Meet Alberto Jimenez, Malteurop Senior Manager of Quality Services and Connector Extraordinaire

Malteurop Senior Manager of Quality Services, Alberto “Beto” Jimenez, learned the importance of quality from his father, a master brewer in Mexico. It’s ingrained in his being. But he understands quality is a collaboration.

About Malteurop Malting Company (MMC)

We are a collective of craftsmen devoted to making exceptional malt. We are innovators, designers, scientists, farmers, brewers and artists. We are your link from farm to beer, and we want you to know us as a vital part of the craft beer community.

Alberto Jimenez, Malteurop Senior Manager of Quality Services

Meet Alberto Jimenez

Alberto Jimenez, better known as Beto, has been Malteurop’s go-to quality person since January of 2016. Starting out as the Quality Service Manager, he has risen up the ranks over the years and is now highly respected as the Senior Manager of Quality Services for North America.

But what does quality in a malting company really mean?

Beto sums it up quite nicely, “Quality is striving for the best, understanding that we have many customers with many different specs, so we need to make sure each customer gets what they expect.”

Watching his dad make his way up the ranks at what is now Heineken Mexico in Monterrey, Mexico, Beto had an understanding of what quality meant in the industry at a very young age. But implementing that knowledge into a career wasn’t a given, and his dream didn’t come easy.

What is your educational background?

Ever since Beto could remember, his dad was always working for the brewery. Getting to go with him every once in a while is something Beto will never forget.

“When I was a kid around five or six years old, I got to tour the brewery. The aromas are really intense. Mashing and boiling, and then you add the hops; it’s an even stronger experience. I remember my dad showing me what was malt and what was hops and that just sticks with you.”

So when it was time for Beto to choose a career path, he made the decision to get into chemical engineering. He then realized there was an even more specialized program in his hometown of Monterrey, and food engineering became his focus.

With encouragement from his dad, Beto furthered his education by applying to and getting into the cereal and food science program at North Dakota State University. There, he was able to take malting and brewing science classes, as well.

Earning his Master’s Degree in Cereal Science, Beto still wasn’t done, and furthered into doctoral studies. Beto is never done learning.

“The day that you think you know everything is the day that you stop learning.”

How did you decide to work in quality at a malting company?

But before that candidacy occurred, there was another dream that had been brewing (pun intended).

Beto and three friends spent long weekends together, creating recipes, brewing beer, and dreaming up names of possible breweries. One idea was close to fruition: Aurora Brewing. They all recognized these long weekends as a fun hobby, but one that might nonetheless become an actual brewery.

But of course, as it so often does, life changes. Families were started. Weekend times with friends decreased and realism set in.

It was also right around this time that his wife came across a posting for an open position at Malteurop Malting Company and a choice had to be made.

“It was always a dream [owning a brewery] but now that I’m in the malting industry, I know that all of those years of preparation had a really good reason.”

Well, Beto, as consumers of craft beer brewed with Malteurop’s malts, we’re happy that you chose to be a part of Malteurop.

And as for the brewery, many people open those when they retire.

What does your average day look like?

But before retirement hits, Beto has work to do.

And his work starts with a story from his dad.

We can almost hear his dad speaking, “Son, when I was young, my day started with a meeting. I would get there on time. But during the meeting, my boss had questions about the status of the fermentation tank, for example. It was then that I realized that being on time was not enough. I had to be there earlier, so that I could report to my boss the complete status of the entire brewery.”

Beto learned a valuable lesson from that story. Being on time is not enough. “I remember a lot about that, and so the first thing in my day is being ready.”

Before any meetings begin the day, Beto knows the complete status of what is being produced and what is being shipped. This helps him prepare for the rest of the day.

A valuable lesson, indeed. Let the daily meetings commence. And while there may be many meetings on the day’s itinerary – from team meetings to daily communications with the plants and craft sales managers and customer success team to the customers themselves – each one of them is an integral piece to maintaining the quality that Malteurop’s customers expect.

But quality doesn’t merely happen because a meeting occurred. Beto is all about action. He stays informed of current affairs in food safety and quality in and outside of the malting industry. He travels often to all four MMC malting plants, always learning, always teaching, always communicating.

“My email and my phone are always open. Quality is a collaboration.”

Beto Jiminez at the Malteurop malting plant in Meoqui, Mexico

What are some of your career accomplishments?

And whether that collaboration is professional or personal, he is proud of his accomplishments he’s made through bringing people together.

Having had the opportunity to work on the Meoqui malthouse in Mexico from design to implementation, is just one of the many challenging opportunities Beto is proud to be a part of at MMC.

“It’s challenging and long days, but it’s something that I’ve never had the opportunity to do before, so it’s very rewarding to see the progression of the company and how it’s growing.”

On a more personal note, Beto also recognizes the challenges and rewards of starting a family and growing up together, especially doing so in a different culture than what he grew up in.

“It’s been a really nice adventure. It’s been very rewarding.”

Where do you see the future of malting heading?

That adventure is not over. Especially when it comes to the future of malting.

“We’re always working with what Mother Nature provides. Some years she can be nice and others not very nice.”

Beto recognizes that there’s only so much that one can do with barley. And even though it’s almost magical what maltsters can do, nobody knows what the barley crop will yield each year. Maybe that’s where the magic comes in. The team at MMC will still bring the best of that barley to the brewers. That is the challenge: to be innovative.

Part of understanding where the future of malting might be heading is understanding that, although there is an abundance of information, maltsters have to know what to do with that information.

“If we don’t interpret data there is no information, and if there is no information there is no knowledge. It’s a several step process to be better.”

Beto continues with his thoughts. “We are more conscious of everything, including the resources we have and the products we consume. But I think that in the end there will always be a good pilsner, along with sour beers, hazy, not hazy, etc. Just to see what we’re producing with malts being interpreted in so many different ways, that’s really neat.”

What’s your favorite style of beer and why?

Growing up in Monterrey, Mexico, and attending the university there until 2006, there weren’t many craft beer options. But on a fishing trip with his dad to Padre Island in Texas, Beto came across a beer that will forever hold a spot in his craft beer repertoire – Sam Adams Boston Lager.

We imagine that was pretty neat, too.

Since moving to the U.S. in 2007, he wanted to try everything, and consequently from that, Beto now has quite the bottle collection.

From enjoying Sam Adams for the first time to an avid homebrewer to understanding the nuances behind malt, Beto has a wide variety of beers he now loves. We’ll let him tell you about them.

“When I want something with more body and malt forward, I’ll drink a pale ale. But if I want to have a lighter beer, I’m going to have a pilsner. I also enjoy German beers. Otherwise, any light beer on a hot day, even if it’s not hot,” he laughs.

He agrees that there is a time and place for dark beers, as well, but he also admits that he’s a purist. So, like any good beer lover, asking what their favorite beer is, is like asking who their favorite child is. You won’t get a straight answer.

What beer is in your fridge currently?

And the same goes for the question of what is your fridge right now.

Although, for Beto, that answer was simple. “None! I need to go to the market.” We agree.

But while he may not have any beers in his fridge at the time of this writing, his go to beer in his fridge list is extensive. And might also include a Sam Adams Boston Lager. Or Bell’s Two Hearted Ale. Or a Heineken. Or a Shiner Bock. Or Modelo. Or Yuengling Lager…

There’s just too many to have only one.

What defines you outside of work?

Immediately, Beto’s answer was family.

“My family. My wife and kids are the most important to me. I’m always thinking of what we are going to do together. Always trying to be a good example.”

And very quickly, he also answered that he is curious and loves learning.

“I’m always curious and trying to learn. You learn from talking to people, from drinking a beer, cooking something, even from your dog – Rexx teaches me a lot. What else is there if you’re not learning?”

And part of that learning comes from his belief in also helping people and trying to better himself. Slowing down to experience the world opens up possibilities for both.

“There are so many ways [to help]. It doesn’t have to be through an organization. Just help. Your kid, your wife, your dog, yourself. I feel that we live so quickly and we don’t stop as much as we should to see around us.”

Beto’s had the opportunity to travel and live abroad and recognizes that if more people had that same opportunity, it’d be much easier to stop, to help, and to listen.”

We couldn’t end our conversation with Beto without first asking if he’s had the chance to take his dad to the Mexico plant. His answer is exactly what you would expect from one who was once a kid who grew up knowing that quality and beer was in his future.

“I would love to. The same way he was taking me to his brewery when I was a kid, I would love to take him for a tour of the malthouse. That would be amazing.”

And in a quieter voice, “I just got shivers [thinking of that].”

Beto’s profession is quality, and it’s easy to see why.

Premium grains from field to flavor.

– – – – –

About Malteurop Malting Company (MMC)

Malteurop Malting Company (MMC) is based in North America—specializing in growing and producing quality malts for the beer, whiskey, and food processing industries. With local farms and Malthouses spread across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, Malteurop’s commitment to excellence is fully ingrained into every batch it produces, ensuring businesses of any size can create the finest beverages and food products on the planet.

Visit www.malteuropmaltingco.com to learn how we can support your malting needs.

Malting is our passion. Quality is our promise.

– – – – –