My Road to Cicerone®: Jeremy Storton of Good Beer Matters

Jeremy Storton is a Certified Cicerone^® from Sisters, OR. Here he describes how studying for and passing the exam helped him grow his career and open his eyes to new aspects of the beer world.

1. Where do you work now and what do you do there?
   I am a sales rep for a brewery in Central Oregon. I am also a freelance beer writer for Oregon’s 1859 Magazine and other publications, as well as founder and host of the “Good Beer Matters” Podcast. 
2. What industry were you working in when you started preparing for the Certified Cicerone exam? 
   I was working in a high-end restaurant and doing some freelancing work when I got serious about my beer study. 
3. How did you first hear of the Cicerone Certification Program?
   I started bartending at a local brewery and they told me I had to get Certified Beer Server from some website called Cicerone. I had never heard of it, but it compelled me from the start.  
4. Why did you choose to pursue Cicerone certification? 
   I was contemplating making a move to pursue more opportunities and better experiences. I resisted the world of beer for a long time until one evening my wife and I watched the documentary “Somm,” the one about people studying their butts off to become Master Sommeliers. Ironically, a movie about wine made me realize that beer was a gateway to the world and I was so inspired by that movie that I decided to pursue beer then and there.   
5. Explain how earning your certification helped you break into the beer industry.
   Becoming a Certified Cicerone helped me advance extremely quickly from retail to a distributor and finally to representing a brewery in just over a year. It has also has given me the background to be an authority and educate clients and consumers. People seem to be looking for better experiences when going out and Certified Cicerones are set up to lead consumers down a path of beer enlightenment. 
6. Describe your study process. How did you prepare for the exam?
   I have a wife and two kids, so it took a lot of communication to make time to break away to study. Otherwise, I took each of the sections and focused on one at a time. I did a lot of underlining and annotating in the margins of books to make reviewing easier. I also wrote out a ton of flash cards on styles and off flavors, etc. Although I strived for balance, I admit I was a bit absent as a husband and father that year.
7. Were there any areas of study that you became particularly interested in while preparing for the Certified Cicerone exam? 
   Food and beer pairing became my jam. I worked at a high end restaurant so I was able to talk about flavor and food with the chefs and taste food that are harder to come by, such as roast duck with cassoulet. I also learned how to use words like haricot vert instead of green beans. Now I host beer pairing events and write about beer and food pairings as much as I can because, like music, literature or archeology, flavors are a way to experience the cultures of the world in profound ways.  
8. What are your greatest strengths now that you’re a Certified Cicerone? 
   I understand where ingredients come from, how beer is made, how flavors are cultivated, the value of the right glass and how all of it impacts the consumer’s experience at a brewery. I also enjoy sharing this perspective as we drink a round.  
9. In your opinion, how valuable is it for those looking to get into the beer industry to earn Cicerone certification?
   Anyone who is serious about being a beer professional, wants to be good at what he or she does and wants to be a leader in our industry, obtaining Certified Cicerone is quickly becoming the standard.  
10. What advice do you have for Certified Beer Servers who are looking into taking the Certified Cicerone exam?
    The Certified Cicerone exam is way harder than I first thought, exponentially more so than Certified Beer Server. It gets into the weeds. I had been a homebrewer, but I also got a certificate in brewing from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and became a BJCP judge in the same year as prepping for Cicerone. It was a challenging year, but studying for those helped me enormously. Be organized, be focused and give it all you’ve got. It’s totally worth it.  

Ready to get started? Learn more about the Certified Cicerone exam here!