Beer Tasting "Certification" Class? Recommendations?

[Mike at Bay]

Hi gang,

I am considering/maybe hoping to take a class in beer tasting to support my beer brewing hobby. I know when I like a beer I brew but I don't necessarily know that it is good and aligned to the style. Any recommendations on how to approach this? I do not want to become a judge or anything like that......just a better brewer.

TIA

 

[TerryDowning]

Do you have a local home brew club?? My local club has an education night every month and often the we go over tasting and detecting off flavors.

 

[Mike at Bay]

Do you have a local home brew club?? My local club has an education night every month and often the we go over tasting and detecting off flavors.

Nope. I live on an island in north Florida that is in a rural area. 2 hours for Panama City and 2 hours from Tallahassee near Apalachicola. But that would be great if we had something like that here. I am acquainted with a local craft brewery/brewer in our area but he also owns a bar and is too busy to wrangler up a tutorial.

 

[Donoroto]

https://www.cicerone.org/

The basic course is completely online.

 

[Minbari]

https://www.bjcp.org/exam-certification/exam-program-overview/

This is recognized for most beer competition

 

[Mont Y. Märzen]

Hi gang,

I am considering/maybe hoping to take a class in beer tasting to support my beer brewing hobby. I know when I like a beer I brew but I don't necessarily know that it is good and aligned to the style. Any recommendations on how to approach this? I do not want to become a judge or anything like that......just a better brewer.

TIA

I'd respectfully suggest you reconsider judging, and you don't need to get certified unless you end up wanting to. Any reputable competition will make sure there is a certified judge at every flight. Most all of them will gladly help you learn the ropes of evaluating beer.

I can't stress enough that your own brewing will make leaps and bounds because of it. Judging others' brews is going to offer a perspective and opportunity you won't get elsewhere, especially just drinking commercial examples. And yes, some homebrews will be bad. You learn what not to do from those. Some will be excellent. Those will become your new 'holy grails' to search for. (queue the Monty Python references)

 

[Brian W]

I found the following book great for understanding the beer flavors I'm tasting

Tasting Beer, 2nd Edition: An Insider's Guide to the World's Greatest Drink​

 

[J A]

I'd respectfully suggest you reconsider judging, and you don't need to get certified unless you end up wanting to. Any reputable competition will make sure there is a certified judge at every flight. Most all of them will gladly help you learn the ropes of evaluating beer.

I can't stress enough that your own brewing will make leaps and bounds because of it. Judging others' brews is going to offer a perspective and opportunity you won't get elsewhere, especially just drinking commercial examples. And yes, some homebrews will be bad. You learn what not to do from those. Some will be excellent. Those will become your new 'holy grails' to search for. (queue the Monty Python references)

That's extremely good advice but since @Mike at Bay says that he's somewhat isolated, it'll be logistically tough. Something that is accessible and a useful alternative would be to send beers to as many competitions as possible. You'd get some qualified feedback that would help recognize and identify various flavors - good and bad- in your beers.
I've often wished that there was an economical way to get our beers to one another for online meet-up tastings. It would require sending a six-pack or so to someone willing to divvy up and re pack and send the mix-pack back to participants. Even when USPS flat rate boxes were around half what they are now, it would have been onerous but with current rates it would cost $50 to pull it off.

 

[Mont Y. Märzen]

Stumbled on this yesterday, for those who like the deep end of the pool:https://underthejenfluence.beer/