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.