1996 initial installation)
Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant San Francisco (Brewer, 2005-2008): Wachsmann 30-hl, 3-vessel steam-heated production worthouse with decoction capability; manual control panel; pneumatic valve actuation; T-45 pellet hops; 60-hl Pub Brewing CC fermenters; 60-hl JVNW horizontal lagering tanks; grain silo; sheet filtration; sour barrel-aging (1991 initial installation)
San Francisco Brewing Co. (Brewer, Acting Head Brewer, 2004-2005): 7-bbl, 3-vessel gravity/manual system; direct-fire mash tun; direct-fire copper kettle; whole hops; 7-bbl CC and Grundy fermenters/serving tanks on wheels for mobility; no filtration/fining; bulk grain silo; cobbled-together used equipment from the birth of craft brewing (fourth brewpub in the country post-Prohibition, 1985 initial installation)