Cicerone releases Advanced certification syllabus

We discussed the Advanced Cicerone program a few weeks ago, and we all agreed it’s probably the way to go over studying to become the ultimate, yet seemingly impossible beer shaman status called Master Cicerone (there’s only like 10 in the world).

To go along with this new certification, the Cicerone Certification Program released the full syllabus. This new level of the program will provide a stepping stone between Certified Cicerone and Master Cicerone. In addition, the organization has revised their materials to reflect the 2015 Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) Style Guidelines and released new versions of the syllabi for Certified Beer Server, Certified Cicerone, and Master Cicerone exams as well.

“Like the other syllabi, the Advanced Cicerone syllabus covers a subset of the topics presented in the Master Cicerone syllabus, and was carefully designed to act as an intermediate between the Certified and Master Cicerone syllabi,” said Cicerone Certification Program Content Manager and Master Cicerone Pat Fahey.

This is the first published Advanced Cicerone syllabus. Introduced last month, Advanced Cicerone bridges the gap between the Certified Cicerone and the Master Cicerone levels. The Advanced Cicerone exam gives serious beer professionals the opportunity to be recognized for additional learning and development beyond the Certified Cicerone level — ideal for those interested in gaining deeper knowledge and great tasting skills to improve the beer experience for consumers. The first Advanced Cicerone exams will take place in Spring 2016 in Chicago and on both U.S. coasts.

The new syllabi will be used to prepare exams starting on Jan. 1, 2016. Individuals taking exams prior to that date should be studying syllabus version No. 2 (V2); those taking exams after December 31, 2015 should be using a syllabus with version No. 3 (V3).

The program continues to base its content on third-party standards whenever possible. The Brewers Association’s Draught Beer Quality Manual is a key reference for all aspects of beer service; the Beer Judge Certification Program’s beer styles guide serves as the reference for beer styles. Earlier this year, the BJCP revised its beer style guidelines for the first time since 2008; version 3 of the syllabus reflects those changes made in the 2015 BJCP Guidelines.

“Much of the information in the 2015 BJCP guidelines remains the same as the 2008 guidelines, but there are several name changes and a few additional styles which are incorporated into our new syllabi,” Fahey said.

At all levels, the most significant changes have been made to the “Beer Styles” section of the syllabus — a rundown of those changes can be found and links to the new syllabi can be found here: http://cicerone.org/content/new-syllabi-announced-version-3-syllabi-will-be-tested-starting-january-1-2016