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Originally Posted by ChicagoRy
Are you also bjcp?
No, I basically have no involvement in homebrew contests. EDIT: I think that's mostly what BJCP certification is for, so I've never bothered.
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Originally Posted by spidercrab
I'd be interested in reading about your experiences. I don't know what aspects were most interesting, but some questions:
For context, I attended a two-day study/refresher course then took the test on the third day. The course was me and about 20 others, most of whom worked for retailers or distributors. I guess the national pass rate for the second level hovers around 35-40%, and the pass rate for those in this class is about 66%. The class was taught by a guy who took the most recent Master Cicerone test. 17 people took that test, none passed. He said he wasn't going to attempt it again soon, made it sound really rough.
Quote:
Originally Posted by spidercrab
1) Why are you going for the certification? What benefits do you think you'll get from it?
It's a professional certification that Uncle Jim will pay for. It would be useful on the resume if I wanted to work for a retailer or distributor, as a brewer not so much. I got a trip to Boston but did not get a chance to see much of the city. Learned it has a Chinatown though!
[QUOTE=spidercrab;50788787]2) What were some of the harder aspects of the test?/quote]
That really depends on the individual. Something you're tested on is the ABV, SRM, IBU, and OG of beer styles... which is obviously a ton of rote memorization. One question asked for the high end of the ABV range for a style to within .1%, which is a little ridiculous; not even the government cares if you're within .1%. So even though I'm familiar with beer styles - the test used the 2015 BJCP list - memorizing those ranges concerned me the most. I talked to one guy who said he was most uncomfortable with the technical brewing aspects. A couple others hadn't really had much exposure to off-flavors and was worried most about that. It really just depends on your background.
The hardest part of the tasting portion was probably where they put a beer in front of you and ask if it is style X or style Y. If it's either a blonde ale or a German Pils, OK, not so bad. If they're asking if it's a best bitter or an ESB, that's tough.
Oh, I did have trouble with one specific thing: the FOB, or foam-on-beer, used on long draw draft systems. It's used to prevent the whole line from blowing out when a keg empties. I understand it in theory and know how it's supposed to work, but I've never seen one. There were some people in class who worked for distributors and did draft line cleaning as part of their job, obviously to those guys it was cake.
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Originally Posted by spidercrab
3) Do you feel like going through the process will lead you to enjoy beer more, less, or not affect you?
Not affect.
Quote:
Originally Posted by spidercrab
4) Is it the kind of test that anyone could do well if they studied/practiced/tasted enough? Or do you have to have a sufficiently high ability to differentiate tastes/smells to pass?
I think anybody could pass. The tasting portion wasn't so hard that it's prohibitive, and I think most people in the class did OK on it. Off-flavor identification really is about practice and sense memory, that ability to tie specific aromas/flavors to specific memories, like Grandma baking or that one time you bought the dusty import that was awful. The more you taste, the more you're able to pick the flavors out and tie them to something. So in that way I think anybody could pass. But it can be hard to get that sort of practice. They sell off-flavor spikes but I think kits that come with something like 6 off-flavors run over $100 so it's expensive for somebody just to do on their own.
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Originally Posted by spidercrab
5) How did you prepare for the test?
Mostly just sitting through the class, I didn't do too much prep beforehand. Familiarity with the styles is really big, the more you know about them in general the better off you are. If I can just name a bunch of random styles and you know the basics about them - ale/lager, country of origin/some history, general color, general strength - then you're already a long way there. If there are styles where you couldn't say whether they're golden or dark, or English or Belgian, then you need to do some studying. So again, nothing that seems super hard... but the national pass rate is strangely low.
Quote:
Originally Posted by spidercrab
Basically, I'm curious about anything you think is worth writing about, so feel free to ignore all of these questions if you think the answers wouldn't be very interesting.
The people in the class that were re-taking the test because they had failed all sounded like they had bombed one of the essays on their previous attempt.
There was one person who took the entire time allowed for the written portion. She had complete brain-freeze on an essay. Everyone else was done at least ten minutes early.
After the tasting portion, the proctors actually went through all the beers and the correct answers. That was awesome, getting immediate feedback.
The demonstration part was lol easy, but I know a really sharp beer guy (who passed the exam) who got a 60% on it and can't explain why.
As part of the class, we reviewed English beers as a style group, Belgians, German/continental lagers, and US beers. After each grouping we'd do a blind tasting of 4-5 beers and try to name the style. A couple different times people in the class not only got the style, but named the exact beer blind. Huge props from everybody when that happened, it was fun.
I think the program overall is still very young and not widely recognized, but on the way there. If I ran a chain of beer-focused restaurants, like Flying Saucer or something, I would make it a point to always have one certified Cicerone working and try to differentiate some with that. And if I was at a higher-end restaurant that had sommeliers, I'd push them to add the Cicerone certification.
The Master-level certification is boss, and apparently hard enough that they recently added a level between certified and master. Obviously anybody that gains that certification is a beast and gets instant cred... but I'm just not sure it matters for anybody actually brewing. Which is fine, that's not what the program was for, the program is really designed more for retailers and wholesalers. If someone looking to brew beer asked me about it, I'd say their time/money is better spent elsewhere, but if someone wanted to get into the business by working for a brewer as a salesperson, I think it would definitely help. BBC has made it a bit of a mission to have as many employees as possible gain Certified, regardless of role, which is one reason why I did it.
I get my results in about a month, so if I fail I will let everyone know to ignore everything I just wrote.
