Dealing with test anxiety

Exam scoring

Be patient. It will take several weeks for you to receive the results of your Cicerone certification exam. Your test is graded multiple times in order to ensure fairness and accuracy.

There are five knowledge areas covered by the exam, and they carry different weights in exam scoring.

Tasting Exam (Fit for service)

A Master Sommelier once gave me some of the best advice that I've ever gotten about tasting wine, and I think it applies equally well to tasting beer. He told me:

Tasting Exam (style differentiation)

For the style differentiation portion of the tasting exam, you will be given a sample of beer and two beer style names. You will be asked which style the sample is most representative of. There are four samples in this portion of the test.

Start preparing for this section of the test by reading the BJCP Beer Style Comparison.

Tasting Exam (off flavors)

The tasting portion of the Certified Cicerone exam has three sections:

1) Off flavor identification
2) Style differentiation
3) Fit for service determination

There are 12 questions, and you must get a minimum of 70% correct in order to pass. Of the tasting questions, the four off flavor questions and the four style differentiation questions account for half of your score. The Fit for Service section accounts for the other half.

The tasting portion of the exam generates about 16-17% of your final score.

This post covers the off-flavors section of the tasting exam.
 

Sample Exam: Essay Questions

This is an unofficial answer key. I've supplied what I think are correct answers to the sample Certified Cicerone Exam supplied on the Cicerone.org website. 

I've cited sources and provided links for more in depth study, and I hope that this will aid you in preparing for the exam. 

Please use the comments section to leave questions and/or differences in opinion.  

This answer key uses the following abbreviations:

TB         Tasting Beer by Randy Mosher

BJCP       Beer Judge Certification Program Style Guidelines

Cicerone Certification Program 

Certified Cicerone Exam
April 2008 

Essay Questions 

Sample Exam: Beer and Food Pairing

This is an unofficial answer key for the sample Certified Cicerone Exam supplied on the Cicerone.org website.

I've supplied what I think are correct answers. I've cited sources and provided links for more in depth study, and I hope that this will aid you in preparing for the exam.

Please use the comments section below to leave questions and/or differences in opinion.

When citing sources, this answer key uses the following abbreviations:

TB         Tasting Beer by Randy Mosher

Cicerone Certification Program
Certified Cicerone Exam
April 2008

Beer and Food Pairing 

Sample Exam: Ingredients

This is an unofficial answer key for the sample Certified Cicerone Exam supplied on the Cicerone.org website.

I've supplied what I think are correct answers. I've cited sources and provided links for more in depth study, and I hope that this will aid you in preparing for the exam.

Please use the comments section below to leave questions and/or differences in opinion.

When citing sources, this answer key uses the following abbreviations:

TB         Tasting Beer by Randy Mosher

CBC       The Complete Beer Course by Joshua Bernstein

HTB       How To Brew by John Palmer

Cicerone Certification Program
Certified Cicerone Exam
April 2008

IV. Ingredients: