How to Pass the Advanced Cicerone Exam (Free First Lesson from the Beer Scholar AC Course)

This is the first lesson everyone gets when they sign up for the Beer Scholar course for the Advanced Cicerone exam. I put it on YouTube for free. It is not about beer. It is about the habits that separate people who pass on the first try from people who end up doing multiple retakes. The course started as a live cohort-based program. Master Cicerone Scott Fielder recorded the original essay reviews.

Six ideas to build your prep around

1. There is no hack. The jump from the Certified Cicerone exam to the Advanced Cicerone exam is as big as the jump from Certified Beer Server to CC. Skimping on vital stats, commercial examples or the reading is exactly what leads to retakes. I know people who have failed by one point.

2. Remember whose exam it is. It is the Cicerone Certification Program's exam. Maybe your beer lasts longer than the 90 to 120 days in the syllabus. On the exam, give the Cicerone answer.

3. Prep under exam conditions. Use a timer, skip the notes and do not ask Claude or ChatGPT mid-quiz.

4. The syllabus is the exam. Everything on it is fair game. Re-read it, even a week before your test.

5. Industry experience helps but is not required. Plenty pass with none, but it helps with draft systems and pairing, since a Master Cicerone in the oral can tell if you really paired that beer and food.

6. Everything is connected. Skip one area and you give up points all over the exam.

Where the free points are

Take commercial examples. They show up in a Belgian blonde essay (probably four examples, from at least two countries), the style oral, the style discrimination panel and the pairing oral, where you must name a specific beer, not just a style. Saying you would cook with doppelbock is a CC-level answer. Say which doppelbock and why. With about a 10% pass rate, show the grader why you belong in the top 10%.

Vital stats are the same. On the CC you can get away with learning a representative 20 styles. At the AC, sadly, you need to memorize as much as you can. They are all over the exam, including the matching questions.

Evocative description is the third. It is a learned skill, not a talent. A CC-level pairing answer says a roasty stout matches a seared steak. At the AC level you go deeper. Even acetaldehyde goes beyond green apple to fresh cut grass or latex paint. You build that vocabulary by showing up to tastings.

The written exam format

It is proctored online and has been since 2020. There are two sessions of two hours and fifty-five minutes each, with a break between. Each session has about 100 multiple-choice and matching questions plus four essays. Multiple-choice and matching make up about 55% of your written score, essays 45%. Matching is tough. The bank of styles changes from question to question, so you cannot use process of elimination. You get at least one vital stat plus other clues. Essays cover every syllabus section, with extras from keeping and serving and brewing.

Essay strategies

Answer what is asked, then stop. There is no minimum word count. That is not a trap. On a Czech Premium Pale Lager essay, note that diacetyl is acceptable, but skip its biochemical pathway. Get it wrong and lose points. One practice essay said a hard spile should not be in place while a cask is in active use. Perfect. Then the student added that it can be loosened and went from correct to confusing. A plan and bullet points are fine.

Say what you mean. The grader cannot ask what you meant. If you pair an IPA with a spicy dish, say that you know bitterness accentuates capsaicin heat and why you are choosing it anyway. Unconventional choices are fine if you defend them.

Be specific. Words like good, nice and nicely tell the grader nothing.

Read the BJCP critically. Cream Ale has a sweet, corn-like aroma, but you cannot smell sweetness. Low fruity esters? Which fruit? Noble hops as spicy, herbal and floral is a starting point. Freshly cracked black pepper and fresh cut tarragon are better.

Never leave anything blank. A blank essay is a guaranteed zero.

What to do next

Pick a study schedule, start the readings and do 20 minutes of flashcards every weekday. The students who crushed the exam had logged weeks of flashcard time. The flashcards live in the Beer Scholar Study Lab. Matthew Shapiro and I host live tastings in the Beer Scholar community on Skool.

Watch the video above for the full lesson. To get the whole thing, see the Advanced Cicerone course page.

Cheers! –Chris