http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/08/24/214582851/wine-has-sommeliers-now-beer-has-cicerones Just came across this lovely little bit and thought I'd share it here. Decent article, surprisingly...but the real gems are found in the comments section. Enjoy!
I heard that on the radio early on, this weekend. Thanks for posting, as I did want to find the article to pass it on to a couple of friends. You were correct about the comments section, some real gems there.
Wine and beer being given equal respect is a good thing. As long as a bottle of world class beer still costs the same or less than a bottle of cheap wine that is, lets not let this equality of beer and wine make its way into pricing. Otherwise we will be paying 175.00 for a bomber of whatever the hyped beer of the month is.
Write up should've been far more in depth and I feel a wee bit dumber after reading a few of the comments
Kind of amazed at the ignorance of the comments found on the NPR web site. Article is skippable if you are already familiar with the cicerone program.
I get the feeling the OP posted the link not so that we could familiarize ourselves with the Cicerone program, but to show that it's tracking on a mainstream news source. It's not what, but where the article is.
At least I've yet to see anyone here try to argue that Tsing Tao or Kirin Ichiban are superior beers to those made in Belgium. And as much as we hate the iron fist rule of BA, at least it saves me from having to read garbage linking Chicago's violence problem to its craft beer scene.
Are you comparing style-to-style? I don't think the comment I read was being that nuanced in its comparison.
Interesting to see the program gaining more attention. I became a Certified Cicerone™ earlier this year while living in Va. While living back east I rarely came across someone who was familiar with the program. Now living in San Diego not a day goes by where I hear multiple people mention the program. There are many places across the country with amazing beer, but many of those same places lack in service and maintenance knowledge of the beers they serve. If you enjoy something enough (beer or not) learning more is not pretentious.
"When I went to Belgium some of the restaurants had beer lists instead of wine lists." Gave me a chuckle.
We have two certified beer servers at my job and we're both looking forward to taking the certified Cicerone examination. It's a great addition for a resume and an even better resource for getting the most out of beer for myself and peers.
Agreed that this article isn't for the likes of you BAs. Something missing from the article is that this isn't the only sommelier-type program for beer. Is it even the first?
