Back when I used to be a raging alcoholic, I would often go shoot pool on Monday nights. There’s this place I used to go to where you could play all night for $10. You can imagine our excitement then to be able to play billiards for hours and hours for a mere pittance. The money we saved we ended up spending on beer, albeit not the greatest of beer. What can I say, I just wanted to get drunk, taste be damned!
One particular evening, I was in the mood for a crisp lager. So I asked out waitress at the time, “What’s your freshest lager?” and she looked at me and replied, “What’s a lager?”. It was then I realized that a pretty face can’t buy you everything (they had some really hot waitresses there at the time, but that’s another post entirely).
This particular exchange isn’t limited to just pool halls. You’ll find this same thing happening at any place that serves liquor, fine dining establishments especially. How many places have you gone where your waiter can recite all the wines on the menu and can even make well informed suggestions based upon what you are eating? Yet, when it comes to beer, they just run through the laundry list of what they have and, truth be told, are quite clueless when it comes to beer.
I am hoping that at the end of the day, people who visit this site will leave with a little bit better understanding of beer and it’s place in the culinary world. Taking this a bit farther is Ray Daniels, author of Designing Great Beers and The Brewers Associations Guide to Starting Your Own Brewery. Ray is someone who doesn’t worry about his street cred because of all the things he’s done for the industry as a whole.
Coming to the same conclusions as I have, only much earlier and having the pull to do something about it, Ray has developed the Cicerone Certification. But what is the Cicerone Certification? To borrow a term used in the wine industry, the Cicerone Certification is the equivalent of a sommelier in the wine industry. In their own words:
“In the wine world, the word “sommelier” designates those with proven expertise in selecting, acquiring and serving fine wine. Lately some beer servers have adopted the title “beer sommelier” to tie into the credibility of the wine world. But anyone can call themselves a beer sommelier regardless of knowledge or experience. And while some will be highly skilled, the only way to demonstrate that objectively is through independent testing of knowledge and tasting ability. The Cicerone Certification Program offers that independent assessment and certification so that industry professionals—as well as consumers—can be sure of the knowledge and skills possessed by current and prospective beer servers.”
I think this is an awesome thing. This certification will ensure the person making beer suggestions has a formal level of training and has been rightfully tested. This helps raise the industry as a whole by bringing a legitimacy to beer and recognizing that beer has it’s rightful place beside wine and other fine spirits.
This is a program reserved mostly for those working in the industry already as waitpersons. I’ll have to look into this more to see if there’s a way for the average joe to get certified without having to work in the industry. I think having this feather in my cap will go a long way towards my goal of “elevating the status of beer”.
No related posts.
