How to become a brewery and winery worker
Official title: Brewery and winery worker
Also called: Brewery assistant, Brewery worker, Brewery operator, Cellar hand, Alcoholic beverage processor, Distiller, Winemaker assistant
Brewery and winery workers operate equipment to produce beer, wine and other alcoholic beverages.
Main tasks
- Produce beer, wine and other alcohol drinks
- Load ingredients into production equipment
- Monitor gauges to control fermentation
- Adjust temperature for brewing and fermentation
- Operate pumps and mixing equipment
- Adjust controls to manage liquid flow
- Inspect equipment
- Test products for quality
How to become one
You usually need a qualification to become a brewery and winery worker and experience may be useful. You usually need NCEA Level 3 to do the study or training for this job. Other requirements: a New Zealand Certificate in Cellar Operations (Level 3); a New Zealand Certificate in Brewing (Level 4); a bachelor's degree in viticulture; experience in similar work; a driver licence.
Ways in
- University: Agriculture & Environment degrees, Offered by 4 universities in New Zealand
- Certificates and diplomas: Advanced certificates and diplomas in mining and resources engineering. TEC links this job to study in process and resources engineering. Qualifications: NZ Dip in Mining and Quarrying (Supervision). Usually 1.5 years.
Pay · Past change
- Median pay: $59,000 a year, a TEC estimate before tax.
- Upper: $90,000 a year
- TEC shows pay for this job by the hour: median $28.37 an hour.
- TEC's pay figures are estimates only. TEC says they must not be used to set pay, in pay negotiations or in visa applications.
- Change in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses: Steady (TEC). This is past change, not a forecast.
Who does this work
- About 2,100 people did this job at the 2023 Census (TEC).
Related jobs
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Questions people ask
How do I become a brewery and winery worker?
You usually need a qualification to become a brewery and winery worker and experience may be useful. You usually need NCEA Level 3 to do the study or training for this job. Other requirements: a New Zealand Certificate in Cellar Operations (Level 3); a New Zealand Certificate in Brewing (Level 4); a bachelor's degree in viticulture; experience in similar work; a driver licence.
How much does a brewery and winery worker earn in New Zealand?
The Tertiary Education Commission estimates median pay at $59,000 a year, before tax.
Has the number of people working as a brewery and winery worker grown in New Zealand?
It has held steady: TEC records the number of people doing this job as steady between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses. This is past change, not a forecast.
Sources
- Tertiary Education Commission (Tahatu Career Navigator): Tahatu career ideas: descriptions, tasks, pay estimates, people employed, employment change 2018 to 2023, entry requirements, registration, interest scores (Site scrape 2026-10 (816 career ideas, sitemap lastmod 2026-10-01)), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
This content is sourced from the Tertiary Education Commission through the Tahatū Career Navigator website (www.tahatu.govt.nz) and used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. All or some of the information has been modified by Peernovo. TEC has not approved, endorsed or tested these modifications. TEC will not be held accountable for any errors within this content.
Qualification information from NZQA, used under CC BY 3.0 NZ.
This work is based on/includes Stats NZ's data which are licensed by Stats NZ for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Census data via Figure.NZ.
Includes information from O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.
Sources: Tertiary Education Commission, Tahatū Career Navigator (career ideas, pay estimates, entry requirements and study options, CC BY 4.0, modified by Peernovo); Stats NZ, 2023 Census (via Figure.NZ) and the National Occupation List (CC BY 4.0); NZQA qualification information (CC BY 3.0 NZ); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Links between career ideas and ANZSCO groups, degree fields and broad job groups are Peernovo's.
These results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.
Graduate outcomes: these results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.
Updated 4 October 2026