Also called: Brand Home Tour Guide, Bourbon Trail Tour Guide, Brewery Tour Guide, Visitor Experience Guide
Leads visitors through a working distillery or brewery, explains how the drink is made, and runs the tasting at the end.
You walk a group of 20 past the fermenters and stills, let them smell the mash, and tell the distillery's history in the barrel warehouse. At the end you pour three small samples, answer questions and point them to the gift shop.
Estimate anchored on BLS tour guides; hourly pay plus tips, busiest in summer and fall.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
High school diploma, about 0 years after high school. No degree; trained on the job with a script and tastings. Nearly all distilleries require guides to be 21.
Ways in: On-the-job training. Training cost: Under $15k.
Majors to look at: Hospitality Management, Tourism Management.
Growing about average. Distillery tourism, such as Kentucky's Bourbon Trail, has grown fast; hiring is seasonal.
Low risk for 10 years. Audio guides and apps exist, but visitors pay for a person who tells the story and runs the tasting.
Age 21+. One way to start: Apply at distillery, brewery or winery visitor centers before the spring and fall tourist seasons First: Must be 21; employers usually require a short responsible-serving course
Classes: Speech or theater, US history, Chemistry.
Official data: O*NET occupation 39-7011.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.