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#cicerone

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Jason Pettus Photography
I'm back on my #cicerone #beer research this year with the warm weather, and tonight I'm having a #NewBelgium #1554 #zwart beer. This is an interesting addition to my drinking log; the founder of New Belgium basically found this completely forgotten style of beer in an ancient book in the basement of his college's library, first published in 1554 which is where the beer's name comes from. It's similar to German #schwartzbier (both names mean "black" in their respective languages), in that one starts with ale-type yeast but then ages it lager-style (that is, in cold cellars), which makes the taste crisper and more refreshing than a dark ale like bock; but this Medieval Belgian version has a few extra ingredients schwartzbier doesn't, such as licorice root. Drinking tonight out of a coffee mug made by my housemate in a ceramics class he's taking this summer, because why not?
A bottle of New Belgium 1554 zwart beer, surrounded by live plants and flowers on the oversized dining room table here at the co-op where I live.
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Jason Pettus Photography
I'm back on the #cicerone #beer research this spring, and tonight I'm trying #altbier, which I first became a fan of in 2003 when visiting the town of Dusseldorf where it was invented, tonight's version made by the Chicago brewery Dovetail in conjunction with popular local liquor store Binny's. "Alt" is German for "old," and this beer was named that in the mid-1800s to denote that it's a traditional top-down ale, in a time in history when almost nothing was being made by other breweries than the suddenly trendy bottom-up lager (think Budweiser). It tastes great, but it also tastes exactly like a British-style traditional ale, because that's exactly what it is. This is also "sticke altbier," which means "secret," a batch with slightly higher alcohol than normal, that was usually made in a small quantity just for the brewers and their friends. I must admit, here on this warm Chicago evening, I'm delighted to be drinking "secret old beer!"
Dovetail Sticke Altbier, paired with corn chips and hummus, as seen on the extra-large dining table here at the 20-person co-op where I live in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. Heavily filtered, Instagram-style.
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Jason Pettus Photography
I'm back on the #cicerone research this spring, and tonight's new #beer type is #Dortmunder. (The "export" in the name means it has slightly more alcohol to survive long sea voyages, and thus can be applied to any type of beer.) For a long time this was simply known as another form of "German lager," but during the rise of craft brewing in the 1970s, it was argued that it's just unique enough to deserve its own name. That said, it tastes exactly like any other German lager to me, albeit with a bit smoother of a finish. Ironically, there's only one brewery left in Dortmund (DAB, makers of tonight's beer), but the style itself is popular among many American craft breweries. It's apparently super-cheap in Germany itself, and so is often drank ironically by indie-rock hipsters, in the way Pabst Blue Ribbon is here in the US.
A can of Dortmunder Export beer from the Dortmund brewery DAB, paired with cassava chips and hummus, as seen in the extra-large dining room of my 20-person co-op.
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Jason Pettus Photography
I'm back on the #cicerone research this spring, and tonight am trying out #Kolsch beer for the first time. Originating in Cologne (Koln), Germany, it's an interesting hybrid that starts with ale-type (top-down) yeast, but then aged in cold storage like a lager (bottom-up). This particular brand by Marz Brewing is made here in Chicago and has a highly yeasty smell, almost like farmhouse ale, except much crisper and brighter in taste. Pairing it tonight with olives, brie and cassava chips, like the useless hipster I am.
Kolsch beer from the local (Chicago) Marz Brewery, along with olives, brie and cassava chips from Whole Foods, taken in the large kitchen here in the Hyde Park co-op where I live.
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Jason Pettus :blobrainbow:

It's Saturday night, so I'm again exploring the #cicerone beer expert certification program. This week it's foreign extra stout, in this case from Guinness; it's just literally when old beer companies would brew stout with extra alcohol and hops to survive the long sea voyage to colonies around the world, and tastes like what exactly it is, if you poured a creamy stout and a hoppy IPA into a glass at the same time. The standard form of stout in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean to this day.

Tonight's beer tasting from my cicerone program for beer-expert certification, foreign extra stout (in this case from Guinness).
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Jason Pettus :blobrainbow:

I'm back on the #cicerone #challenge tonight with Oberon Eclipse, a winter version of their summer #wheat #beer that's heavier, darker and boozier. Why is wheat beer so relatively rarer than typical barley beer? Because wheat was hella more expensive than barley in the Medieval era, making it affordable to aristocrats only. Flavored with citrus and coriander Belgian-style, which is a nice detail for this frigid January night.

A bottle of Oberon Eclipse winter wheat beer, next to a small glass that has some of it poured in, on top of a slab of wood being used as a tabletop, in front of a bedroom window overlooking the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago.
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Jason Pettus :blobrainbow:

Continuing my exploration these days of the more esoteric side of the #cicerone #beer #tasting list, thanks to Chicago's Beer Temple at Belmont and Elston. Tonight, a Scotch ale, basically what the English call "barleywine," also known as the delightful "wee heavy," in this case still made by hand in the 1700s brewery space of the literal oldest house in Scotland. I can see why it's called Scotch and not Scottish, because it has a boozy edge of Scotch whisky to it, heady, bitter and strong.

The latest esoteric beer now checked off my tasting list of the cicerone beer certification program -- Traquair House Ale, an exquisite example of Scotch ale (a.k.a. English Barleywine, Wee Heavy), courtesy of the Chicago specialty store Beer Temple.
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Jason Pettus :blobrainbow:

Discovered a Chicago store that specializes in weird European beers, which is going to help me profoundly with the #cicerone beer-tasting list I'm going through this year. For my first visit I bought one of the most obscure beer types in my class, Flanders Oud Bruin, which is sort of like the Dutch Belgian version of the "old ales" in Germany and England before the invention of refrigerated pilsner, but in Belgium's case is also quite sour (mixed literally with cherries in the case of Liefmans).

Liefmans Kriek Brut, one of only a few examples of Flanders Oud Bruin beer still left and being made to this day. It's sort of like the Dutch Belgian version of German and British "old ale" (that is, the heavy dark stuff everyone drank from the Medieval Era to the late 1800s, when modern refrigeration first allowed for the widespread distribution of lager, at which point pretty much the entire population of Europe switched from ale to lager in the space of a single generation); but in Belgium's case, it's also quite sour, because of a combination of using wild local yeast and often mixing it with fruit. Like barleywine, it's often promoted and sold like wine would be, like here for example with Liefmans Kriek Brut, which is corked instead of bottled and is shipped in a decorative bag. I'm glad I finally tried it, but sour beers aren't really my thing, which is why I also stay away from lambics, goses and cider.
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Jason Pettus :blobrainbow:

I'm slowly going through the #cicerone #beer program this year, trying types in historical order, and have finally made my way from Germany to Britain. Usually when an American wants to try English pale ale, they turn to the popular Bass; but naming a beer "The Old Speckled Hen" is just so fucking British, I couldn't help myself. I have to admit, I didn't care for it, and it reminds me of the generic lager crap I was forced to drink in a pre-craft-brewery age (i.e. my entire twenties).

My latest tasting in the cicerone beer identification program, English pale ale, in this case from a company called Old Speckled Hen.
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Tasting Craft Beer

I'm a Diplom Biersommelier. I have been thinking about the Cicerone program, but I have a hard time figuring out how the two relate.

Where am I at, roughly, in the Cicerone program? I see a lot of overlap, but there might be material the Cicerone program covers that my sommelier curriculum didn't cover. Does anyone know of a somewhat detailed comparison?

#beer#sommelier#cicerone
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Jason Pettus :blobrainbow:

I'm slowly going through the #cicerone program of #beer identification this year, starting with classic Medieval European styles. (I've tried to stick to beers from the countries of origin, but am realizing that with the more obscure types, I simply must rely on American craft brewery versions.) #ViennaLager is basically the Austrian version of Czech pilsner (which American beers like Budweiser are based on), and I must admit I could tell no difference between this and other high-end lagers.

Tonight's entry in the "cicerone" beer identification program I'm going through this year, Vienna-style lager, in this case made by the American craft brewery Dovetail since no liquor stores in my area carry authentic brands actually from Vienna.
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Jason Pettus :blobrainbow:

I'm very slowly making my way through the #cicerone #beer course this year, and tonight I tried a type I've never had before, #eisbock. Whoa, a single bottle of this knocked me on my ASS; but then again, it's 12% ABV! Already boozy because of long bottom-up fermentation in cold weather, the "eis" version of bock is even boozier because it's first frozen then all the frozen water removed, leaving an intensely malty and sweet lager literally as strong as red wine. "Bavarian ice cream" indeed!

The latest tasting in the cicerone beer course I'm doing this year, Schneider Weisse Aventinus Eisebock, which at 12% ABV knocked me on my ass after a single bottle, but that is intensely sweet and malty, which made it go down dangerously smoothly.
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