Beer Scholar

Sandy Hugill is a Certified Cicerone®, a BJCP Certified beer, cider, and mead judge, she’s on the board of her local homebrew club, SODZ, and she’s the Sales and Experience Manager at Thunderwing Brewing in Columbus, Ohio. In addition to all that, she also offers guided beer tastings and consulting through her company, The Brewery Log.

Sandy recently made a major career change, moving from project management roles in tech to the beer biz. She’s a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) – every company in every industry needs strong project managers! Sandy took a very thoughtful approach to her career change, her plan included passing the Certified Cicerone® exam in order to gain beer knowledge and to strengthen her résumé. As a woman entering what has, at least in recent history, been a male dominated industry, Sandy wanted that leg up. She points out that learning about beer (or anything you’re super interested in) is fun, so preparing for the Cicerone exams wasn’t exactly an unpleasant process! She used both the Cicerone® Program’s Road to Cicerone® material and Beer Scholar to help her prepare. In particular, she found the Beer Scholar practice exams to be critical for testing her knowledge and for lowering her exam anxiety when she took the real exam.

Sandy reached out to me about coming on the “Meet a Cicerone®” show, noting there hadn’t yet been a woman Cicerone® featured on it for the first few episodes. I was very aware of that issue as well and I was stoked to bring Sandy on for a chat!  The Meet a Cicerone® podcast is all about sitting down with folks who are “all in on beer” to discuss their beer education journey and their careers.

If you’re interested in becoming a Certified Beer Server, Certified Cicerone®, or Advanced Cicerone® in the easiest and quickest way possible, reach out to me at [email protected] or head to www.thebeerscholar.com for more info.

Thanks so much for listening! –Chris

Get a free Study Guide for the Certified Cicerone® Exam here: https://www.thebeerscholar.com/certified-cicerone-study-guide

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🎓 Crush the Cicerone exams: www.thebeerscholar.com

📧 Email Me: [email protected]

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Jesús Mártir is the first "graduate" of the Beer Scholar Advanced Cicerone® Coaching Program!

About nine months ago, AC Scott Fielder and I launched our Advanced Cicerone® Coaching Program, the first of its kind, with an initial cohort of ten amazing beer geeks from all over the world and all over the beer industry. Jesús is the first of the bunch to pass the exam and get the title of Advanced Cicerone® on his resume! Huge congrats to Jesús!

Jesús is based in Tijuana, Mexico. He's an electromechanical engineer by training and says, "what is brewing if not applied engineering?" He entered the beer industry in 2017 and spent several years brewing for Kaminari Brewing. He thought he was out of the beer game for a period...but a friend at Baja Canning pulled him back in with a great job offer! Jesús is currently the Operations Manager at Baja Canning in Tijuana, where he's managed the packaging of nearly 3 million beers to date!

Jesús passed the Certified Cicerone® exam in late 2022 and passed the Advanced Cicerone® exam in early 2024, after going through our AC Coaching Program. Jesús is also a BJCP Certified beer, cider, and mead judge, an American Cider Association Certified Cider Guide, and he's got an Institute of Brewing and Distilling (IBD) General Certificate in Beer Packaging, Can Specialist. Not only all that...phew, I'm running out of breath over here....Jesús is currently pursuing a Master's in Brewing and Distilling from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling in Scotland!

Basically, Jesús is an absolute superstar. He's been traveling all over Central and South American to judge major beer competitions and he's now one of just five Spanish speaking Advanced Cicerones® in the world – though we're expecting to see several more Spanish speaking ACs come out of our coaching program in the next year! Scott & I sat down with Jesús to talk about his experience in the Advanced Cicerone® Coaching Program, his career path, and what fuels his drive for knowledge. If you're thinking about pursuing some certifications in the booze biz, and especially if you're wondering about going for the AC, listen up!

The “Meet a Cicerone” podcast is about sitting down with folks who are “all in on beer” to understand why folks do it, how they're applying what they learn, and how it has enabled them to make their own futures and careers. Let's do this.

P.S. If you’re interested in becoming an Advanced Cicerone in the easiest and most efficient way possible, please reach out to me at [email protected] or Scott at [email protected] right away so we can start getting you ready to join the next cohort of the Beer Scholar Advanced Cicerone® Coaching Program! Thanks so much for listening! –Chris

Get a free Study Guide for the Certified Cicerone® Exam here: https://www.thebeerscholar.com/certified-cicerone-study-guide

Advanced Cicerone® Scott Fielder whips Certified Cicerones into shape to crush the Advanced exam as the teacher of the Beer Scholar Advanced Cicerone® Coaching Program. As of this interview, the AC Coaching Program is producing its first crop of new ACs from our initial cohort! Scott is also a Packaging Operator at The Bruery in Placentia, CA. On top of all that, he's a Certified BJCP beer judge, has completed the Aroxa Sensory Training Program taught by Dr. Bill Simpson, and with AC Chris Crowe he is one of the two Beer Enthusiasts on their fantastic YouTube channel. Scott is also currently preparing to take the insanely difficult Master Cicerone® exam later this year! It was either Jen Blair or Rachael Hudson who said, on their excellent False Bottomed Girls podcast, that preparing for the Master Cicerone exam is not simply a goal, it’s a lifestyle.

Scott is living the beer education lifestyle! Scott embodies a welcoming anti-gatekeeping passion for beer education like few others I’ve encountered in my decade of teaching beer. Besides that, he’s my friend and business partner. Not long after he crushed the AC we began trying to figure out how to do a Beer Scholar program for the AC exam and came up with the AC Coaching Program. I've witnessed Scott's intense personal focus on leveling up to the Master level – he brings that same high level of dedication, focus, and care to preparing our Beer Scholar students for the AC exam.

The “Meet a Cicerone” podcast is all about sitting down with folks who are “all in on beer.” I don’t know many people who fit the bill more than AC Scott Fielder.

P.S. If you’re interested in joining the Beer Scholar Advanced Cicerone® Coaching Program, reach out to me or Scott right away so we can start getting you ready to join the next cohort!

Thanks so much for listening! –Chris

Welcome to the 6 Pack, where we discuss 6 quick topics, mostly about beer. Your host is Advanced Cicerone Chris Cohen. We do a full breakdown of a classic beer style, answer audience members' questions, & talk about beer, life, the universe, and everything. If you've got a question for Chris, record a brief voice memo - intro yourself, say where you’re from, & ask your question. Email the audio file it to [email protected] Cheers & thanks for listening! Go hit that subscribe button right now!

🎙️ The 6 Pack: S1E3

🍺 No more Baltika #6 Baltic Porter for you! Russian Carlsberg / Baltika CEO and top manager arrested after Putin & oligarchs seized Baltika: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-67436369 

🍺 Yep, we’re all talking about the bloodbath / craft beer becoming a mature industry! For Many Craft Breweries, the Apocalypse is Now: https://www.pastemagazine.com/drink/craft-beer/craft-beer-brewery-closures-2023-growth-stagnation-costs-bubble-burst

🍺 Gale’s Prize Old Ale just dropped in the UK. It’s an amazing example of an Old Ale in the style of the historic “vatted” English ales that inspired the creation of the Flanders Red style. It’s a modern recreation of a beer made since 1923, which was itself at that time a recreation of historic English ales! Very cool. 

🍺 Yep, Tesla has a beer. Sound like it’s a Helles Bock. Two undoubtedly super fresh and properly stored (lol) bottles of “cyberbier,” along with two “cyber mugs” can be your for just $150. What a steal! Take a gander at those bottles: https://shop.tesla.com/product/cyberbeer-_-cyberstein-limited-edition-set  

🍺 STYLE OF THE WEEK: Doppelbock. #DrinkMoreDoppelbock This strong, malt focused, light amber to deep brown German lager is perfect for the winter season, plus it’s a whole hashtag movement! Let’s break the style down. https://www.bjcp.org/style/2021/9/9A/doppelbock/

🍺 Check out some phonk from Ryan Celsius. He’s most famous for his Trappin’ in Japan series of extended music and video sets, but there’s tons to check out on his R y a n C e l s i u s ° S o u n d s YouTube channel. Here’s one of many good sets you should check out: https://youtu.be/0sBEoGvZ79E?si=qedOHATXTNpGsSNq

If you have a question for me, about beer, life, the universe, or everything — fire up your phone’s voice recorder and tell me: 1) who you are; 2) where you’re from; and 3) what your question is. Email the audio file to [email protected]. 

Want to crush the Certified Beer Server, Certified Cicerone, or Advanced Cicerone exam? Here’s the quickest & easiest solution: www.thebeerscholar.com   

Subscribe to The Beer Scholar Youtube Channel to keep up with the new content! 

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For more Beer Scholar action check out:

🎓 Crush the Cicerone exams: www.thebeerscholar.com

📧 Email Me: [email protected]

🎥 YouTube: www.youtube.com/@BeerScholar 

📷 Instagram: www.instagram.com/thebeerscholar/

🎶 Music from Epidemic Sound: bit.ly/3Iypm1Z

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Any links to products or services may be affiliate links that provide me a small kickback at no cost to you, with no influence on the content.

Welcome to the 6 Pack. We discuss 6 quick topics, mostly about beer. One is always a full breakdown of a classic beer style and another is always office hours, where I answer audience members' questions. If you've got a question for me, record a brief voice memo introducing yourself & asking your question, then email it to [email protected] 🎙️ The 6 Pack: S1E2 1. TCH infused beverages are now being sold by large US retailers such as Total Wine, this is going to be HUGE. 2. It’s Black Friday season & Beer Scholar is getting in on the action. This is legit the lowest price you’ll EVER see for the Beer Scholar Course for the Certified Cicerone® Exam. You can get fully 50% off the usual price if you use the code BLACKFRIDAY6PACK. This offer lasts until midnight PST on Sunday, Nov 26th. If you missed this offer, go to www.thebeerscholar.com and opt in for more info about my CC course to receive a discount offer that won’t be quite this good, but which is still a screaming deal for: video lessons that track the entire syllabus; awesome flashcards decks; practice tests; weekly tasting sessions with me; & my “Become a Certified Cicerone® or Your Money Back” guarantee…yes, the course is that good. Cheers! Here’s the Black Friday link: https://www.thebeerscholar.com/offers/mPMRWcVA?coupon_code=BLACKFRIDAY6PACK 3. STYLE OF THE WEEK: Old Ale (BJCP 17B). Get the full Old Ale style breakdown, learn all about the related British Strong Ale style, how to properly cellar a beer, the effects of aging a beer, and the effects of oxidation and trans-2-nonenal in beer, among many other things. BJCP link: https://www.bjcp.org/style/2021/17/17B/old-ale/ 4. Headlines: - Craft Beer & Brewing just announced the launch of a sister publication, Craft Spirits & Distilling. - Boston Beer Company aka Sam Adams released the 28% ABV 2023 edition of Utopias. - Rhinegeist is hosting its annual INKED festival. - Tickets for the Festival of Dark Arts at Fort George Brewing in Astoria go on sale at sunrise on Black Friday. - Registration for the World Beer Cup (WBC) is now open. - Brooklyn-based Five Boroughs Brewing Co. was acquired by Smuttynose Brewing Co. - Here in Portland Oregon, legendary brewer John Harris, who is responsible back in the day for developing excellent beers you’d recognize from the likes of Deschutes and Full Sail, announced he was selling his 10 year old brewery, Ecliptic, to Great Frontier Holdings. 5. Constellation's four Mexican import beers — Modelo, Corona, Pacifico, and Victoria — and their branded spinoffs, have seen increased sales of 8.3%. Those 4 families of beer brands now represent fully 22% of US dollars spent on beer at stores. 6. Constellation’s distributor, Reyes, is flexing hard and shaking things up in US Big Beer. If you have a question for me, about pretty much anything, please fire up your phone’s voice recorder, record your question, and email the audio file to [email protected] Subscribe to The Beer Scholar Youtube Channel for new content! ----------------------- For more Beer Scholar action check out: ----------------------- 🎓 Crush the Cicerone exams: www.thebeerscholar.com 📧 Email Me: [email protected] 🎥 YouTube: www.youtube.com/@BeerScholar 📷 Instagram: www.instagram.com/thebeerscholar/ -----------------------

Welcome to the first episode of the 6 Pack pod. We discuss 6 quick topics, mostly about beer. One is always a full breakdown of a classic beer style and another is always office hours, where I answer audience members' questions. If you've got a question for me, record a brief voice memo introducing yourself & asking your question, then email it to [email protected]

Welcome to the first episode of Sipping in Style! In this Beer Scholar podcast we're digging in on EVERY SINGLE BEER STYLE on the Certified Cicerone® syllabus, in order. In episode 1, we cover some of the most complex beer styles on the planet, the lambic family of Belgian ales -- lambic, gueuze, & fruit lambic.

*** WTF is Sipping in Style? *** In each episode of Sipping in Style, Advanced Cicerones and Beer Scholars Chris Cohen & Scott Fielder break down a different style's flavor profile, consider its key brewing techniques & ingredients, explore its history, explain what makes it distinct from similar beers, check in on the BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program) info for the style, and even make some great food pairing recommendations. Join the Beer Scholars to learn more about beer, especially if you're prepping for a Cicerone exam! Sipping in Style is available as a video on YouTube, or as audio on all major podcast apps. Cheers!