Denver Cicerone Study/Tasting Group

I would be down.

 

Would definitely be interested.

 

One of these days I just need to bite the bullet and do the Cicerone thing.

 

How difficult is the cicerone? Is it still worth it if you don't plan to make a career out of being a beer aficionado?

 

The first level, Certified Beer Sever, is a breeze. Certified Cicerone wasn't necessarily easy, but it's tedious. Something like a third of all participants don't pass the first time around. You have to have a pretty solid knowledge of styles, history, food pairing, draft lines, kegs, etc. It's worth it if you have $400 to blow. It's a fun exam for sure. At least I thought so.

 

Interesting, and sounds like something you'd get only if you really wanted to nerd out or make a career out of being a beer aficionado.

The documentary, Som, made me realize I will never be able to be a wine aficionado

 

The new(er) film, Somm: Into the Bottle talks more about the world of wine, from a sommelier's point of view. It is interesting to see the differences (and similarities) in opinions of the somms they interview.

As far as career goes, I still don't know how successful or lucrative Cicerones could be.

 

I've watched both of these a couple times, and I think it's absolutely fascinating.

 

For the people that have been through it - how much do you think you really got out of it that you wouldn't have gotten from books? How much is it dedicated to practical operations stuff (swapping kegs, foaming, etc.) vs. historical and theoretical content?
I'm not really looking for any sort of career, but simply want to know more.

 

I'm still searching for a beer that smells like a freshly opened container of tennis balls!

 

For your sake, I hope you don't find it!

 

I just did the Server one. It was interesting, and goes over line pressure, cleaning, and other non-brewing or -tasting aspects as well as regions and ingredients. For the money though (this one was free at the time) it may be more efficient to hit the library (a building with books) and self-teach...yourself.
While I can see the benefits of restaurants having Cicerones on staff, I just haven't seen many agree.

 

I've tossed around the BJCP judging program as well. I figure I might as well further the hobby in a productive direction.
My interests lean in the historical and traditional directions more than chasing what's cool at the moment.

 

Yeah that's about the gist of it in my opinion.
I also misspoke. It's 2/3 of the participants who take it don't pass. Pretty sure that's correct.

Studying up, reading books, tasting beer, etc. is what made me pass. The label is simply that, a label. I get it to put in my email signature and business card or whatever. A lot of industry folk, sales reps, brewers, are Cicerones, so it's cool that way and it shows that you know beer; it's a good thing to put on a resume if you're working in the beer industry.

As far as practical operations, there was a decent chunk of the exam dedicated to that. If you merely just want to know more, especially regarding history, I'd say just read and taste beer. I found Tasting Beer and The Brewmasters Table as two of the better resources as far as Cicerone information was concerned. BJCP stuff is fun, too.

 

If you're not interested in working in the beer industry, then Cicerone probably isn't going to be worth it to you. BJCP is probably a more practical path to go and this town can never have enough beer judges for all of the festivals and competitions going around.

Although also pursuing employment in beer, I wanted to see where my beer knowledge was and where it needed to go. Cicerone was an expensive gauge. $400 for the test, $100 for the retake of tasting portion (missed it first time by one point!), study materials, etc and you're probably over $600.

Randy Mosher's "Tasting Beer" covers most of the non-operational content that are in the curriculum.

For those that are taking it, a study group is a great idea. I wish there was one around when I was taking it.

 

I am interested in being in a study group for sure!! what days of the week would people want to meet and what time do yall have available. I am usually in the earlier part of the day, but I can set aside some evenings as well.