Rich Higgins

The Path

Homebrewing is often the first practical school for brewers because it makes process visible at a scale where every choice can be handled, observed, tasted, and revised. For Higgins, that college work established beer as something made through decisions rather than received as a fixed category. The later professional pattern—building, tasting, adjusting—kept that early method intact while adding the demands of consistency and service. Production brewing added scale, repetition, and public accountability. From 2004 to 2009, Higgins worked as brewer at ThirstyBear Brewing Co. In San Francisco, California. The work moved beer from home-scale trial into a brewhouse rhythm of recipe, process, service, and response, where execution has to hold beyond a single batch and in front of guests. Restaurant brewing asks a brewer to think about range, audience, and the place of beer inside a broader food-and-drink setting. In 2010, Higgins became head brewer at Social Kitchen & Brewery in San Francisco, California, a role he held until 2012. His stated aim there was to brew beers that were interesting, avoid duplicating common flavors and styles, and fill gaps in what was being brewed. “I wanted to help to fill in some of the gaps and keep the dialogue moving forward about what beer can taste like and who it should appeal to.” That is a production brief as much as a point of view: extend the field without losing clarity for the drinker. Guild work places brewing knowledge inside a shared civic trade structure rather than only inside one cellar. Higgins is president of the San Francisco Brewers Guild, connecting his practice to the broader San Francisco brewing community and its ongoing exchange of standards, concerns, and public-facing work.

The Work Today

Beer consulting depends on fluency across making, tasting, education, and service. Today, Higgins works as Consultant à la Bière in Bozeman, Montana. The role treats beer as both product and subject: something to be evaluated in the glass and explained with enough precision that producers, servers, and drinkers can use the knowledge. Higgins’s work keeps attention on what beer can taste like, who it can reach, and how the conversation around it can widen while remaining technically grounded.

In Their Words “Becoming a Master Cicerone was a milestone in my learning about beer. I don't think that passing the exam means that I know everything about beer. Instead, it proves to me that I really love learning about beer.” “I started homebrewing in college and that got me excited about it, and I enjoy cooking and I enjoy putting stuff together, so it was fun to see how beer is put together.”

Acclaim

The Master Cicerone® credential marks a defined standard in beer knowledge and assessment. Rich's honors include Master Cicerone® (2010).