Beer Exam Schoolreading list Archives – Beer Exam School

018. Reading list for Certified Beer Server (part 4)

Nathan Pierce — Thu, 08 Oct 2015 04:20:41 +0000

Now we’re down to the last 2 parts of the syllabus. Today we’re starting Part 4 of the Certified Beer Server Syllabus: Beer Ingredients and Brewing Processes. The syllabus has just one section for this part, which includes: grains, hops, yeast, and water. It looks like a lot of material for one section; I’ll try and fit it into one post.

Untitled by jvoves on flickr (CC BY 2.0)

So let’s look at the reading list for part 4.

The first step is to get my study materials together

Today I’m going through the materials to find any recommended books, articles, or anything else. Here are the materials that I’ll need to study for the Certified Beer Server, Part IV. Beer Ingredients and Brewing Processes.

You can get whatever you’ll need to pass the exam. Or you can simply use my free flashcards and study notes throughout this site.

Looks like lots of the material is coming from John Palmer’s book, How To Brew. I’ve heard good things about the book. For this section of the syllabus, links go to the online version of the book. You can also get your own copy in Amazon.

Other resources are listed below.

Reading list for Certified Beer Server, Part IV. Beer Ingredients and Brewing Processes

Resources about malt:

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 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.

So, holy wow! that’s a lot of material. I’m really surprised that they smashed all that into one section of the Certified Beer Server syllabus, Part IV: Beer Ingredients and Brewing Processes. As I start digging into it, I see whether I can fit all of it into one section of notes and flashcards…

We’re almost done! ! !

Gosh, I can almost feel it.

I’ve been doing this for so long. If I didn’t have a podcast about how to start a brewery, and if I wasn’t trying to make an entire website from these study notes, I certainly could have taken this exam a long time ago.

Oh well; now you get the advantage of using my flashcards and study notes for free!

As soon as I finish studying and publishing my notes for all of the sections, I’ll review my flashcards really well and pass the heck out of this exam!

Let’s do this! Part IV: Beer Ingredients and Brewing Processes.

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Study along with me–let’s pass this exam!

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014. Reading list for Certified Beer Server (part 3)

Nathan Pierce — Sat, 29 Aug 2015 05:39:18 +0000

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.

Sign up to study with me

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!

Now we’re going to go deep into the character of a beer to understand its inner being.

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Study along with me–let’s pass this exam!

Sign up for the email list: Enroll me in Beer Exam School!

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010. Reading list for Certified Beer Server (part 2)

Nathan Pierce — Fri, 06 Feb 2015 19:12:21 +0000

Ok we’re moving on to part 2 of the Certified Beer Server Syllabus: Beer Styles. First, we’ll learn a basic understanding of beer styles. The next section will explain both the qualitative and quantitative parameters of beer styles. Finally, we’ll learn a little about the history and culture of styles and dig into the styles by region.

Piles of Books by Michael Coghlan on flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

I’m on a roll! I’ve been studying lots and kicking out my notes to share with you. I hope they are helpful. Send me an email and let me know. And if you have questions about any of the materials, leave them in the comments below the specific lesson. I’ll try to answer any questions I can, or maybe we’ll hear the answer from someone else reading along.

So let’s look at the reading list for part 2.

The first step is to get my study materials together

Today I’m going through the materials to find any recommended books, articles, or whatnot. Here are the materials that I’ll need to study for the Certified Beer Server, Part II. Beer Styles.

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.

For the basic information and cultural background, the Cicerone® Certification Program recommends Michael Jackson’s Great Beer Guide by Michael Jackson. I ordered this book for myself. Feel free to order your own copy from the link here, or check out my study notes throughout this site.

For a little bit about the history and culture of each style, they recommend mostly the style descriptions from All About Beer Magazine. More on that below.

As for the actual style descriptions, we’re going use the descriptions from the Beer Judge Certification Program. The Brewers Association also has comprehensive style guidelines. However, the Cicerone® Certification Program refers to the BJCP styles because they change less often.

Keep in mind that we need to know only the styles referenced in the Certified Beer Server syllabus. We’re not going to need to memorize all 73 pages of the BJCP Style Guidelines or the entire All About Beer website.

Reading list for Certified Beer Server, Part II. Beer Styles

Cicerone® Certification Program. “Certified Beer Server Syllabus.” http://cicerone.org, September 1, 2016. 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.com. Accessed February 2015.
Check out the bits about history and culture of each style.
Beer Judge Certification Program, Inc. BJCP 2015 Style Guidelines; Beer, Mead, and Cider Style Guidelines with Special Ingredient Descriptions. http://www.bjcp.org, 2015. PDF.
Know the descriptions for each style we need to learn.

So we need only a few resources for the Certified Beer Server syllabus, Part II: Beer Styles. But those sources have are packed full of material that we need to cover. (Go here for reading materials for part I.)

I realized early on that it takes quite a bit of work to look at the syllabus, dig through the suggested reading materials, and gleam what I’ll need for the Certified Beer Server exam. This would be much easier if the materials were collected together in one place and I could just read through it.

I know the Cicerone® Certification Program has a study guide for sale, but it’s like 200 bucks! It does include the price of the exam, but I’m already paying for the exam and I can just get these materials to study on my own. So I’d rather do it this way.

It’s pretty neat to see that this certification is already helping me gain employment. I can hardly wait to pass the exam and start using this information to bring excellent beer service to craft beer lovers.

Let’s get to work! First lesson of Part II: Understanding beer styles and where they came from.

Join Beer Exam School

Study along with me–let’s pass this exam!

Sign up for the email list: Enroll me in Beer Exam School!

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001. Reading list for Certified Beer Server exam

Nathan Pierce — Thu, 09 Oct 2014 20:30:09 +0000

Wow! I can’t believe it was way back in May that I published my first post on this site. And still I haven’t even started studying for the Certified Beer Server exam!

LC conversion by Ginny on flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

WordPress has been a much bigger learning curve than I expected. Plus I’m keeping microbrewr.com going with great podcasts each week, and looking for a job. :/

Anyway, it’s really important to me, to create this website while I study for the Certified Beer Server exam. I want to help everyone else who might be thinking of studying for the exam. So I’m going to share my study notes on this site.

The first step is to get my study materials together

Today I’m going through the materials to find any recommended books, articles, or whatnot.

Here is the reading list for Certified Beer Server exam that I’ll need to study. Feel free to get anything that you think you’ll need to pass the exam. Or check out my free study notes on this site.

Reading list for Certified Beer Server,

Part I. Keeping and Serving Beer

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.

So that’s all of the reading material for the Certified Beer Server syllabus, Part I: Keeping and Serving Beer. Seems like a lot. (Go here for reading materials for part II.)

When I learned that Certified Beer Server exam is just a 60 question multiple choice test and it usually takes 30 minutes, I thought it would be easy. Now I’m starting to think that I have my work cut out for me!

Anyway it’s going to be fun. I’m looking forward to finally passing the exam and adding this certification to my resume.

So let’s get right into it by studying an overview of the Cicerone® Certification Program.

Sign up to study with me

Join me in studying for Certified Beer Server exam. More and more employers in the beer industry are requiring this certification. Many beer fans take the exam just for fun or for bragging rights.

Join Beer Exam School

Study along with me–let’s pass this exam!

Sign up for the email list: Enroll me in Beer Exam School!

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