Alright! We’ve gotten over the hump. That part about the beer styles was brutal, so we’ve got to be on the home stretch now. We’re now in part 3 of the Certified Beer Server syllabus: Beer Flavor and Evaluation. This is where we’re finally talking about actually tasting beer. We’re going to tease out how to evaluate a beer, how to identify the normal flavors of beer, and a bit about off-flavors. Then we’ll close up the last 2 quick sections of the syllabus. Woohoo!!
Light Reading by Martin on flickr (CC BY 2.0)
After that tough section on all those beer styles, I was finally able to distill it down to flashcards for all of the beer styles in the Certified Beer Server Syllabus.
If you want to go back and read all the stats and info for each and every beer style, knock yourself out. But the flashcards make it so much easier.
Now we gotta get back in the saddle and keep studying through the last few sections. I’ll keep publishing my study notes along the way.
I hope you’re finding the notes on this site helpful. Send me an email and let me know. And if you have questions about any of the materials, leave comments below any of the sections. I’ll try to answer any questions I can, or maybe we’ll hear the answer from someone else who’s reading along.
So let’s look at the reading list for part 3.
The first step is to get my study materials together
This time I kind of did it backwards. I was too eager and dug into the syllabus forgetting about the “free study links” at the Cicerone website.
Then I got stuck in some parts of my studies and I had to go back and find more study material. So here are the materials that I’ll need to study for the Certified Beer Server, Part III. Beer Flavor and Evaluation.
Feel free to get anything that you think you’ll need to pass the exam. Or just check out my free study notes throughout this site.
Reading list for Certified Beer Server, Part III. Beer Flavor and Evaluation
Mosher, Randy. Tasting Beer: An Insider’s Guide to the World’s Greatest Drink. North Adams, Massachusetts: Story Publishing, LLC, 2009. Print.
The parts about “sensory evaluation” are helpful and interesting, and there’s a little bit from “brewing and the vocabulary of beer flavor” that’s pertinent to this section.- Wikipedia. “Flavor.” http://en.wikipedia.org. Accessed August 28, 2015.
Check out the first 2 sections, the introduction and about “flavorants or flavorings.” - Beeradvocate. “How To Taste Beer.” http://www.beeradvocate.com. Accessed August 28, 2015.
A short guide of techniques for beer evaluation. - Real Beer. “When your beer really stinks.” http://www.realbeer.com. Accessed August 28, 2015.
A short piece about “skunky” beer. - MoreBeer! “‘Off’ Flavors In Beer; Their Causes & How To Avoid Them.” http://www.morebeer.com. Accessed August 28, 2015.
This is an awesome resource about off flavors in beer. It’s kind of advanced, but it’s especially good if you want to advance your knowledge.
I also used these resources:
- Cicerone® Certification Program. “Certified Beer Server Syllabus.” http://cicerone.org. June 1, 2013. PDF. Accessed October 9, 2014.
The syllabus was the main guide for my notes about “evaluation techniques.” Jackson, Michael. Michael Jackson’s Great Beer Guide. New York: Dorling Kindersley, 2000. Print.
The short section at the back was helpful: Lexicon of Flavors & Aromas.White, Chris and Jamil Zainasheff. Yeast: The Practical Guide to Beer Fermentation. Boulder, CO: Brewers Association, 2010. p 3. https://books.google.com accessed September 25, 2015.
Oliver, Garrett. The Oxford Companion to Beer. Oxford: The Oxford University Press, 2012. p. 134. https://books.google.com. Accessed August 21, 2015.
Palmer, John. How to Brew: Everything You Need To Know To Brew Beer Right The First Time. Boulder, CO: Brewers Publications, 2006. Chapter 21.2. http://www.howtobrew.com. Accessed August 21, 2015.
So we need only a few resources to study for the Certified Beer Server syllabus, Part III: Beer Flavor and Evaluation.
But those resources are loaded with information. The hard part is discerning and pulling out only what we must know for this section.
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We’re almost done now. There are just 3 parts in this section, and one part in each of the next 2 sections.
It has taken me way too long to do this. Maybe I shouldn’t have taken on this whole website thing along with studying to pass this exam.
But hey, you get the benefit of using all of my study notes! I’m buying the books, digging through the materials, writing it all up in easy format, and I’m sharing my flashcards, too. Now it’s all in one place, easy for you to learn from.
So keep studying along with me and we’ll pass this exam together!
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Now we’re going to go deep into the character of a beer to understand its inner being.
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