TOPIC:

As probably no-one knows, Ray Daniels, head of the Cicerone Program was over a couple of days ago to proctor Ireland's first Cicerone exam. I met up with him and he told me that he'd come back in July/August and do another exam if there was enough interest.

So, any interest? What I am thinking is a study group that gets together once a month and goes through the syllabus. The Cicerone is more in-depth and goes from brewing all the way through to dispense & customer service. And incorporates the BJCP.

How much does it cost to sit the exam Andrew, and who would it be useful for? My understanding is it's a competitor of sorts to the IBD sommelier qualification and is mostly of use to those dealing or serving beer.

Ray said he would get back to me with pricing.

It does appear to be an end-to-end qualification- you are expected to know brewing methods, styles, history, dispense methods. For instance you need to know was basic ingredients a style would need to be brewed with; And you need to know how to strip and clean a tap. As I said, the BJCP is in there so all the off-flavours and flaws are covered to their methods.

Full Outline for the Certified Cicerone:

I.
Keeping and Serving Beer
A. Purchasing and accepting beer
B. Serving alcohol
C. Beer storage
D. On premises draft systems and their maintenance
E. Beer glassware
F. Serving bottled beer
G. Serving draft beer
H. Special situations

II.
Beer Styles
A. Understanding beer styles
B. Style parameters
C. History, characteristics, and flavor attributes of styles by region

III.
Beer Flavor and Evaluation
A. Taste and flavor
B. Identify normal flavors of beer and their source
C. Identify common beer off flavors by name and source
D. Tasting examination

IV.
Beer Ingredients and Brewing Processes
A. Ingredients
B. Processes

V.
Pairing Beer with Food
A. Possible outcomes of successful beer and food pairings
B. Beer and food vocabulary
C. Pairing concepts
D. Common beer and food interactions
E. Creating a pairing
F. Designing a meal
G. Classic beer and food pairings
H. Cooking with beer

Just to throw some context on this, the Cicerone program[/url:1y4fvvsf] is aimed at the service industry.

Certified Cicerone, the mid-level qualification, is basically a sommelier: you can curate the beer list and manage how it's served at a beer-centric restaurant or bar.

(Lower is Certified Server - for bar and table staff to able to talk knowledgeably about beer to patrons.
Higher is Master Cicerone - beer Jedi; this is for someone who works at a brewery or industry consultancy.)

I'm keen, Andrew, if you hadn't guessed. <!-- s;) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt="" title="Wink" /><!-- s;) -->

I'm definitely interested, anything like this that I can add to my CV I'm up for.