[October 13, 2009, Abita Springs, LA]--Ryan Ackerman wakes up to a dark, cold room, just the way he likes it. The sun is shining outside, but his window blinds are shut tight. It’s three in the afternoon and his day has just begun. Ackerman works the night shift at the Abita Brewery.
Ackerman reluctantly pulls back his white comforter and forces himself to get up. He wearily walks to the bathroom and turns on the shower, making it as hot as his skin can stand it. The smell of Zest soap fills his nostrils.
The night shift starts at 5 p.m., and he makes sure that he’s ready in enough time to grab himself something to eat on his way to work. He usually stops at Chick-fil-A and orders himself an eight piece chicken nugget with waffle fries and a large Dr. Pepper.
“It’s the breakfast of champions,” Ackerman says with a laugh. “And I’m not big on cooking.”
Ackerman lives alone in his beige, three-bedroom, two bath house most of the time. His seven-year-old son Michael stays with him on the weekends. “That’s about the only time I cook,” he says.
Ackerman pulls through the gates of the Abita Brewery and parks his white Dodge Charger in the same spot he always does.
“We don’t really have assigned parking spots, but that one is understood to be mine and so no one ever parks there.” Ackerman says as he enters the plant through the engineering department.
Red racks filled with various types of tools and replacement motors line the walls and are dispersed throughout the room. There is a work bench and welding table in the center. Carl Mcdaniels, the brewery’s electrician, is sitting at the work bench testing a back-up motor.
“I’ve worked with Ryan for a while now, almost two years,” Carl says over the roar of the motor. “He does a real good job, and we’re proud to have him here.”
Ackerman weaves his way through the racks and heads next door to the break-room to eat his food and clock-in.
“The break room is the best spot in the whole plant,” Ackerman says. “It’s one of the few rooms that have air-conditioning, and it has three beer taps, but we can’t indulge in that until we’re off the clock.”
Ackerman does a walk-through of the plant to make sure there are no problems in any of the other departments and to make sure everything is running properly. He then relieves the bottle filler machine operator and finishes the production run until the beer tank is empty or quotas have been met.
“We usually fill about four thousand cases per day; that’s about 96,000 bottles,” Ackerman says as he watches the bottles go down the conveyer belt.
When the bottle-filling is done, Ackerman sanitizes the equipment with a caustic and warm water solution. Safety goggles and gloves must be worn during this process.
“You do not want to get this stuff on your skin,” Ackerman says as sweat rolls down his cheek. “It burns really bad. I’ve gotten it on me quite a few times, and it’s nothing nice”
Ackerman finishes up the sanitation process and walks to the office he shares with the plant engineer. The office is cool, with white walls and a desk that is covered with various papers, a computer and a corded black telephone. There is a bookcase on one wall filled with instruction manuals and drawings of all the various machinery in the plant.
“This is where I come to place orders for parts that the plant needs,” Ackerman says as he looks through a manual for a part number. “We have most of the parts here on site because we have to maintain a certain number of them in inventory for when things break down or for scheduled maintenance purposes.”
Ackerman walks into the inventory room, which is connected to the office. The room has grey shelving lining three of the walls. The shelves are stacked six-feet high with grey boxes, labeled one through 89. Ackerman walks to the box numbered 62 and retrieves a fill valve spring to replace the one that is broken on the bottle filler machine.
“These springs have to be replaced about every three months,” Ackerman says as he walks towards the bottle filler machine.
As Ackerman replaces the spring on the fill valve, his brown hair is blown ever so slightly by the massive fan overhead, yet perspiration continues to drip down his face.
“It stays pretty hot in here because the heat from the pasteurizer fills the room,” Ackerman says.
The pasteurizer is where the bottles go after being filled and capped to ensure that all bacteria has been eliminated.
“The pasteurizer, in a 24-minute process, gradually warms the bottles to 153 degrees Fahrenheit and then cools them down,” Ackerman says as he wipes his face with a towel he keeps looped through his belt.
After the part replacement is done, Ackerman walks to the beer cellar to sample the different batches of beer that are fermenting to see if they are evolving correctly over time. He walks from one stainless steel tank to another with a handful of disposable plastic Abita beer cups.
“I use a different cup to taste each of the beers to avoid cross-contamination of the flavors,” Ackerman says as he sips a taste of Andygator, the most potent beer the brewery makes.
“This is a perk of the job,” Ackerman says as he laughs. “How many people can say they get to drink beer on the job?”
Ackerman spends most of his time on the night shift inspecting and sanitizing the machines. He also repairs anything that is broken and does scheduled maintenance on the equipment.
“I love being on the night shift,” Ackerman says. “It’s not as busy as the day shift and there is no one here to bother me. I just do my own thing and make sure everything is ready for the next day’s production. I couldn’t ask for a better job. Nice people, good pay and free beer.”
| Abita Man |
Ackerman reluctantly pulls back his white comforter and forces himself to get up. He wearily walks to the bathroom and turns on the shower, making it as hot as his skin can stand it. The smell of Zest soap fills his nostrils.
The night shift starts at 5 p.m., and he makes sure that he’s ready in enough time to grab himself something to eat on his way to work. He usually stops at Chick-fil-A and orders himself an eight piece chicken nugget with waffle fries and a large Dr. Pepper.
“It’s the breakfast of champions,” Ackerman says with a laugh. “And I’m not big on cooking.”
Ackerman lives alone in his beige, three-bedroom, two bath house most of the time. His seven-year-old son Michael stays with him on the weekends. “That’s about the only time I cook,” he says.
Ackerman pulls through the gates of the Abita Brewery and parks his white Dodge Charger in the same spot he always does.
“We don’t really have assigned parking spots, but that one is understood to be mine and so no one ever parks there.” Ackerman says as he enters the plant through the engineering department.
Red racks filled with various types of tools and replacement motors line the walls and are dispersed throughout the room. There is a work bench and welding table in the center. Carl Mcdaniels, the brewery’s electrician, is sitting at the work bench testing a back-up motor.
“I’ve worked with Ryan for a while now, almost two years,” Carl says over the roar of the motor. “He does a real good job, and we’re proud to have him here.”
Ackerman weaves his way through the racks and heads next door to the break-room to eat his food and clock-in.
“The break room is the best spot in the whole plant,” Ackerman says. “It’s one of the few rooms that have air-conditioning, and it has three beer taps, but we can’t indulge in that until we’re off the clock.”
Ackerman does a walk-through of the plant to make sure there are no problems in any of the other departments and to make sure everything is running properly. He then relieves the bottle filler machine operator and finishes the production run until the beer tank is empty or quotas have been met.
“We usually fill about four thousand cases per day; that’s about 96,000 bottles,” Ackerman says as he watches the bottles go down the conveyer belt.
When the bottle-filling is done, Ackerman sanitizes the equipment with a caustic and warm water solution. Safety goggles and gloves must be worn during this process.
“You do not want to get this stuff on your skin,” Ackerman says as sweat rolls down his cheek. “It burns really bad. I’ve gotten it on me quite a few times, and it’s nothing nice”
Ackerman finishes up the sanitation process and walks to the office he shares with the plant engineer. The office is cool, with white walls and a desk that is covered with various papers, a computer and a corded black telephone. There is a bookcase on one wall filled with instruction manuals and drawings of all the various machinery in the plant.
“This is where I come to place orders for parts that the plant needs,” Ackerman says as he looks through a manual for a part number. “We have most of the parts here on site because we have to maintain a certain number of them in inventory for when things break down or for scheduled maintenance purposes.”
Ackerman walks into the inventory room, which is connected to the office. The room has grey shelving lining three of the walls. The shelves are stacked six-feet high with grey boxes, labeled one through 89. Ackerman walks to the box numbered 62 and retrieves a fill valve spring to replace the one that is broken on the bottle filler machine.
“These springs have to be replaced about every three months,” Ackerman says as he walks towards the bottle filler machine.
As Ackerman replaces the spring on the fill valve, his brown hair is blown ever so slightly by the massive fan overhead, yet perspiration continues to drip down his face.
“It stays pretty hot in here because the heat from the pasteurizer fills the room,” Ackerman says.
The pasteurizer is where the bottles go after being filled and capped to ensure that all bacteria has been eliminated.
“The pasteurizer, in a 24-minute process, gradually warms the bottles to 153 degrees Fahrenheit and then cools them down,” Ackerman says as he wipes his face with a towel he keeps looped through his belt.
After the part replacement is done, Ackerman walks to the beer cellar to sample the different batches of beer that are fermenting to see if they are evolving correctly over time. He walks from one stainless steel tank to another with a handful of disposable plastic Abita beer cups.
“I use a different cup to taste each of the beers to avoid cross-contamination of the flavors,” Ackerman says as he sips a taste of Andygator, the most potent beer the brewery makes.
“This is a perk of the job,” Ackerman says as he laughs. “How many people can say they get to drink beer on the job?”
Ackerman spends most of his time on the night shift inspecting and sanitizing the machines. He also repairs anything that is broken and does scheduled maintenance on the equipment.
“I love being on the night shift,” Ackerman says. “It’s not as busy as the day shift and there is no one here to bother me. I just do my own thing and make sure everything is ready for the next day’s production. I couldn’t ask for a better job. Nice people, good pay and free beer.”
NOLA.com
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