Cicerone Certified Beer Server Exam Study Guide Part IV – American Styles

This is Part IV 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 American Styles.

**Note – PB stands for Perceived Bitterness**

American Styles

Historical

American Lager (Light/Standard/Premium)

• PB – Low
• Color – Straw, very pale
• ABV – Lower to normal

California Common Beer

• PB – Pronounced
• Color – Light amber to dark amber
• ABV – Normal

Modern

American Wheat Beer

• PB – Moderate
• Color – Straw to gold
• ABV – Normal

American Blonde Ale

• PB – Moderate
• Color – Straw to gold
• ABV – Lower to normal

American Pale Ale

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

American Amber Ale

• PB – Pronounced
• Color – Amber to dark amber
• ABV – Normal

American India Pale Ale (IPA)

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

Imperial IPA

• PB – Highly assertive
• Color – Dark gold to dark amber
• ABV – High

American Brown Ale

• PB – Moderate
• Color – Light brown to dark brown
• ABV – Normal

American Stout

• PB – Assertive
• Color – Black
• ABV – Normal to elevated

Oatmeal Stout

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

American Barleywine

• PB – Assertive
• Color – Light amber to light brown
• ABV – High to very high

Imperial Stout

• PB – Pronounced
• Color – Black
• ABV – High to very high

Happy studying and good luck on the exam! Remember to check out the other posts. Here they are again:

• Part I was on German/Czech Styles.
• Part II was on Belgian/French Styles.
• Part III was on British Styles.

If you passed the exam and used any of these posts as help, I’d love to hear about it. Leave your thoughts on them, the exam or anything else below!