The Day My (Beer) Life Changed

It’s cool when you can point to a day on the calendar and say “my life changed that day.” For me, that day was October 20, 2012.

It was a crisp fall day at my neighborhood craft beer festival, the Tennessee Beer Festival in Donelson, TN. The massive oak trees on the lawn of Two Rivers Mansion were changing from green to a hundred shades of red, orange and yellow. After a long, hot Southern summer, which can last well into late September, it was finally beginning to cool down and feel like fall.

The festival is produced by community supporters of Donelson/Hermitage, TN and the organizer was the director of the local retirement community where June worked. We were tasked with helping out in exchange for free admission. We were volunteer pourers at the Craggie Brewing (Asheville) tent. May they rest in peace.

My love for craft beer would turn from a small hobby into something that was ingrained into every part of my life. I started homebrewing a year earlier and soon began blogging about it. Three months earlier, in July 2012, I attended my first Beer Bloggers Conference in Indianapolis and my eyes were opened. I learned so much about how to share my love of beer that first BBC. I stopped blogging about homebrew and June and I launched Beer Makes Three to share the good news of good beer.

After our shift was over, we got to explore the grounds and sample other beers. I don’t remember what brewery tent we were at, I think it was Sweetwater, but I’m not sure. But I’m confident it was in the section of breweries distributed by DET Distributing, the local MillerCoors house that also has an excellent portfolio of Craft Beer. We met the effervescent Cathy Bass, who now works for Lagunitas. I was struck by her passion and enthusiasm for great beer.

Cathy was wearing her Certified Cicerone® pin and asked her about it. I heard about the Cicerone® Certification program at the Beer Bloggers Conference but didn’t think much about it. It was for “industry” folks. I was a software guy with a craft beer hobby. I heard it was challenging (true) and you had to have a developed beer palate (also true). That wasn’t for me. But Cathy told me I should at least try to pass the level one exam, the Cicerone® Certified Beer Server.

I didn’t even know that level existed, but a 60 questions online exam? Sure, I thought, if I studied for it. That’s when my Cicerone® pursuit began.

I started studying. I read books like Tasting Beer (Mosher) and The Oxford Companion to Beer (Oliver). As a homebrewer, I was already well acquainted with How to Brew (Palmer), a great book for anyone who wants to understand the brewing process.

On March 22, 2013, I signed up for the online BeerSavvy course, which included one attempt to take the level one exam. I learned about “beer clean” glassware, correct pouring of draft and bottled beer, the history and variety of beer styles, common off-flavors in beer, and the ingredients in beer. I completed the online training and sat down at my dining room table on Saturday, April 6, 2013 to take the exam. Sixty questions. Fifty-nine correct answers. A solid pass. And I was hooked.

I was a Certified Beer Server. I had no idea I’d be at this pursuit for the next five years. Almost to the day, April 4, 2018, I re-took and passed the Advanced Cicerone® exam (it took a few times, stay tuned for the whole story).

It all started with my conversation about the Cicerone® Program with Cathy on October 20, 2012.

That’s the day I started a journey into beer knowledge that will never be complete. The more I learn about beer, the more I realize how much I still don’t know. And that step really did change my life. So many doors have been opened and I’ve had countless remarkable experiences. I’ve met all kinds of amazing, friendly people in the beer industry, including some of the biggest names in the business. And I’ve got to enjoy some great beer along the way.

Cheers!