Cicerone Certified Beer Server Exam Study Guide Part I – German/Czech Styles

This is the first post in 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

Please study with me as I hope to take the exam this fall.

One of the topics I need to study the most is Beer Styles and specifically the History, characteristics, and flavor attributes of styles by region section.

One quick note – PB stands for Perceived Bitterness

This is Part I on German/Czech Styles:

German/Czech Styles

Lagers

Pale

German Pilsner

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

Will this theory help you enjoy new beers?

Unless you’re brand new to beer (nothing wrong with that though) you know that hops are measured on a scale of bitterness. IBUs, International Bitterness Units, measure the bitter alpha acids from hops that are isomerized and dissolved during the boil.

Some beers, like Hefeweizens, have IBUs of 10-15 while Double IPAs will go to 80+ IBUs.

Randy Mosher’s Tasting Beer: An Insider’s Guide to the World’s Greatest Drink has a great graph in chapter four that shows the relationship of IBUs to Original Gravity (think the amount of alcohol in a beer. Yes, it’s more complicated than that but now’s not the time.). What I noticed that was generally the hoppier the beer, the more Original Gravity, OG, is has. Mosher describes why a lot better than I am able to.

So looking at the chart I came to this hypothesis: if you enjoy a certain beer, wouldn’t you enjoy a beer with a similar hoppiness-to-OG?

I challenge you to try this experiment. Ladies Hefeweizen lovers – try a Doppelbock. Pale Ale fans (like myself) – try a Maibock. And IPA buffs – try an Irish Dry Stout.