Cicerone. What the heck is it anyway?

The wine world has the Sommelier. A well respected, intense program that produces the best wine experts in the world. Wikipedia describes a Sommelier as someone who is “responsible for the development of wine lists,^[1] and for the delivery of wine service and training for the other restaurant staff. Working along with the culinary team, they pair and suggest wines that will best complement each particular food menu item. This entails the necessity for a deep knowledge of how food and wine, beer, spirits and other beverages work in harmony. A professional Sommelier also works on the floor of the restaurant and is in direct contact with restaurant patrons. The Sommelier has a responsibility to work within the taste preference and budget parameters of the patron”. In order to truly achieve this designation, you must go through The Court of Master Sommeliers, the governing body for the Sommelier program since 1977. When anyone hears the term ‘Sommelier’, they instantly think of wine expert, someone who knows their grapes. But the beer world? What do we have? Why, we have the Certified Cicerone Program, run by Ray Daniels, a know industry expert, author and dare I say legend in the craft beer world.

Photo courtesy of Ray Daniels

So just what is the program? Why even start it? The program is intended to provide the beer world with experts who are independently assessed and certified in every aspect of beer, from the ingredients for a particular style to how it is served. Ray Daniels says a Cicerone is to “designate those with proven expertise in selecting, acquiring and serving today’s wide range of beers.” When craft beer was in its infancy thirty years ago, there was not much of a need for a ‘Cicerone’ in the beer world. As Ray puts it “Twenty or thirty years ago when beer was much simpler, those whose primary expertise was wine could fairly claim to know a great deal about beer”.

You may often hear some say that they are a beer Sommelier. Well, anyone can make that claim, heck I believe I even made that mistake way back in the early days of my foray into craft beer. It is a mistake indeed though. There is no testing of knowledge or certification. This is where Ray Daniels came in.

Photo courtesy of Drink With The Wench

The first step in the Certified Cicerone Certification Program is that of Certified Beer Server. This initial level “requires competent knowledge of beer storage and service issues as well as modest knowledge of currently popular beer styles and culture and basic familiarity with beer tasting and flavors as well as brewing process and ingredients.” (www.cicerone.org)

Once one has attained this level, they are on there way. The next step is  a little more challenging. To test for the designation of ‘Certified Cicerone’, one must “Must have passed the Certified Beer Server exam within the past two years and have at least one year of work experience selling or serving beer. A recommendation from a brewer, beer wholesaler or beer retailer can be substituted for the work experience.’ (www.cicerone.org). If you meet these qualifications to test, then to be a Certified Cicerone, you “must have detailed knowledge of retail beer storage and service issues, excellent knowledge of modern beers and styles with some familiarity for historical styles, competence in identifying flawed beers and recognizing appropriate and in-appropriate flavors in modern beer styles, good understanding of the beer ingredients and familiarity with the brewing process and its common variations plus the ability to recommend reasonable beer pairings for common foods.” (www.cicerone.org).

Beyond this high level of knowledge is the coveted Master Cicerone designation. To date, there is only one Master Cicerone. For me, that says a lot. It’s one thing to attain your Certified Beer Server designation and to be blessed as a Certified Cicerone. It’s quite another to be named a Master Cicerone. The Cicerone website states only that  ”candidates for Master Cicerone(tm) certification must demonstrate mastery of all knowledge areas and tasting capabilities outlined in the Master Syllabus.” and that they are tested by a panel of industry experts with a mixture of oral, written and demonstrations of tasting. Wow.

This is quite the undertaking for many and not to be entered into lightly in my opinion. When I first became interested in craft beer six or seven years ago, my first deviation from the normal mass produced, unloved beer out there were the brews from Pete’s Wicked. For me this was quite a deviation and definitely something new.  Although not exactly what I would classify as micro or craft beer these days, it did serve to get me to expand my horizons. From then on, each time I purchased a six pack of our favorite malted adult beverage, I always grabbed something new. It was not until I grabbed an Arrogant Bastard from Stone brewing Company though, that I feel I truly discovered the beauty and art that is the American craft beer. It is art by the way. How else can you explain the diversity an character we see in beer now? Even prior to Prohibition, there was not the diversity in styles we see today.

American craft breweries are still well entrenched in traditional European styles and why shouldn’t they be? What we see today in the American craft beer movement, is everything we have come to know about the American spirit. That never say die, we’ll try anything attitude that makes us who we are as a nation today. With breweries in Europe such as Brew Dog, we are starting to see a shift with beer in Europe. Europe is now looking to the United States for the example.

So what does this have to do with the Cicerone Program you ask? Well, I decided almost a year ago to pursue it myself. Although I am working on my Certified Beer Server designation at the moment, I will attain the level of Certified Cicerone. I am determined. For me, it’s not enough to appreciate craft beer and what goes in it. I have a desire to know more, to do more with craft beer. It’s all about the artistry and uniqueness of each craft beer. The love that each brewer puts into to every last ounce.

However, I digress. More to come on my progress and thank the heavens for Ray Daniels, Charlie Papazain, Fritz Maytag, Ken Grossman and all other ‘Founding Fathers’ for giving us what we have today.