Your Ph.D. in Beer?

Page # 6-7

Date published: Monday, February 21, 2012

Author’s name: Emily Van Zandt

Title of the article: Your Ph.D. in Beer?

Kahle is a certified master cicerone (a seldom-used term for “guide”) and part of an expanding expert pool that has been working in Chicago and elsewhere since 2008, when Craft Beer Institute President created the credentialing program. Through rigorous online and hands-on testing, beer experts can reach one of three levels: certified beer server, certified cicerone and master cicerone. To date, just four people have reached the level of master cicerone, and only one of those – Kahle – lives in Chicago. Still, most people are unaware of the huge variety of beers and, because of that, they don’t think they need advice when choosing a beer.

In my opinion, any good beverage like wine, champagne, beer, tea, coffee, etc. has its own complexities. In order to notice those complexities, we need to treat these other beverages the same way we treat wine. Factors such as how to store the drink, what kind of glass to use, the temperature, which beverage is better with which food, in which event, season, weather, etc, should all be considered. If we don’t know, we can ask and learn from the professionals in each beverage (cicerone, sommelier, tea merchant or barista). The point is we shouldn’t feel like dummies to ask a professional; we should instead enjoy learning because each beverage is a world on its own.