Cicerone Certified Beer Server Exam Study Guide Part III – British Styles

This is Part III of a series on knowledge for the Cicerone Certified Beer Server Exam. All information disseminated is from the syllabus provided by the Cicerone website and mixed with my own thoughts. I’m doing this to 1) help me learn the material and 2) share the knowledge with people who haven’t heard of the exam or are planning to take the exam.

Feel free to skip ahead to other sections. Here’s a list of all the study guide parts:

• Part I – German/Czech Styles
• Part II – Belgian/French Styles
• Part III – British Styles
• Part IV – American Styles
• Part V – Off-Flavors

This is Part IV on British Styles.

**Note – PB stands for Perceived Bitterness**

British Styles

English Ales

Pale Ales

Special/Best/Premium Bitter

• PB – Pronounced
• Color – Gold to amber
• ABV – Lower

English IPA

• PB – Assertive
• Color – Gold to amber
• ABV – Elevated

Dark Ales

Mild

• PB – Low
• Color – Amber to brown
• ABV – Lower

Northern English Brown Ale

• PB – Moderate
• Color – Amber to brown
• ABV – Normal

Robust Porter

• PB – Pronounced
• Color – Brown to black
• ABV – Normal to elevated

Sweet/Milk Stout

• PB – Moderate
• Color – Black
• ABV – Normal

Scottish Ales

Scottish Ale

• PB – Low to moderate
• Color – Light amber to dark amber
• ABV – Lower to normal

Strong Scotch Ale/Wee Heavy

• PB – Low
• Color – Amber to brown
• ABV – Elevated to high

Irish Ales

Dry/Irish Stout

• PB – Assertive
• Color – Black
• ABV – Lower to normal

Happy studying! Next post will be on American styles.