BJCP vs. Cicerone?

Both are pretty worthless unless you have a specific need for them. Spend the money on beer instead.

 

Both programs have their own merits.

BJCP; The bulk of the focus is on Judging...which should come as no surprise.

• Beer Style Guidelines
• Sensory analysis (Why you taste what you taste)
• How to properly taste for proper evaluation (normal & off-flavor)
• Understanding ingredients
• The brewing process
• How to properly judge and critique a beer

Cicerone; The focus is broader and more consumer oriented

• Keeping & Serving Beer
  • Draught systems
  • Glassware
  • Serving beer

• Beer Styles (Not as in-depth as BJCP, but close)
  • Understanding styles
  • Historical perspective
  • Quality parameters
  • Styles by Country

• Beer Flavor & Evaluation
  • Tasting
  • Evaluation
  • Flavor components
  • Ingredients
  • Off-flavor knowledge

• Beer & Food Pairing

Ultimately, your decision should look like this. Do I want to better understand beers and judge competitions or do I want to better understand beers in order to communicate with the beer-drinking public? A lot of the information crosses over...and each has its own direct focus.

I hope others will chime in and I hope this helps!

 

Cicerone would have more application in the Front of the House. Edit - the first step is to be a Certified Beer Server.

BJCP has more application in the Brewery, or if you judge Homebrew competitions, or Homebrew.

@JackHorzempa just posted before you.

 

Hopefully some BJCP folks (@hopfenunmaltz ) will chime in.

I went to the BJCP website and found:

"EXAM FEES
The fee for taking the online qualifying exam (the BJCP Beer Judge Entrance Examination) is $10. The fee for the tasting exam (the BJCP Beer Judging Examination) is $40 for first-time examinees, and $15 for retakes. The Mead Judge examination fee is $50 for non-BJCP members, and $30 for BJCP members. The written exam (the BJCP Written Proficiency Examination) fee is $25. All fees are in US dollars."

Cheers!

 

Jeff, what does it cost to become BJCP 'certified'?

Cheers!

Jack

 

For someone starting out, it would be $50 monetary. Judge points take some time and $ outlay to get to the competition and earn the points.

The first step is to take the online exam, $10. If you pass the online then you can take the tasting exam, $40 first time.
If you have a passing score you are recognized.
If you have a score of 70-79 combined average you will be a certified judge when you get 5 judging points.
There are the higher ranks, that require higher scores and graduated points accumulations. You can find all that at bjcp.org.

 

Which one would be best to help get a job? I have a business degree and would like to get a job in the beer industry, preferably in sales or for a distributor.

 

I studied and learned a lot about beer while going for my BJCP certification. Price was reasonable( I think I paid about $100 ten years ago), and the time it took was maybe 5 evenings of about 2-3 hour classes. That included drinking some good beer during class and making new friends. That mostly prepped me to take the exam which was a VERY difficult 3 hour exam.
I judge competitions here and there but as a dad with a business, it is not a priority to get to judge. Beer advocate is where I practice and rate beer more often. I do not regret doing the certification and anyone interested in learning more about beer should go for it.

 

Probably Ciccerone. It would let you describe your beers to FoH staff, and help tailor sales to a restaurants menu.

 

Thanks, that makes sense, the cicerone tends to cover more than just beer styles.

 

Bjcp is more geared for home brewing.

 

That is true, but many Pro-Brewers are BJCP, some are Master level.

 

The thing to remember is that the BJCP guidelines are for the purpose of judging beers that are entered into competition.

Professional brewers don't brew styles, they brew beers - they often won't know or care about all the labels that the BJCP has come up with, and just brew whatever is tasty or interesting.

For Example, 22B American Strong Ale is hoppy ambers plus Arrogant Bastard, because that beer just doesn't fit anywhere else.

BJCP is useful as long as you're aware of its limitations - and use the 2015 guidelines; 2008 were very patchy when it came to historical accuracy and British styles.

 

While that doesn't surprise me, I do think the cicerone certification would be more beneficial when it comes to communicating beer styles and attributes to the unanitiated. So many pro Brewers started in their garages, and that is reflected in how supportive the pros have been to the home sector, so it stands to reason their certifications are with bjcp.

 

It strikes me cicerone certification would be more useful in the overall job market.

 

When one looks, you find people like Patrick Rue in the Master Cicerone ranks. Peter Zien is a Master Level BJCP (or higher).

 

@nick0417 I am pondering the same thing, so glad you asked.

From what I learned, BJCP is a great base if you are going to take the Cicerone exam anyway, so why not get the BJCP down and then re-apply that info to the Cicerone - that's what I am planning to do.