Page 29 - Thirst Magazine Issue 2 June 2017

BECOMING A BREWER
The first time I met Winnie Hsu Juo Wei, she
came across as lively yet composed, but the
moment we talked about craft beer, you could
see the sheer delight in her face. However,
brewing craft beer wasn’t always her career
goal. In fact, Winnie spent 7 years studying
Agriculture, Economics and Entomology. It
was her part time bartending job that gave
her the opportunity to become a brewer. Her
boss at Gordon Biersch, an American chain
restaurant, convinced her that it takes a
special person to become a brewer and that
she should give it a go, so in 2007 she was
“selected” to be the brewer for Gordon Biersch
in Taiwan.
Having no idea about brewing and not
even drinking beer recreationally, she had
a lot of studying to do. She was given two
books: one on home-brewing and a comic
book about brewing, neither of which were
helpful as brewing at home is completely
different from brewing commercially. But
Winnie was up for new experiences and
challenges so she took up the position and the
company sent her to their US HQ for 6 months
to learn how to brew. Upon her return, the
company had her start brewing to supply the
restaurant chain.
After four years of hands-on brewing,
Winnie left the job in 2011 to study for the
International Brewers Certificate in Berlin,
where she and Lan-Xin (currently with
Warpigs, p.24 Lan-Xin Foo’s interview) WORKING IN AN IMPORTANT POSITION IN
became friends. She was fortunate to have
been sponsored by Le Blé D’or brewpub. After THE BIGGEST CRAFT BREWING COMPANY
graduating, Winnie was appointed as the
Head of Operations and R&D at Le Blé D’or, IN TAIWAN AND WINNING MEDALS FOR
a position equivalent to Head Brewer. HER BEERS HAVE BUILT HER REPUTATION
WINNIE’S CAREER THRIVES

Winnie’s two years at Le Blé D’or changed AMONG THE CRAFT BREWING COMMUNITY.
her career. Working in an important position
in the biggest craft brewing company in aspect of the work, carrying heavy sacks of
Taiwan and winning medals for her beers, ingredients and spending time in the lab.
built her reputation among the craft brewing So in 2015, Winnie travelled to the US for
community. However, at the height of her 3 months to look for opportunities to brew
career there, Winnie was more involved in the again. She particularly wanted to work with
PR and marketing side of work when instead breweries with bigger and more sophisticated
she much preferred to be brewing. She was still facilities. She travelled to San Diego, Seattle,
young and strong and could handle the manual San Francisco and to the Brewers’ Conference

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