Taproom Manager

About the organization

West Sixth Brewing is a craft brewery and taproom founded in and headquartered in downtown Lexington, KY. We focus on producing the highest quality craft beer, sharing it with others by distributing it to restaurants and bars throughout Kentucky. We also pop-up at events from Paducah to Pikeville, delivering a taste of our taprooms with communities in every part of the state. And we operate taprooms at our production facility, located in the Bread Box at 501 West Sixth Street; at our NuLu location in downtown Louisville; the West Sixth Farm in Franklin County; and our newest spot in Northern Kentucky, the West Sixth Covington Haus. Along the way, we’ve also expanded to include private events and catering at these locations, as well kitchens at our NuLu taproom (the Galley) and our Farm taproom (West Sixth Cantina)

Over the years, we’ve worked hard to take care of our people and show up for our communities. From our choices to focus on green design inside the taproom, to our selection of cans for distributing our beer, to our commitment to give 6% of all net profits back to other community organizations via the Sixth for a Cause Foundation, we try to live our values in every decision we make.

We work hard, but we have fun. Working in the beer industry is all about taking care of our customers, each other, and celebrating everything from life’s major milestones to a simple beautiful weekday afternoon over a great, locally-made beer.

About the Position

Central Kentucky Taproom Manager

Our taprooms are the bread and butter of our business, a main source of revenue and, just as important, often the first place that people experience West Sixth Brewing and our beers. Because of this, we truly believe that the experience must be fantastic -- from the service folks receive, to the beers they drink, to the space they drink it in…our mission is to put our best foot forward, welcoming folks into our world. Our central-Kentucky area taprooms include our Lexington taproom in the Bread Box-which shares a spot with our main production brewery-and our Farm taproom in rural Franklin County. In Lexington, we’re open daily, hosting pop-ups and community events, private events in our Barrel Room, and welcoming folks with caring hospitality and a great tap list. Our Farm location is more on the seasonal side-we’re open a couple days/week in the Fall/Winter, and expand to 4 days/week from April-October-it’s a beautiful spot, with mountain biking trails, a disc golf course, and a small hop yard.

As the Taproom Manager for these two locations, you’ll be responsible for supporting all aspects of the taproom operations. We’re looking for someone who loves to host, who embodies what it means to make someone feel welcome. Enthusiasm, joy, creativity. Someone who wants to connect with our customers and leave them feeling wowed by how taken care of they felt. Someone who works together with their crew behind the bar to create awesome experiences every day. Hard-working, attention to detail, sweating the small stuff…caring. You’ll be doing all the things to keep the day-to-day going: scheduling and doing inventory, ordering beer and other products that we showcase in the taproom; setting expectations for our barstaff, helping onboard and train, as well as following up with feedback and guidance. You’ll be around during busier times, behind the bar with the rest of our staff and troubleshooting problems, welcoming folks into our taprooms. You’ll also be helping us grow by creating programming, executing events in our taprooms and working with local non-profits for our Sixth for a Cause events. 

Ideally, you’re a craft beer fan-we hope you love the job and what we do, and that that interest is palpable to staff and customers. But the most important things are that you care about creating great customer experiences for everyone who walks in the door; you can help lead our staff to provide great service; and you’re able to help us continue growing with new ideas. You’ll be giving and receiving feedback-you’ll have to be open to doing both as we continue striving to make our taprooms the best showcase of our beer possible! 

We’re looking for some flexibility, and some nights/weekends are a must: that’s when we do the majority of our business. To know the taproom, your staff, the customers, you have to be around. We’ll work to prioritize getting you a good work-life balance: the general schedule will be Tuesday-Saturday, with a work-from-home day counted among those days. But there will be times where you’ll need to tackle an urgent problem, show up for a bigger event, or backfill a sick bartender-at the end of the day, you’re responsible for the success of the taprooms, and we want you to be up for that challenge. This is a full-time, salaried position. 

Day to day activities 

• Being present during the most critical and busiest times -- when things can go wrong.
• Hiring, managing, and training all taproom staff.
• Ensuring all of our customers have the best possible experience in the taproom
• Strategic planning to ensure the taprooms success
• Managing the day to day activities in the taproom, including:
  • Scheduling all employees
  • Taproom maintenance, troubleshooting, and upkeep
  • Creating processes for bar-specific jobs 
  • Maintaining inventories of beer and other critical items
  • Planning and organizing of all events
  • Bartending alongside the bar staff 6-10 hours/week, primarily during busier times such as Friday and Saturday afternoon/evening
• Building and maintaining relationships with partner organizations -- including other local businesses and non-profits
• Working with the West Sixth marketing team to ensure proper advertising of taproom-related items.
• Assisting with Private Events, communicating with clients, working on potential leads and generally working to ensure the success of our Private Events program
• Being on-call for unexpected situations, both in and out of the taproom, as the main point of contact for the brewery
• Give tours of the building upon request, in addition to scheduled official tours
• Provide team leadership in implementing policies and procedures.
• Maintain POS and update backend settings as needed
• Follow sales trends and use POS analytics to monitor taproom performance and to provide insights on potential schedule-change needs
• Maintain existing West Sixth programming (Wooden Nickel, Sixth for a Cause, etc) while developing new programs
• Meeting with management staff as needed, including frequent meetings and check-ins with Retail Director
• Traveling to the West Sixth Farm location on a weekly basis

The Central Kentucky Taproom Manager will report to the Retail Director.

Skills required:

• Excellent personal communication skills
• Attention to detail
• 100% reliability
• Honesty and Integrity
• Demonstrated leadership
• A basic familiarity in using the web and other technology
• The ability to lift 55 pounds
• Experience managing a retail bar or taproom, preferably in the beer industry
• Time flexibility outside of established work-schedule for meetings, etc.

Compensation: Salary commensurate with experience and includes benefits and end of year bonus.

Benefits:

• Health Insurance
• 401(k) with company matching
• Cafeteria Plan (Dental, Vision, Life, other)
• Year-end profit sharing bonus (based on performance, not guaranteed)
• CSA Benefit
• Employee ownership (eligible after 2 complete years of employment, not guaranteed)
• Awesome Extras

West Sixth Brewing is an equal opportunity employer. West Sixth Brewing does not discriminate in employment on account of race, color, religion, national origin, citizenship status, ancestry, age, sex (including sexual harassment), sexual orientation, marital status, physical or mental disability, military status or unfavorable discharge from military service. I understand that neither the completion of this application nor any other part of my consideration for employment establishes any obligation for West Sixth Brewing to hire me. If I am hired, I understand that either West Sixth Brewing or I can terminate my employment at any time and for any reason, with or without cause and without prior notice. I understand that no representative of West Sixth Brewing has the authority to make any assurance to the contrary.

Salary : $55,000 - $60,000