New Syllabi Announced; Version 2 of syllabi will be implemented September 1, 2013
This week, we released Version 2 of the syllabi for all three levels of the Cicerone Certification Program: Certified Beer Server, Certified Cicerone and Master Cicerone.
For more information on the development of these new syllabi, please see our full press release.
Exams will not be based on the new new syllabi until September 1, 2013. Therefore, those taking exams prior to September 1 should be studying a syllabus with a 1.x version number; those taking exams after September 1 should be using a syllabus with a 2.x version number.
At the CERTIFIED BEER SERVER level, the most significant changes are to the STYLES section:
Some styles which had been listed in a general way were specified with names that match the Beer Judge Certification Program styles which is the reference for beer styles.
Expanded or modified style listings in the new Certified Beer Server syllabus:
o “Pilsner” expanded to be “German Pilsner” and “Bohemian Pilsner”
o “Trappist and Abbey Ales” expanded to Dubbel and Tripel
o “Strong Belgian Ales” expanded to “Belgian Blond” and “Belgian Golden Strong”
o “English Pale Ales” expanded to “Special Bitter” and “English IPA”
o “English Brown Ale” clarified as “Northern English Brown Ale”
o “Porter” clarified as “Robust Porter”
o “Stout” in the American section clarified as “American Stout”
o “Russian Imperial Stout” moved to American styles
o “Lambic” was expanded to “Gueuze” and “Fruit Lambic” which includes kriek and framboise.
In addition, some styles which did not appear Version 1 of the Certified Beer Server syllabus have also been added:
o Munich Dunkel
o Maibock
o Kölsch
o Flanders Red Ale
o Witbier
o Sweet/Milk Stout
o Imperial IPA
Styles Removed from the Certified Beer Server syllabus:
o Bock
o Foreign Stout
o American Porter
o American Pilsner
o American Oktoberfest
o American Bock
o American Specialty Beers
» Download the Certified Beer Server Syllabus
At the CERTIFIED CICERONE and MASTER CICERONE level, the most significant changes have been made to the BEER & FOOD section (please see new syllabi for those changes).
Cicerone Certification Program
Founded in 2007, the Cicerone program conducts examinations of beer knowledge for certification at four levels. Thousands of people who work for breweries, beer wholesalers, restaurants, bars, liquor stores and grocery stores have completed one or more levels of the certification program in the past year. Doing so demonstrates knowledge of beer keeping and service, beer styles, flavors, brewing process and ingredients and beer and food pairing.