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You’ve decided to take the plunge!
Maybe you’ve worked in the beer industry for some time and want to prove your knowledge, or you’re an enthusiast who wants a challenge! Whatever the case, pursuing your Cicerone® certification is not only a great resume builder but will drastically broaden your practical and conceptual knowledge of beer.
Although it is an achievable task, reading over the syllabus can quickly cue anxious thoughts if you don’t already have a game plan. That’s why I’d like to share four lessons I learned while studying for and achieving the certification myself:
1) Study styles daily
With over seventy beer styles to memorize for the exam, it’s crucial to start early and study often – for me this meant daily.
The primary quantitative & qualitative categories you need to remember are SRM (color), ABV (alcohol %), and IBU (bitterness). There are typically exam questions about commercial examples as well! Needless to say, there’s a lot of information to learn (accounting for 25% of the exam), and it can only be retained through regular, intentional practice.
The schedule I found to be most effective is as follows:
- Monday – Friday: learn one new style each day for a total of five styles/week
- Saturday: review the five styles you learned that week
- Sunday: review all styles you’ve learned up to that point
Using a variety of memorization methods (writing, speaking, quizzing, etc.) in addition to spaced-out repetition will ensure the information sticks. It can also help to memorize styles by region or by another grouping that makes sense such as color, strength, or type of yeast.
In the end, whatever method works best for you is the optimal one to use – just remember to start early and study often.
2) Materials to use
In addition to knowing hundreds of beer style data points, you’ll be expected to have a solid understanding of the brewing process, history of beer, ingredient variation, and more. Given the vast array of knowledge you’re expected to know, using the right resources can save you time and guide your learning. Here are my top four recommendations for study materials:
Road to Cicerone Coursebooks
With the price tag of these books ($354 for all six), you might be wondering if they’re worth it. As someone who purchased/used them myself, I would recommend them* for two reasons:
- Comprehensive – Since these are study guides put out by the Cicerone® Certification Program, they have a vested interest in your success and are able to ensure the coursebooks cover all required information. It still takes effort and time to study, but you don’t have to worry about missing something important.
- Motivating – Each coursebook is broken down into bite-size chapters, which contribute feelings of progress and motivation as you study. Even more, if you purchase the online quiz for each course, you’re able to better guage where your knowledge level is at.
You could, of course, map out your own study plan for the tests, but if you want to skip that work and be confident in the path you take, these coursebooks are the way to go.
*The one exception I’d make is the Keeping & Serving Beer coursebook. It’s essentially a guide through the Draught Beer Quality Manual (see below). As such, I’d recommend saving yourself $59 and reading the source instead.
The Oxford Companion to Beer
Written by Garrett Oliver, one of the greats in the industry, this book is an exceptional reference for any beer questions you have. It covers everything from fermentation to glassware to head retention in an encyclopedic format. This is a no-bullshit book – just useful information.
Draught Beer Quality Manual
Since the topic of keeping & serving beer makes up 25% of the test, this is a must-read. It can be dry at times, but it still communicates the information in an understandable way.
Bonus: You can download the PDF version for free.
Beer Pairing: The Essential Guide from the Pairing Pros
Although beer pairing with food only makes up 10% of the exam, it’s still a smart idea to understand the core principles of pairing. This book lays them out in an accessible way and also includes plenty of practical pairings to try at home (my personal favorite was a Girl Scout cookie pairing)!
Alternative: If you’re feeling spicy and want to dive further into the topic, Garrett Oliver also puts out an excellent book on this topic called The Brewmaster’s Table: Discovering the Pleasures of Real Beer with Real Food.
3) Buy an off-flavor kit
It’s true – only a small portion of the exam is dedicated to practical tasting; however, unless you’ve already had extensive practice with the off-flavor compounds tested, working through a sensory kit is extremely helpful. For the Certified Cicerone® exam, you’ll need to know the following six off-flavors:
- Acetaldehyde
- Acetic Acid
- Diacetyl
- DMS
- Lightstruck
- Trans-2-Nonenal
Most kits come with enough of each compound for a group of people – so invite your friends, buy two or three cases of a domestic lager like Budweiser, and enjoy hours nerding-out over spiked beer!
Bonus: You can purchase kits through the Cicerone® website (furnished by AROXA™), but I did find that many other suppliers were more reasonably priced (I personally used Siebel Institute). Also, if you work in the industry, consider asking your boss if they’d be willing to foot the bill!
4) Drink!
I doubt this will come as a surprise, but drinking is a crucial part of studying for this exam.
Here are a few tips for making drinking extra educational:
- Try as many new styles as you can. You can learn tasting notes for every beer style, but that will never surpass the experience of tasting them for yourself. Also, what if there’s a style you haven’t tried that turns out to be your favorite? Don’t waste time – treat beer like Pokémon and try them all!
- Keep a tasting journal. The process of putting aromas, flavors, and textures to paper is like bench pressing for your palate. Don’t worry about reaching a quota of words or using fancy vocabulary – just jot down your thoughts and see how it goes! Fancy vocabulary will come with practice – or not at all – who the fuck cares?
- When smelling/tasting beer, ask yourself if it triggers any memories. Those memories can be key to unlocking specifics about what you’re experiencing. Does that imperial stout remind you of eating gingerbread cookies at grandma’s when you were a kid? Boom – maybe you’re experiencing notes of molasses, caramel, ginger, or cinnamon!
- Have fun! Sure, this is a hard exam, but every day doesn’t need to be a grind. Hold onto your passion for beer, and remember that drinking doesn’t always need to be about studying.
Final thoughts
You’re going to kick ass on this test. Please comment with any questions you might have, and let me know when you pass!