Jack O'Reilly (he/him) is an Agriculture Business Management major at the IAA. He is currently in his second year and plans to transfer into a bachelor's program after he completes his final two semesters at the IAA. During the summer, O'Reilly had the opportunity to intern at Big Truck Farm Brewery in Parkton, Maryland. During his time there in the summer, he worked mainly as a farmhand.
To name a few things, he started the summer by training the Cascade, and Chinook hops plants up the string so they could grow more efficiently. He then moved to work with the irrigation system; turning it on and off at the end of the day was his priority. In addition, he eventually added fertilizer, keeping the plants as healthy as he could. At the end of the season, he harvested the hops by cutting the strings and putting them in the bed of a truck and then taking them to another farmer to take the plant off the string and package them for the brew house.
On some days, he wasn't in the hops fields. He was tending to the general landscape duties of the property, mowing, weeding, and trimming the 250-acre property. O'Reilly did an outstanding job in all the tasks given to him, and his supervisor complimented him, "Jack has excellent working ethics and always manages to get the task done efficiently." O'Reilly also stated, " One day, I got to go in the brew house and learn the equipment and help make a Cherry Pineapple Sour Beer which was another great experience. I also befriended a barn cat which became my best bud whenever I was at work."
He works from mid-May to late August from 8 am-5 pm. One of the main reasons O'Reilly was interested in this internship was his dad. O'Reilly's father used to work in the wine industry selling and distributing wine, and he always wanted to get into the alcohol industry because of him. In addition, the beer industry caught his eye, and since there was one so close to his house, it was a perfect opportunity to learn the business early, earn college credit, and make a little money in the process he mentioned.
This internship has dramatically piqued his interest in the beer and the alcohol industry, giving him early experience learning how beer is made from field to glass through the planting/harvesting process and the brewing/storing/selling process. He plans on working there again over the winter and next summer. O'Reilly is confident and proud that he can apply these skills in future career searches and resumes.
