How to Pass the Certified Cicerone Exam Without Wasting a Minute of Study Time

Only about 35% of the people who sit for the Certified Cicerone® exam pass it. That is a lower pass rate than any US state's bar exam. Every attempt costs $450. So the cheapest and fastest path through this thing is to pass on the first try. The way you do that is simple to say and hard to do. Study exactly what the exam tests at exactly the depth it tests it. Then walk in knowing what the exam looks like so nothing surprises you.

That is the whole idea behind my course for the Certified Cicerone exam. In this video I walk through what is inside it. I also teach one lesson from it for free so you can see what I mean.

The 20, or how to learn 70+ beer styles without memorizing them all

There are more than 70 beer styles on the CC syllabus. The fear I hear most often is some version of "I can't possibly memorize the vital stats for all of them." Good news. You do not have to. Not even close.

My system is called The 20. You pick 20 styles that cover the whole spectrum of beer. Some are low ABV, some moderate, some high. Some are pale, some amber, some brown, some black, so you learn the SRM color scale along the way. Some are balanced sweet, some even, some balanced bitter, so you learn how IBUs work across the range. Memorize the vital stats for those 20 and you have built a mental map that lets you make solid, educated guesses about the other 50 styles.

Here is an example. Munich Helles runs 3 to 5 SRM. German Pils runs 2 to 4. Pale lager, pale lager, same beer culture, one number apart. Once you know one, you basically know the other and probably a few other pale lagers too.

You will also learn what I call ladders. American Light Lager runs 2.8 to 4.2% ABV. American Lager, the non-light version, starts at, you guessed it, 4.2 and goes up to 5.3. The BJCP guidelines are full of relationships like that. It is a whole lot easier to learn a few dozen relationships than to brute-force 70 sets of numbers.

One more thing. Do not cram. It does not work. Spend 20 minutes with a good flashcard deck every weeknight for a month and you have put in almost seven hours of memorization without really noticing. Inside the course, one of the flashcard decks in the Beer Scholar Study Lab is called The 20. It has my style picks, a bunch of ladders and the other relationships already built for you.

What is inside the full course

The BJCP material is one topic out of dozens. Here is what you get in the full course. You get short video lessons and quizzes that track the current syllabus topic by topic, at the depth you need and no deeper (with special lessons for the non-US syllabi). You get four full-length practice exams that look just like the real thing. You get flashcard decks for every syllabus topic in the Study Lab. You get panel-by-panel tasting exam prep plus my blind tasting proctor guide, so a friend or your partner can run blind practice panels for you at home. You get weekly live style tastings with me and an active community of people studying for the same exam or who already passed. You get the full Certified Beer Server course. You also get 12 months of access, which is way more than you will need.

Is it worth the money and the time?

The two objections I hear most, after "I don't want to memorize vital stats," are that it is too expensive and takes too much time. Quick thought experiment. Say you spend about a grand between the course and the exam, plus a few months of weeknights. You pass. The least that happens next is a dollar-an-hour raise if you work in the industry, which is $160 a month, so you have made back every dime in six months. More likely you move up at your job or land a job at a better company. Both happen faster. Small and medium craft breweries, taprooms, distributors, bottle shops, hop growers, yeast labs and the big corporate players are all looking to hire Certified Cicerones. There are not that many of us around.

The two-part guarantee

First, a 30-day, no-questions-asked refund from the day you enroll. Pop in and look around. If it is not for you, you do not pay a penny. Second, do the course and take the exam. If you do not pass, I refund you in full. I know the system works because the majority of Certified Cicerones in the world have used it, so I am happy to put my money where my mouth is.

Watch the video above for the full walkthrough, including the Helles vs. Pils example on screen. Then head to the Certified Cicerone course page, or go straight to the Beer Scholar community on Skool. Pick the Certified Cicerone level and you are inside in two minutes. Questions? Email me at [email protected].

Let's crush this exam together. Cheers! –Chris