To achieve this certification, you must demonstrate expert beer knowledge and excellent tasting ability. Well-prepared candidates will have extensive style knowledge, familiarity with beer service management, experience with brewing processes and ingredients, and expertise in cuisine and pairing beer with food.
Prerequisites:
Exam Details:
Advanced Cicerone candidates complete an online written exam and in-person tasting and oral exams. The written component is taken online and consists of various question formats, from multiple choice to essays. The in-person tasting panels include off-flavor identification, beer style discrimination, and descriptive analyses of samples. The two in-person oral examinations are taken alongside the in-person tasting panels and cover beer styles and pairing beer with food.
Exam Cost: First time written $425 (USD); First time tasting & oral exam $375 (USD); Retake written $375 (USD); Retake tasting & oral exam $300 (USD). Exam fees are nonrefundable. Candidates take the written exam online during a remotely proctored exam session. In-person written exams are available on a limited basis.
Passing Score: A grade of 80% overall and at least 75% on the tasting portion are required to pass. For more detailed information please see Advanced Cicerone® Exam Scoring Breakdown further down the page.
Postponement, Rescheduling
Please see our Exam Policies page for rescheduling and postponement options.
The Advanced Cicerone Syllabus presents an outline of the knowledge tested in the exam. Review it to guide your studies and assess your readiness for the exam.
Advanced Cicerone candidates must demonstrate expert knowledge of all issues related to brewing, beer, and beer service. The Advanced Cicerone syllabus is your preparation guide. Consider reviewing Certified Cicerone exam study materials in addition to more advanced resources, including some recommended for Master Cicerone® preparation. In-depth theoretical and hands-on practical knowledge of draft systems is required. Comprehensive beer style knowledge is expected, including familiarity with multiple commercial examples of each style. Candidates must be able to identify the beer flavor compounds listed on the syllabus by taste. We use AROXA™ flavor standards in testing.
Brewing beer alone or with others can reinforce your understanding of the brewing process and its variations. Experience preparing and presenting beer and food pairings is valuable. Throughout the exam, candidates must describe beer (and food) flavors using concrete and specific terms that accurately cover the full flavor spectrum.
Those preparing for the Advanced Cicerone exam should be sure to review the Advanced Cicerone Syllabus. This syllabus outlines all the knowledge that may be tested during the exam and is organized into five knowledge areas:
Overall, the Advanced Cicerone exam will be graded so that each of these knowledge areas accounts for a certain portion of the overall grade as shown in parenthesis after each section above.
| Written Exam | Oral Exam | Tasting Exam | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keeping and Serving Beer | 20.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Beer Styles | 17.50% | 5.00% | 0.00% |
| Beer Flavor and Evaluation | 7.50% | 0.00% | 15.00% |
| Beer Ingredients and Brewing Processes | 20.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Pairing Beer with Food | 10.00% | 5.00% | 0.00% |
| Totals percentage of overall score | 75.00% | 10.00% | 15.00% |
