Interview With Homebrewer Eric Nocerino

This is an interview conducted with Eric Nocerino, of Goleta, CA.

Hi Eric.  Thanks for taking the time to talk with me.  So, how did you start brewing?

I had a few friends that started brewing in high school and that was my first introduction to homebrewing. However, I didn’t start until my college days at the University of New Mexico. It was a “dry” campus and a few of my roommates got around it by brewing beer. They were more than just casual brewers (all grain, mead, cider, ect.) so they really exposed me to a wide range of styles and techniques. There was a great homebrew shop in Albuquerque and the guy that ran it loved to get newbies set-up with equipment and a decent malt extract kit that included grain steeping. I think his idea was that if your first batch turned out good, you’d come back for more. It certainly worked for me.

What's your favorite part of the brewing process?

One of my favorite parts is putting the recipe together. I typically do very simple malt extract recipes with some steeped grain, but I really like exploring the different combinations of hops, grains, and yeast that can be used for whatever style I am brewing. A long time ago, a friend printed out the entire Cat’s Meow beer recipe website and gave me a copy. I like to look through that and go to other on-line sources to narrow in the style and ingredients. It’s a lot of fun to see the many style variations and then try to make a recipe from those that I think may be good. Again, I’m not doing anything elaborate, just changing up the hops, grains, and yeast in small ways to see what happens. Sometimes a batch turns out tasting like you envisioned and sometimes it doesn’t, but that’s alright. Sometimes a pale ale is just a pale ale and that works for me.

How many batches of beer have you made?

The batch you helped me with was number 45. Since having kids, going back to school, and working my time to brew has certainly decreased. I’m usually inspired to start again when I pick-up a new beer from the liquor store or try something at one of the brew pubs around town that turns out to be really good. My current rekindling of interest comes from a friend moving out of town and selling me all of his ingredients and supplies.

How do you feel about sharing beer you’ve made with others?

It’s funny, when I first started brewing I liked to share, but coveted the better batches. The friends that I learned to brew from in college did the same thing. We were all a little protective of the good stuff. Now, I especially like to share, even the good stuff, since I tend to want to move on to the next batch and try something new. 48-50 bottles is a lot to have on hand and the best way to go through it is to pass it around.

Do you feel it’s difficult to brew?

At first it seemed like a lot of steps were involved, but like anything, after you do it once or twice you develop a rhythm and it goes faster and seems less complicated. Since I typically do basic malt extract recipes with steeped grains and maybe a few added sugars (honey or molasses) or a more complicated hop schedule, I feel that the process isn’t difficult. In general it has always been a fun process with a great outcome.

What’s your advice for people thinking of brewing for the first time?

My advice is to give it a try, especially if you enjoy all types of beer and want to learn about the brewing process. If you don’t know anyone that brews, you can always do an on-line search for your local homebrew club and contact one of their members. From my experience, homebrewers are always very happy to show someone new how to brew. My other advice is to start out simple with a basic kit and ingredients and get a few good batches under your belt before you move on to trying more complex things. As with any hobby, it can be very easy to get carried away with supplies and trying to do more complex styles.

What's the best beer you’ve made?

This is a tough one. When I was living in Colorado, I had several pilsners and lagers turn out very well. They were close to the traditional German and Czech style examples I had, but with more body and flavor. Very “fresh” tasting. The other one that sticks out in my mind is an ESB that I brewed. It was a kit the local homebrew shop in Denver put together that they must have spent some time perfecting. Consistently very good over three batches, even when I changed out the hops.

What's your favorite beer?

I think ESB is my favorite style. I tend to default to Redhook ESB although I think the British imports, Fullers for example, have a bit more flavor. There have also been a number of microbrew versions that have been very good as well. Just a bit harder to find. I think ESB’s are a great middle ground between a blonde ale and IPA. It would be great to see more breweries giving it a try. I’m also very fond of Belgian Tripels and Dog Fish Head had one a few years ago (can’t remember the name) that I really enjoyed.

So, have you ever had anything go wrong brewing?

Aside from the occasional low carbonation in a few bottles, I’ve only had major problems with two batches. The first was a hefeweizen that fermented a little too hot. The beer ended up with really strong banana and clove flavors. It was drinkable, but those flavors were just too strong even after bottle conditioning for several months. I had another batch that got infected with wild yeast during bottling. The beer tasted off and the bottles erupted like fountains when opened, so I had to dump the batch down the sink.

Ha.  Well that doesn't sound like you ever had too bad of a home brewing experience.  Thanks again for talking with me Eric.  I look forward to trying that batch of stout you have fermenting away!

What is a Certified Cicerone®, and why should I care?

Before I get to telling you about what a Certified Cicerone® is, I wanted to give you a little bit of background about myself and how I found out what a Certified Cicerone® is.  I've been in the same job for a long time.  A long time being almost 7 years.  That's a personal record for me at one place of employment.  I usually bore of a job, or find a better one, or move to a new city, or some combination of all those things, and I move on to greener pastures (or less brown pastures, at least).  I probably would have moved on from this current job by now, but it's not too bad, pays the bills, keeps food on the table, and keeps me out of trouble (for the most part).  I do look around at other opportunities, but for what I need, I can't just quit and start at the bottom some place entirely new.

So I starting looking into some sort of training.  A new skill that I would have with me forever. Something that wasn't specific to one job.  My girlfriend, knowing that I love beer, and all things beer related, mentioned to me that a friend of hers had recently gotten a job managing a local brew pub, and part of the reason that friend got that job was because of her getting specific training in beer knowledge.  Well, holy sh$t, I thought, that's the ticket!  I want to learn everything there is to know about beer, and get a job that is based around that!  Sounds pretty awesome to me!  I learned that the gateway to this knowledge came from www.cicerone.org, which is an online site that, basically, tells you where to go get the knowledge you need about beer, and then come back to them to take a test for certification.  Perfect, I thought.  Something I can do on my own time, and at my own pace.  So, I checked out the site, and I was very pleased with what I discovered.

A Certified Cicerone® is to the beer world what a sommelier is to the wine world, or at least that is the best comparison I can come up with.  Being called one is an honor, and carries with it proof of your knowledge in your respective field of study.  The Cicerone® Certification Program is put together by Ray Daniels (pictured above), who anyone familiar with homebrewing will tell you, is a major player in the craft beer world.  He brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience on what it takes to really know your stuff when it comes to beer.  Most importantly, he brings complete credibility to the program, which was an absolute must for me.  His credentials speak for themselves on the bottom of this page  There is no point in spending the time to learn everything if the certification you get at the end doesn't mean anything to people in the beverage industry.  Well, actually that isn't entirely true.  Learning about beer is a lot of fun on its own, but it is  nice to have something to show for your knowledge.  I have truly enjoyed learning all that I have about beer, especially the history of different breweries and styles of beers, and those are things I might not have found out as much about without this program. Every book I have read from the programs' excellent resource list has been full of interesting and useful information.  I plan on getting into the history of various beers and breweries in later posts.  I think it makes drinking beer much more interesting if you know a little about what you are sipping on and where it came from.

As far as my progress in the program goes, it is slow and steady.  There is a lot to learn.  I have passed the first exam, which is the Certified Beer Server.  It involved a series of multiple choice questions, and was pretty simple in its structure.  The next exam is the Certified Cicerone® exam, and it is much, much more thorough.  It involves both a written and tasting exam to be completed over the course of a weekend, and from what I hear, the pass rate is under 50%, so this exam is no sure thing.  I'm pretty excited about the challenge of passing this exam and I will chronicle what I am doing to get ready for it in this blog.  I've seen certificates posted up in some of the local breweries that I visit, and I know when I see those, that the person I am talking to behind the bar knows what they are talking about and truly cares about their craft.

The third, and final level of certification in the program is the Master Cicerone®.  This level of certification requires a vast amount of knowledge, acquired through years of study and practice. There are only 7 Master Cicerones® in the world, so it is truly a prestigious honor to be a member of this exclusive club.

If you are interested in diving into the world of beer, and want to take your knowledge and career in the beverage industry to new heights, check out the Cicerone® Certification Program.  I'm sure you will find it as rewarding as I have.  Cheers!

www.cicerone.org