A cicerone is a beer expert, the beer world’s equivalent of a sommelier.
There are three levels to the program: Certified Beer Server, Certified Cicerone, and Master Cicerone. Mark speaks with Nicole Erny, one of only seven Master Cicerones in the country, who discusses her passion for beer in all its forms. Unlike a sommelier, a cicerone is particularly focused on keeping the product fresh and drinkable, and Nicole offers some tips on how consumers can do the same. On Bizarre Beverage News, Mark examines two beer-related stories: the world’s rarest beer, Westvleteren 12, which is brewed at a Trappist monastery in Northern Belgium and only sold at the monastery door; and the beer world’s first billionaire, James Koch of Samuel Adams, who gave brewers the blueprint for selling craft beer to a niche market.

LINKS:

The Cicerone Certification Program—Link to: http://www.cicerone.org

Iconic Spirits: An Intoxicating History—Link to:
http://www.iconicspirits.net