So I guess I need to update.

Big thing #1. Took the cicerone exam. It was a beast, to say the least. Tricky questions, worded in odd ways, with a ton of them piled together to make whole sections of the written exam feel like it was out to prove that I don't know shit. Too bad I do know shit, and even the stuff I was shaky on I don't feel too bad. Dortmunder alt got me, though. Then there was the tasting portion. Woof. First they give you 5 examples of the same beer. One is a control, four may or may not be spiked with off flavors. I mean, I guess this test IS supposed to separate experts from amateurs, but fuck, that was brutal. Next, 5 more beers are placed in front of you, and you have to identify the style. This is tough because there are a lot of styles that taste, look, and feel the same. I totally beefed this portion. Fucking hefeweizen/wheatbeer. Finally, 5 more examples are placed in front of you, they tell you the style, brand name, and weather it is from a bottle or a tap and they ask you if it is suitable to serve. I nailed this. In doing so I did have to drink a warsteiner that tasted exactly like a sweaty sock.

Big (possibly huge) thing #2. Rogue ales is hiring. It is all over the west coast, particularly oregon. You do the math.

I don't have a lot of beer blogging to do today, but let me just say this: in preparation for the cicerone exam I drank some beers I normally wouldn't touch. Stella and corona are at the front of that, followed by pilsner urquell. The first two met my expectations for being barely palatable, but pilsner urquell surprised me. I had had it before, but it really drives home the fact that if you are going to drink a pils, drink an actual pilsner, from the czech republic. Yes, blvd makes a fantastic, bready, easy to drink pils, but the P.U. was really crisp and refreshing, with only a moderate skunking due to the slightly darker green glass that is used ( for those of you that read this and DON'T know, blue light rdestroys the hop compounds in beer, giving it that terrible, skunky aroma and flavor. Green glass filters most light EXCEPT for blue light.).

That's it for the moment. Its american craft beer week, drink something american, and not continiuously fermented. My suggestions: blvd, great divide, founders, bells, or rogue. In fact, go get a rouge hazelnut brown or chipotle ale. Both fairly progressive beers, both really tasty.