Beer sommelier
34
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14
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12
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Search complete. 34 mentions across 14 episodes found for "Beer sommelier".
Oct 18, 2026
Rachel BenkowskiCORRESPONDENT
What is up, everybody? Rachel here, aka Brews with Bierkowski.
Rachel BenkowskiCORRESPONDENT
I'm a certified Cicerone and I am a historian.
Rachel BenkowskiCORRESPONDENT
And today I'm here to talk to you about some beer history.
Rachel BenkowskiCORRESPONDENT
We're going to be talking about the pub and where beer builds community.
David NilsenHOST
My name is David Nilsen.
David NilsenHOST
I'm a professional drinks writer, an Advanced Cicerone, the author of Pairing Beer & Chocolate, and the creator and host of this show.
David NilsenHOST
The music for this episode is by my dear friend, indie folk musician Anna Ps.
David NilsenHOST
You can find out more about Anna's music in the show notes or on annapsmusic.com. You can find links and information about our guests in the show notes as well.
Ben KeeneGUEST
It was 2011 I think it published.
Matt McLarenHOST
I gotta tell you, I, so I passed my advanced Cicerone exam in 20-
Ron SwarnerHOST
You used it.
Matt McLarenHOST
I did.
Matt McLarenHOST
Like, my book is so mucked up with, like, notes and highlights and all kinds of shit.
Matt McLarenHOST
If you...
Matt McLarenHOST
Like, I, I mean, I've probably talked about this before, but if you're looking at, like, the syllabus y- for BJCP but especially for the Cicerone program 'cause it's, like, super broad, and it's, um, in its, like, beer study, uh, if you come by a term that you do not totally know from top to bottom, you can flip to that page in the Oxford, and it's probably in there.
Matt McLarenHOST
And you'll, you'll grasp an understanding of whatever that is, and I used it so much.
Em SauterGUEST
... and so I moved back to Connecticut.
Em SauterGUEST
I worked at a brewery there for five years, and then I left to study for the Master Cicerone exam, and that's when I started doing, like, educational art for me just to help me study.
Em SauterGUEST
And then I was like, "Oh, I bet people would like these." And then the one, the first one I posted I remember got a lot of traction, and I was like, "Oh." And people had been telling me for years, like, "You should do educational comics," but you can't tell someone something.
Em SauterGUEST
Like, they need to learn it for themselves, and so I just-
38 MINS LATER
Em SauterGUEST
Let's, you know, break it down even more." And that's...
Em SauterGUEST
So I always try when in, especially in Pints and Panels to be like, all right, I wanna hit the beer 100 people, but I also wanna hit the, you know, alpha acetol- I keep using that word.
Em SauterGUEST
Um, you know, my like, you know, my advanced Cicerone, master Cicerone, like, industry professional veterans as well, and that's the challenge with Pints and Panels is how do you keep it not too simple, but also...
Em SauterGUEST
And then same with my talks or podcast or journalism, 'cause there's just so many levels of beer.
David NilsenHOST
My name is David Nilsen.
David NilsenHOST
I'm a professional drinks writer, an Advanced Cicerone, the author of Pairing Beer & Chocolate, and the creator and host of this show.
David NilsenHOST
The music for this episode is by my dear friend, indie folk musician Anna PS.
David NilsenHOST
You can find out more about Anna's music in the show notes or on annapsmusic.com. You can find links and information about our guests in the show notes as well.
Nate FochtmanHOST
Uh, and then I would give them, I would have a library basically at my desk and my sales reps would rent the books for me and they would, and they would take them when they needed.
Nate FochtmanHOST
They used them for Cicerone training.
Nate FochtmanHOST
We were very much, my job was to come in and take a very old school, traditional beer wholesaler and convert them in 2010 to 2017 into craft beer and get them educated.
Nate FochtmanHOST
So I worked with Ray Daniels on the Cicerone program and a few other things trying to get everybody on board.
Nate FochtmanHOST
And I just want to tell you, like publicly, I think a lot of times in this writing world and these books and all this stuff, the author of those things tends to be on the backside of what the actual content is.
Nate FochtmanHOST
So I was super excited when you responded that you were willing to talk to me today because of the fact that your books have been an inspiration for me and an educational piece for not just myself, but accelerating others to get them up to speed.
Matthew CurtisHOST
Hello, folks, and welcome back to another episode of the Pellicle Podcast with me, Matthew Curtis.
Matthew CurtisHOST
Joining me on the show today is beer educator, author, and Master Cicerone, Mirella Amato, who has been working in the field of beer education for more than two decades and is currently the senior business development manager for the beer program at the Wine & Spirits Education Trust.
Matthew CurtisHOST
That's WSET for short.
Matthew CurtisHOST
Based in Toronto, Ontario, while she was in the UK, Mirella was kind enough to get a train up to Manchester, where she joined me one morning in the Cloudwater taproom to discuss beer education.
8 MINS LATER
Matthew CurtisHOST
But, um, what happened was there was this huge interest, and people started to get interested in tasting beer, not just having a pint down the pub and, like, getting into it.
Matthew CurtisHOST
And I went to a few sensory, uh, tasting sessions, beer and food matching, which I'd love to talk a bit about later on.
Matthew CurtisHOST
Um, and then people started doing qualifications, whether it was, um, the Institute of Brewing and Distilling, the IBD, and, um, Cicerone.
Matthew CurtisHOST
And now we have WSET, which we'll get onto because, uh, they've only been, recently been doing beer education.
MartinHOST
So, um, yeah, let's go on.
MartinHOST
So, you know, you've, you've gone on to become an advanced cicerone.
MartinHOST
I hope I've pronounced that correctly.
MartinHOST
Um, a be-
6 MINS LATER
Natalya WatsonGUEST
Yeah.
Natalya WatsonGUEST
I think the big thing is two of the things we've already talked about, this idea of structure and then this idea of understanding, so making those links.
Natalya WatsonGUEST
When I first came to studying beer and going through the various certifications that I have, uh, the first one that I went to was Cicerone, so the Certified Beer Server exam, and then, uh, the Certified Cicerone and later Advanced Cicerone exam.
Natalya WatsonGUEST
And with those exams, if you are a good self-studier, then they're, you know, something that you can take on.
Dan BeaubienHOST
But there is nothing about this beer that's exclusionary.
Dan BeaubienHOST
Every person, no matter what their relationship with beer is, maybe they're studying for their master Cicerone exam.
Dan BeaubienHOST
Maybe they're just like, I just like beer at softball.
Dan BeaubienHOST
no matter what that where they're what avenue they're coming from it's crushable this can be appreciated and i think that's important i think beer should be for everybody and that's where loggers i feel have a leg up against some of the other styles that maybe are like a little bit more crazy and people like to
PaulHOST
It's odd.
PaulHOST
So also, you're a beer sommelier and a judge?
Paul DaviesGUEST
Yeah, and a Cicerone.
Paul DaviesGUEST
I proctor the Cicerone exams in the UK as well.
PaulHOST
All
Paul DaviesGUEST
right.
4 more episodes mention Beer sommelier.
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