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Cicerone Certification Program

Formation	2008
Founder	Ray Daniels
Headquarters	Chicago, IL
Website	cicerone.org

The Cicerone Certification Program is an organization that seeks to "improve the quality of beer service by ensuring that the beer reaching the customers tastes the way the brewer intended". It also aims to recognize beer professionals for their knowledge and motivates them to learn more about beer and beer service. The organization was founded in 2008 by brewer and author Ray Daniels, who had noticed a lack of knowledge about beer among the service industry. Over 112,000 individuals have been certified by the program as of March 2019. However, only about 4,000 have progressed beyond the Certified Beer Server level, less than 4% of all who've been certified.

Certification levels

The Cicerone Certification Program offers four levels of certification beginning with the simplest and progressing to the most complex and demanding.

Certified Beer Server

The Certified Beer Server exam is a 60-question multiple choice exam, administered online. A grade of 75% is required to pass. Those who hold the first level certification are referred to as “Certified Beer Servers” and not “Cicerones.”

Certified Cicerone®

The second level exam is four-hours and includes written, tasting, and demonstration portions. A grade of 80% overall and at least 70% on the tasting portion are required to pass. The written exam begins with approximately 150 short answer/fill-in-the-blank questions. In addition, candidates will complete three essay questions: one each in the areas of beer service, beer styles, and the brewing process. The tasting exam consists of 12 samples divided into three sets of four, covering off-flavor identification, style discrimination, and beer acceptance. For the demonstration exam, candidates are given a question and an item with which to demonstrate their response. Responses are limited to 3 minutes and are videotaped for later grading. The pass rate is thought to be around 40%, lower than many state bar exams.

Advanced Cicerone®

The Advanced Cicerone exam was introduced in 2015 to bridge the gap between the Certified and Master levels. Candidates for Advanced Cicerone will participate in a day-long examination that includes multiple written, oral, and tasting components. The written component will consist of questions in various formats from multiple choice to fill-in-the-blank and essays where extensive knowledge will be asked for. Two oral examinations will be conducted and will cover various aspects of the syllabus. Taste assessments will include off flavors, blind assessment of beer styles, and descriptive analysis of blind samples. A grade of 80% overall and at least 75% on the tasting portion are required to pass the Advanced Cicerone exam.

Master Cicerone®

Candidates for Master Cicerone will participate in a two-day examination that includes multiple written, oral, and tasting components. The written component will consist of essay questions where candidates demonstrate the depth and breadth of their knowledge in each portion of the Master Syllabus. Oral examinations will be conducted by industry experts and often involve hands-on demonstrations of knowledge. Taste assessments will include an extensive range of off flavors, blind assessment of beer styles, and descriptive analysis of blind samples. A grade of 85% overall is required to pass. Less than 10% of candidates pass. The cost of the exam has risen 101% (from $495 to $995) since it was first administered.

See also

• Sommelier
• Mirella Amato, author of Beerology. She is the first person outside the US and just the sixth person worldwide to achieve the Master Cicerone® title.
• Beers of Joy, a 2019 documentary which follows two Master Cicerone® candidates
• Brewmaster, a 2018 documentary which features a Master Cicerone® candidate