Beer Taster

Drinking beer is not very hard to do, so you could say that I had a cushy job, but somebody had to do it and it might as well have been me.  I worked as a beer sommelier, a trained professional, a beer quality technician and I was also called a cicerone, working in the hospitality and alcoholic beverage industry, specialized in the service and knowledge of beer.  The money was not all that great, as I only grossed around $45,000 per year, but I got all the free beer I could drink.  I never matriculated in college, so I didn’t have any marketable skills, but I was drinking beer from the time I was old enough to walk, so that made me qualified to hold the position.  My taste buds were able to tell the difference between hops-based and malt-based beer and after a little practice, I was able to pick up on the identifying characteristics that defined each brew.

I was a lager man, not really caring for ale, but the job required me to taste a variety of beers.  I sat up in my ivory tower till the batch was ready and then I would dip a pitcher into the vat.  The first thing I looked at was the head, making sure it contained the right amount of froth.  If the beer did not measure up to standards, I would have to tell the brew master to put a sock in it and then he would dump the whole batch.  Usually the brew master would suggest that I drink another pint to make sure, but if the temperature was off, I didn’t have to do that.

I always thought that I had the coolest job on the planet and when visitors came to the brewing facility I would say, “Greetings from earth”.  Jesus turned water into wine, but brewing techniques for beer were perfected by Friars and Monks, although there is nothing saintly about making beer.  I recently changed jobs and now I am working on an airplane that is specializing on improving their inflight beer.  I am also writing a weekly post in Aeroplane magazine that is all about beer.

Written for Sheryl’s Daily Word Prompt – Suggest, for Roger Shipp’s Daily Addictions prompt – Airplane, for the Daily Spur prompt – Variety, for FOWC with Fandango – Ivory, for November Writing Prompts – Greetings from earth, for Ragtag Community – Cushy, for Di’s Three Things Challenge prompt words – Post Sock Money and for Word of the Day Challenge Prompt – Saintly.