This is an overview of resources recommended by Cicerone for each level of certification.
Resources & Links
This page presents more than one hundred links, files, books, and courses that can help candidates prepare for Cicerone exams of all levels. As they cannot all be listed on one page, we recommend that you use the drop-down menus below to sort the content to suit your needs if this has not already been done.
Please note that we include links to a number of independently prepared resources such as local classroom courses which the Cicerone Certification Program does not endorse or monitor. Cicerone assumes no responsibility for independent resources and users should take appropriate diligence in assessing them.
To become listed here, check our guidelines for independent training courses.
The Oxford Companion to Beer features more than 1,100 A-Z entries written by 166 of the world's most prominent beer experts. Attractively illustrated with over 140 images, the book covers everything from the agricultural makeup of various beers to the technical elements of the brewing process, local effects of brewing on regions around the world, and the social and political implications of sharing a beer.
The Cicerone® Certification Program uses the 2015 BJCP Style Guidelines as the reference source for all matters related to style in its exams.
This manual is the reference for all Cicerone draft-related knowledge and questions.
An advanced course on Keeping & Serving Beer to help candidates prepare for the Certified Cicerone exam.
An advanced course on British & Irish beer styles and culture to help candidates prepare for the Certified Cicerone exam.
An advanced course on brewing ingredients and processes to help candidates prepare for the Certified Cicerone exam.
An advanced course on American beer styles and culture to help candidates prepare for the Certified Cicerone exam.
An advanced course on Belgian beer styles and culture to help candidates prepare for the Certified Cicerone exam.
An advanced course on German beer styles and culture to help candidates prepare for the Certified Cicerone exam.
Created by Master Cicerone®, Mirella Amato, this online course is an easy to follow, step-by-step guide that will show you how to pair beer with food. The course is divided into short bite-size video lessons that cover both basic and advanced pairing techniques. It has all the information you need to consistently assemble and describe great pairings so that this skill can become second nature. Upon successful completion, participants will receive the Beer & Food Pairing badge, a micro credential that communicates an understanding of beer and food pairing theory and the ability to put it into practice.
Master Cicerone® syllabus, version 4.1. Updated August 1, 2021.
Note: If you are taking the exam before August 1, 2022, study this syllabus.
Algunas sugerencias del equipo de Cicerone para maridar cerveza y queso.
This document is intended to show the format and different types of essay prompts you can expect on the Master Cicerone exam.
Master Cicerone® syllabus, version 5.0. Updated March 30, 2022.
Use this syllabus if you are taking the Certified Cicerone exam after August 1, 2022.
Rich Higgins Beer Immersions are fun, deep dives into the beer styles and culture of important European beer regions. Rich is a Master Cicerone®, brewmaster, and educator, and he personally leads these trips to his favorite breweries, restaurants, and pubs. Geared toward Cicerones, professional brewers, and beer fans wanting to learn more, anyone who holds the title of Certified Beer Server or higher gets a 10% price discount!
Past participants say: “A fascinating deep dive into historical beer styles with a backstage pass to the breweries that defined them.” “We have been to Brussels before and this was far and away a much better beer experience."
Calidad de la Cerveza de Barril para Comerciantes Minoristas es el Draught Beer Quality Manual de la Brewers Association en español. Visita la página de la BA para más información.
The indispensable guide to over 5,000 culinary terms.
Even the most international chef sometimes needs help with today’s wildly diverse cooking terminology. Now, there’s an updated and revised edition of Elizabeth Riely’s The Chef’s Companion, which professional chefs and aspiring cooks everywhere can turn to when they need quick access to concise and reliable definitions, pronunciations, correct spelling, accepted usage, and origins of culinary terms. This invaluable guide covers all the terms that chefs might use with customers and kitchen staff–in areas such as cooking techniques, food preparation, herbs and spices, varieties of food, wine, and equipment for the professional kitchen. Over 900 new terms have been added to this edition to provide expanded coverage of areas such as wine, pastry, and ethnic cuisines. The Chef’s Companion: no kitchen is complete without it.
Some beer and cheese pairing suggestions from Cicerone staff.
This document is intended to show the format of the Master Cicerone tasting exam.
This is an overview of resources recommended for the Master Cicerone® certification level by Cicerone.
Award-winning brewer Jamil Zainasheff teams up with homebrewing expert John J. Palmer to share award-winning recipes for each of the 80-plus competition styles.
Get fast answers to technical questions on cellar and tank design, fermentation biochemistry and microbiology and their relationship to the cellar processes in producing specialty ales and lager beers.
From stock control to changing a tap--the last word on storing, keeping, and serving real ale.