He has a job that you can hoist a glass to
Scott Kerkmans may very well be the envy of frat boys everywhere.
He’s 27 years old and he drinks beer for a living. His job title: chief beer officer for Four Points by Sheraton.
“It’s not a bad thing,” chuckles Kerkmans, “to have beer from around the country shipped to your doorstep so that you can try them.”
Part of an experiment by Four Points by Sheraton, Kerkmans was hired in March from a field of 7,500 aspiring swillers to help the chain expand its Best Brews program, which brings local craft beers and menu pairings to its more than 120 hotels.
“Our brand positioning is about uncomplicated comfort and everyday life,” says Sandy Swider, an executive for the hotel chain. “Not fancy; very real. We’re not an apple martini kind of brand. We’re more of a good beer brand.”
Four Points by Sheraton, owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., launched a national search for a chief beer officer in November. Though it’s just a part-time job, the response from applicants from 30 countries was overwhelming, Swider says.
“When we started to see the volume, we kind of knew we were on to something,” she says. One applicant even sent a full-blown ad campaign, complete with graphics.
To separate the wheat from the chaff, the true beer aficionados from the Joe and Josephine Six Packs, the hotel chain gave applicants an online test about hops, yeast and barley. As a former head brewer for an Albuquerque pub and the beer director for Draft magazine, Kerkmans knew all the answers.
After the first screening, 15 finalists had to submit a video. In Kerkmans’ clip, he toured a Chicago brewery, explaining the brewing process and conducting a beer tasting.
From those videos, four applicants were chosen to be flown to New York for interviews with hotel executives. Videos from the four candidates were posted online, where the public voted for their favorite candidate. Of more than 12,500 votes tallied, Kerkmans received more than half.
“He really knows his stuff,” Swider says. “And his personality is warm and friendly. . . . We were really excited that the public validated our inclination.”
Four Points is tapping into a surging interest in craft beers. Although beer sales are up slightly -- 1.7% last year -- beer is losing popularity when compared with wine and spirits, says Charles Forman, senior vice president of New York-based Adams Beverage Group, which conducts market research on alcohol and other drinks.
“Demographics and tastes are changing,” Forman says. “There’s more interest in recent years in wine and spirits than there is in beer. The other side of the story, though, is that people are interested in imported beers and craft and small volume production beers.”
Sales of craft beer -- specialty potions typically made in small breweries -- increased 12% in 2006 and 9% in 2005, Forman says.
Kerkmans says he put together a training program for each hotel’s “beer ambassador,” usually a bartender on staff. That person, a beer sommelier of sorts, learns about the beers on the menu and what foods they pair with best.
Besides that, he’s been attending brewing conferences and other beer-related events. Next month, he’ll fly to Germany for Oktoberfest, then go to Denver for the Great American Beer Festival.
“I think the best part about the job is the perks -- or the duties,” Kerkmans says. “I’ve been hosting happy hours, going around to different Four Points, hosting informal, casual beer dinners.”
Despite all the tasting, Kerkmans says he rarely gets drunk. “I’m usually sampling several different types in very small pours. I think it’s actually more of a commitment to enjoying beer instead of just drinking beer. Make it an occasion, rather than just drinking it to get drunk.”
Kerkmans, who graduated from the University of New Mexico with a degree in business administration, says he became interested in beer when his brother bought him a home-brewing kit for his 21st birthday. “I started learning about it, getting more passionate.”
A few months later, he got a job as a brewer at Kelly’s Brew Pub in Albuquerque and worked his way up to head brewer.
He was working at Draft, a magazine similar to Cigar Aficionado but for beer drinkers, when one of his colleagues spotted the opening for chief beer officer on the Internet.
“When I got the chief beer officer, I think [my friends] were instantly jealous of me -- not that I could blame them,” says Kerkmans, who still works at the magazine when he’s not busy with chief beer officer duties. “I think they had all applied for the job as well.”
Kerkmans has a one-year contract with Four Points, but hotel executives already are talking about extending the position.
“When we first started this, we didn’t know how seriously it would be taken, but it’s gone incredibly well,” says Starwood spokeswoman Amy Gaiser.
Part of the job is education -- and getting people to try new things, Kerkmans says.
Even people who don’t experiment with new flavors or think they don’t like beer might be surprised.
“Keep your mind open and throw away any preconceived notions you have about beer,” he says.
He recommends visiting a good beer bar or -- of course -- one of the Four Points by Sheraton and talking to the beer ambassador.
“There’s rarely been an occasion where I couldn’t find a beer that somebody liked,” he says.
And with the job, he’s finally convinced his parents that drinking beer can pay off.
“It was always kind of funny that I got into it,” Kerkmans says. “My parents, neither of them drink more than a glass of wine a month and my father doesn’t even like beer. I think they finally admitted to themselves, ‘Wow, you can really make a career out of this. We didn’t know if you could.’ ”
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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)
The beermeister
Who: Scott Kerkmans
Age: 27
Residence: Denver, Colo.
Education: Bachelor’s of business administration, University of New Mexico
Title: Chief beer officer, Four Points by Sheraton
Five favorite fall beers: Brooklyn Lager (Brooklyn Brewery), Anchor Steam (Anchor Brewery), Duvel (Moortgat Brewery), Mirror Pond (Deschutes Brewery), Samuel Adams Octoberfest
Favorite pairings: Guinness and oysters; Lindemans Framboise and chocolate mousse; spicy pad Thai and an American pale ale
How he staves off a beer belly: “Lots of hours at the gym!”
Website: www.fourpoints.com
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