What is the difference between the Cicerone Certification Program (Cicerone) and the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP)?

We receive this question often. Both organizations are highly respected in the world of beer education but differ in several ways. We’ll compare the two here.

Cicerone’s mission is to empower beer professionals around the world through the development and recognition of beer skills and knowledge. We offer independent assessment and certification of industry professionals, with an emphasis on those who sell and serve beer.

The BJCP’s mission is to encourage knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of the world’s diverse beer, mead, and cider styles; promote, recognize, and advance beer, mead, and cider tasting, evaluation, and communication skills; and develop standardized tools, methods, and processes for structured evaluation, ranking, and feedback of beer, mead, and cider. Further, the BJCP’s primary purposes are to certify individuals as competent evaluators of home-brewed and commercial beer and to certify competitions in which home-brewed and commercial beer is judged.

Cicerone and BJCP are similar in that they both have several levels of certification, starting with beer fundamentals and progressing in both knowledge and sensory skills. Cicerone also uses the BJCP’s Beer Style Guidelines as the reference source for all quantitative style parameters in its exams and learning materials. The first level for both Cicerone (Certified Beer Server) and BJCP (BJCP Beer Judge Entrance Exam) are administered as online, on-demand exams.

Cicerone certifications focus on beer service, beer styles, ingredients and processes, beer flavor, and food pairing. BJCP certifications focus on beer styles, beer flavor, and ingredients and processes. While there is some overlap in the knowledge and skill required for both Cicerone and BJCP, there are differences as well.

To advance through the four levels of Cicerone certification - Certified Beer Server, Certified Cicerone, Advanced Cicerone, and Master Cicerone - individuals must pass each certification level before advancing to the next level. For the Certified Cicerone level and above, the exams consist of both a written exam and a tasting exam. For Certified Cicerone and Advanced Cicerone, the written exams are available online at scheduled days and times. The Certified Cicerone and Advanced Cicerone tasting exams are available in person at various locations throughout the United States as well as internationally.

To advance through the BJCP, individuals must pass the online entrance exam and then take the BJCP Beer Judging Examination, which is an in-person tasting exam. BJCP Beer Judging Exams are scheduled at various locations throughout the United States as well as internationally.

There are six official ranks within the BJCP: apprentice, recognized, certified, national, master, and grand master. Each level is attained by a combination of experience points and exam scores. There are three exams that help determine rank: BJCP Beer Judge Entrance Examination, BJCP Beer Judging Examination, and BJCP Beer Judge Written Proficiency Examination. People can earn BJCP experience points by participating in BJCP and American Homebrewers Association (AHA) activities. The BJCP divides experience points into judging points and non-judging points. Judging points are earned for judging in a registered BJCP competition. Non-judging points are earned in several ways, such as assisting with or stewarding for a competition or participating in a continuing education program.

Individuals studying for either program’s certification may find it helpful to pursue certification in both programs as many of the knowledge areas overlap. However, which program to select will depend on everyone’s personal and/or professional goals.

Interested in learning more about the various levels of Cicerone certification? Click here to learn more!