Also called: Head Brewer, Brewmaster
Leads all production and recipes for a distillery or brewery and is the face of its products.
You set the recipes, approve every batch, and decide when a barrel of bourbon is ready after eight years. You also do media tours and tasting events. At big brands, master distillers are minor celebrities.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Years of production experience; degrees in fermentation science or chemistry common.
Ways in: On-the-job training, 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Fermentation Science, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering.
Growing about average.
Low risk for 10 years. Data helps control production; recipes, tasting and being the brand's face stay human.
Classes: Chemistry, Biology, Business.
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.