SENSORY SERIES: We are so happy to share this WIBS 2022 session from BJCP National Beer Judge and Master Cicerone Nicole Erny. She is a beer professional from Northern California with a focus on sensory and education. For the past 13 years, she’s built her career from beertending at a specialty beer bar to consumer-facing beer events to education and exam development with the Cicerone Program to sensory education, quality program development, staff training and consulting for breweries. In 2011, she became the fourth person and first woman to earn the title of Master Cicerone®. She currently works in the quality team at Faction Brewing Co and has fun as beer buyer for a small restaurant group.
In this talk she shares with us some of the science of aroma, taste and flavor. She also walks us through the physical process of beer assessment and then hones in on the mental aspects as well. Our brains love to trick us into making snap judgements and confirmation bias can very much affect what we perceive. And she also touches a bit on how the challenges women naturally face in the industry can knock down our confidence and willingness to trust our own perceptual instincts. When you hear a master cicerone and overall beer badass like Nicole Erny admit she faces imposter syndrome on the regular you know that all us women are not alone in those feelings. I encourage you to grab a beer, grab a tasting glass, pen and paper and tase along. You are sure to learn something great today. Enjoy!
Find Nicole Erny at
Facebook: nicole.erny.3
Instagram: beer_muse
Session Slides: wcfa.beer/slides
Additional Links
Cicerone® Certification Program
BJCP Beer Judging Scoresheet
Find WCFA & Women's International Beer Summit at...
Website: wcfa.beer
Instagram: wibs_wcfa
YouTube: Women's Craft Fermentation Alliance
This podcast is brought to you by the Women's Craft Fermentation Alliance, a 501(c)(3) dedicated to enabling, empowering and encouraging women and non binary folks in all facets of the craft fermentation space. Your host for this podcast is Michele Wonder, co-founder of WIBS and the WCFA, an award winning homebrewer, BJCP Certified Beer Judge and a Certified Cicerone®
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