Ray Daniels, The Beer Professor…

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In the beer industry there are brewers that every beer geek consumer knows and then there are a select group of individuals that every brewer knows. Author, educator, and cicerone-in-chief Ray Daniels is one of those latter guys. A veteran of the American beer trade, Daniels has taught hundreds of brewers, trade folk, enthusiasts, and journalists about all aspects of the brewing industry, from becoming a more technically proficient brewer or homebrewer to properly tasting beer and all its flavors and aromas. His resume is impressive: organizer of the great Chicago Real Ale Festival, past director of the Brewers Association’s Craft Beer Marketing Program, and faculty member at the Siebel brewing school. A long-time journalist and writer, Daniels has authored or edited more than a dozen books on brewing and beer, including Smoked Beers with Geoff Larson, the Brewers Association’s Guide to Starting Your Own Brewery, and Designing Great Beers: The Ultimate Guide to Brewing Classic Beer Styles.

After leaving the Brewers Association, Daniels designed a program to help teach people in the industry how to better sell and serve beer. His Cicerone Certification Program will certifies beer industry employees and enterprising enthusiasts on a variety of topics, including beer styles and culture, tasting, brewing ingredients, and pairing food with beer. “As many in the beer industry who I talked to objected to association of the word ‘sommelier’ with beer, some new word was needed,� Daniels says. “But more directly, my desire to invest time and energy in creating this program comes from the common experiences we all have in buying beer from servers and establishments that have little understanding and less respect for beer.� Having tested and classified hundreds of applicants as Certified Beer Servers, Certified Cicerones, and Master Cicerones, Daniels hopes to continue his long-standing efforts to foster a greater sense of respect for beer.

–Article appeared in Issue 31 of BeerAdvocate Magazine.

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