Here’s a list of resources about Cicerone® Certification Program, and resources to study for the Certified Beer Server exam. I’ll add more study resources for the Certified Beer Server exam as I find them.
Please help others, add other resources in the comments below.
Study resources for the Certified Beer Server exam
These are the reading materials for the Certified Beer Server exam, as recommended by the Cicerone® Certification Program. Feel free to get anything that you think you’ll need to pass the exam—or check out my free study notes throughout this site.
Part I. Keeping and Serving Beer
Like I said, feel free to get any of these that you think you’ll need to pass the exam or that look interesting. Or check out my free study notes for part 1 here.
- Cicerone® Certification Program. “Certified Beer Server Syllabus.” http://cicerone.org, June 1, 2013. PDF. Accessed October 9, 2014.
- Wikipedia. “Three-tier (alcohol distribution).” http://en.wikipedia.org. Accessed October 9, 2014.
Know the first paragraph. - Triemert, Zach. “Are you Draft Savvy?” The New Brewer, July/August 2007. PDF. http://173.255.230.198. Accessed October 9, 2014.
- Micro Matic. “Pouring the Perfect Beer.” http://www.micromatic.com. Accessed October 9, 2014.
- Glastender. Operation Manual Glastender® Remote Beer Dispensing System. http://www.glastender.com. Accessed October 9, 2014.
Pages 3-4 about beer clean glassware. - Intoximeters. “Alcohol and the Human Body.” http://www.intox.com. Accessed October 9, 2014.
- Dunlap, Michaele P. Biological Impacts of Alcohol Use: An Overview. http://www.oregoncounseling.org. Accessed October 9, 2014.
- Responsible Beverage Server Training course from your local provider.
Know the effects of alcohol on the body and know how to deal with intoxicated customers and underage customers. Search Google for classes in your area. Classes usually last a couple hours and cost about $30. For a preview of the class, check out Lesson 004. Serving alcohol about when I took it. Mosher, Randy. Tasting Beer: An Insider’s Guide to the World’s Greatest Drink. North Adams, Massachusetts: Story Publishing, LLC, 2009. Print.
Know the parts about brewing, beer history, and beer styles. Other areas of this book differ from the Certified Beer Server material because this book is from the perspective of a consumer, enjoying beer at home.- Brewers Association. Draught Beer Quality Manual second edition. http://www.draughtquality.org. PDF. Accessed October 9, 2014.
Part II. Beer Styles
If you don’t want to pay for or round up the resources listed below, check out my free study notes for part 2 here.
- Cicerone® Certification Program. “Certified Beer Server Syllabus.” http://cicerone.org, June 1, 2013. PDF.
Check to see which styles we need to know. Jackson, Michael. Michael Jackson’s Great Beer Guide. New York: Dorling Kindersley, 2000. Print.
Check out the basic info and cultural background for each style.- All About Beer Magazine. Styles. http://allaboutbeer.net. Accessed February 2015.
Check out the bits about history and culture of each style. - Beer Judge Certification Program, Inc. BJCP Style Guidelines for Beer, Mead, & Cider 2008 Edition. http://www.bjcp.org, 2008. PDF.
Know the descriptions for each style we need to learn. - From the BJCP guidelines, I created my flashcards for the beer styles. You can download the same flashcards I used here.
Part III. Beer Flavor and Evaluation
There are lot of resources to gather for this section. If you don’t want to compile them all yourself and sort through to find out what you need to know, just check out my free study notes for part 3 here.
- 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.”
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.
Part IV. Beer Ingredients and Brewing Processes
There’s a lot of material for this section. I’m really surprised that they smashed all that into one section of the Certified Beer Server syllabus. It’s a lot of reading material. If you don’t want to sift through all of it, just peruse my free study notes for part 4 here.
Resources about malt:
“Chapter 3 – Malt Extract and Beer Kits; What is Malt?” http://www.howtobrew.com. Accessed October 2015.- Briess, Malt & Ingredients Co. “Malting – A Three-Step Process.” http://www.briess.com. Accessed October 2015.
Resources about hops:
- Wikipedia. “Hops.” https://en.wikipedia.org. Accessed October 2015.
- Palmer, John J. How To Brew: Everything You Need To Know To Brew Beer Right The First Time. Boulder, CO: Brewers Publications, 2006. Print.
“Chapter 5 – Hops; What are they?” http://www.howtobrew.com. Accessed October 2015. - Palmer, John J. How To Brew: Everything You Need To Know To Brew Beer Right The First Time. Boulder, CO: Brewers Publications, 2006. Print.
“Chapter 5 – Hops; 5.1 How Are They Used?” http://www.howtobrew.com. Accessed October 2015.
Resources about yeast:
- Palmer, John J. How To Brew: Everything You Need To Know To Brew Beer Right The First Time. Boulder, CO: Brewers Publications, 2006. Print.
“Chapter 6 – Yeast; What is it?” http://www.howtobrew.com. Accessed October 2015. - Wyeast Laboratories, Inc. “What Is Yeast?” http://www.wyeastlab.com. Accessed October 2015.
- Wyeast Laboratories, Inc. “Home Brewing Style Guidelines.” http://www.wyeastlab.com. Accessed October 2015.
Resources about water:
- Cicerone® Certification Program. “The Basics of Water.” http://cicerone.org. Accessed October 2015.
Resources about brewing processes:
- Palmer, John J. How To Brew: Everything You Need To Know To Brew Beer Right The First Time. Boulder, CO: Brewers Publications, 2006. Print.
Peruse Chapter 1 and maybe a little from other chapters to get a basic understanding of the brewing process. http://www.howtobrew.com. Accessed October 2015. - American Homebrewers Association. Zymergy: An Introduction To Homebrewing. http://www.homebrewersassociation.org. Accessed October 2015.
(Enter your email address and download it for free.) Papazian, Charlie. The Complete Joy of Homebrewing Fourth Edition: Fully Revised and Updated. New York: William Morrow Paperbacks, 2014. Print.
- Lastly, the Cicerone® Certification Program advises:
Another option: find a friend who homebrews and join them sometime when they are brewing to learn how it is done.
Part V. Pairing Beer with Food
The syllabus doesn’t really say much about pairing beer with food. There are no resources listed. Most of what I’ve learned about pairing beer with food has been from experimenting. Try different beer than you would normally drink. Try beers with different food than you would normally eat with it. Just try lots of different things, set aside your preconceived notions, and explore the whole world of epicurean delights. Your favorites will be there when you get back, heck maybe you’ll find a new favorite!
I did check out a couple references for this section, which are listed below. If you don’t want to look anything up yourself, just check out my free study notes for part 5 here.
- Cory, James Oliver. “How to Pair Food with Beer; Everything you need to know about matching meals with lager, ale, stout, and other beers.” http://www.epicurious.com. Accessed November 24, 2015.
- Homebrew Academy. “Beer and Food Parings.” http://homebrewacademy.com. Accessed November 24, 2015.
Books for starting a brewery
Reading is key for advancing your knowledge! Check out the Book Recommendations at MicroBrewr Podcast for books recommended by brewers and brewery owners. Every guest of MicroBrewr Podcast is asked to recommend a book that will help me succeed in opening a brewery. The book recommendations are listed from the answers shared and ranked by the number of times each book was suggested.
MicroBrewr craft beer podcast
MicroBrewer is everything craft beer related, with a focus for people looking at starting their own microbrewery or wanting to take their existing brewery to the next level. If you want to know how to start a brewery, MicroBrewr is the place to go.
The craft beer beer podcast has weekly episodes interviewing brewers and brewery owners. There are also guests from other sectors of the industry like distributors, retailers, and marketers. We go deep, to get inside the industry and inside the heads of people who work there.
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