Any certified Cicerones here?

That's the truth!

Ownership has been incredibly supportive, allowing me to install an RO system, experiment with squarells (I have two), and collaborate with some of my former brewing heroes.

Best of all, being in a Casino, I'm playing with house money.

 

And lightstruck is one of the simplest flaws to recreate. A topless case of Corona left in the California sun for anything over 15 minutes nails it. Did you know that Europeans don't refer to beer as skunky? I was surprised by that until...

...I then learned that there are no skunks in Europe.

 

I believe they use the term "Heinekenish".

 

But they do have polecats in Europe:

"Mercaptan (3-methylbut-2-ene-1-thiol): the lightstruck formed compound that is described as skunky, catty, feral, polecat"

Cheers!

 

The exam really isn't even that hard if you've sampled a good amount of styles and if anything, the sensory stuff was the easiest part. You just need to be able to pick out vinegar, creamed corn, green apple, cardboard, etc.

I'm currently training one of my colleagues for the exam and I have her doing a "tour of the world". I have her doing a German week one week, a Belgian week one week, an English week the next, etc. It really helps you get a good grasp of the styles and the country especially when you pair them with food from those countries.

 

Really hard for people to do where I live as the liquor board does not bring in nearly enough of the styles you need to know, they barely cover the basics let alone the new stuff coming down the pipe. We now have almost 20 new craft breweries who are getting into a reasonable number of styles but not everyone actually nails it with their brew. I was lucky when I was studying as I was travelling the world for work and chasing down everything I could every single day.

 

Congrats, it’s not so easy for many. Most people are not so well versed in the many many styles, correctly identifying individual style for some might be very difficult taking years to be familiar enough to know what’s what. Then the flaws, not so easy if you don’t know the style and what’s a normal profile. I’d gave zero shot on the sensory part, the time and money would be significant and some of the styles I just don’t like. A state stout might not be too tough, the tart Cherry can be prominent , but they’re varying degrees of flaws too, I might pick out the most heinous of flaws, but subtle sometimes eludes me.

 

https://librarian.dev/cbs-mock-test/

 

When I started with the earlier BJCP style guidelines it was one thing to learn that. When they updated it to the 2015 I found the changes very hard to overcome to try to learn them all compared to the earlier version. Now the world has completely changed again with so many more new styles I can't even imagine trying to study for the Advanced.

 

You're probably not giving yourself enough credit. The off flavors are all with a base lager, normally something like Sam Adams Light, so the aromas are very noticeable since they spike each sample with an off flavor kit. For the style vs style part they basically have an English IPA vs American IPA, a Porter vs a Schwarzbier, Belgian Dubbel vs Wee Heavy, stuff like that. You just have to say which style the beer is.

 

If anyone needs some older study materials feel free to reach out. I took the exam in 2015 so I'm sure some stuff has changed but all of that historical stuff is rock solid.

 

Just curious, for those who have encountered both, how does the Cicerone exam compare to the BJCP exam?

edit: I do realize that the 2 programs are somewhat apples and oranges.

 

There is a long list of books you can read. Cicerone.org has a bunch of study material you can get too.

 

As an employer, I don't really give more weight to a Certified Beer Server certificate than just having general beer knowledge/experience/passion. It helps to have it on the resume, as a way of communicating interest or experience in craft beer. But I certainly don't weed out resumes that don't have CBS listed, and would give equal consideration to someone who has worked at a few breweries/beer-centric bars, lists homebrewing as a hobby, writes passionately about their craft beer love, etc. In my opinion, anyone can pass the CBS exam if they read Mosher's Tasting Beer, an introductory homebrew book (the first edition of John Palmer's How To Brew is available for free online), and study the BJCP style guide. I'm more interested with someone actually retaining that knowledge through experience and a passion for the industry. That said, I'm in an area filled with CBS servers and beer-passionate people generally; OP may find his local employers more impressed with the certificate.

The Certified Cicerone exam requires significantly more study & knowledge. I do take that as an indicator of someone who has both a solid knowledge of, and passion for, craft beer. But I think you have to ask yourself if the fees are justified by whatever position you might hope to have one day; it's an education expense, same as any other.

 

Send me a PM. I have some older study guide esque materials that I'd be happy to pass along.

 

I got a Cicerone study guide but I think I've already given it away. It's so easy these days haha. When I did mine there were no study guides, one had to figure it out on their own.