There are loads of beer drinkers in Colorado, however none has fairly as a lot experience as Patrick Combs — and now, he has the credentials to show it.
In November, Combs, who’s the “director of liquids” at Stem Ciders, grew to become a grasp cicerone, the best stage of certification a beer skilled can obtain, and a distinction that’s much like a grasp sommelier for wine. He’s now considered one of simply 28 grasp cicerones on this planet.
Based in early 2008, the Cicerone Certification Program consists of 4 more and more troublesome ranges, every involving powerful checks: licensed beer server, licensed cicerone, superior cicerone and grasp cicerone. Roughly 150,000 individuals are licensed beer servers and greater than 4,600 are licensed cicerones, whereas fewer than 200 people are superior cicerones.
To get to the ultimate stage, candidates should have an “encyclopedic data” of each facet of beer, from types, flavors and substances to brewing and serving processes, and from troubleshoot draft methods to correctly pairing beer with meals.
For Combs, it was a very long time coming.
Now 33, Combs started his journey in 2011 as he was ending up his undergraduate research at Oklahoma State College and dealing part-time as a educating assistant at Oklahoma State College. It’s when he took a sip of a beer that in the end modified the trajectory of his life.
That beer? Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Combs describes the expertise as a “eureka second.”
“It was like a whole world had been revealed to me,” he stated. “The flavour of the hop profile was intricate and layered. The malty sweetness and perceived bitterness had been completely balanced. The end was easy with a contact of grapefruit and pine.”
Not that he would have described the beer with such element again in 2011. As much as that time, Combs had largely steered away from beer after a couple of dangerous experiences. With hindsight, he understands why. On the time, his native liquor shops primarily stocked mass-market lagers and wine coolers, plus a couple of imports. They saved almost every little thing on cabinets at room temperature, which Combs stated he now realizes contributed to the stale, flat flavors he disliked.
Trying again, Sierra Nevada was most likely the primary time he’d tasted recent beer, interval. The second helped him notice he needed to pursue a profession within the business, he stated.
Combs took up homebrewing and, maybe extra importantly, he started finding out the artwork, historical past and science of brewing. That keenness led him to Avery Brewing in Boulder, the place he was employed as a sensory scientist. In that function, he honed his experience of “off-flavors,” an umbrella time period that encompasses any taste that isn’t imagined to be a part of the ultimate product. Brewery staffers are always looking out for compounds or traits that may change a beer’s meant flavors or aromas. Once they discover them, they regulate their processes and recipes accordingly.
“I had the chance to pattern hundreds of beers spiked with off-flavors and elevate my palate to a stage past what I assumed was succesful,” Combs stated about his expertise at Avery.
From there, he moved on to roles at Cerebral Brewing in Denver and WeldWerks Brewing in Greeley earlier than finally touchdown at Stem in 2021. Based in 2013, Stem owns a taproom on Blake Road in Denver and a full-service restaurant and manufacturing facility, known as Acreage, in Lafayette. Stem additionally brews Howdy Beer, a model of sunshine lagers.
As he superior in his profession, he additionally achieved the primary three ranges of cicerone certification.
Combs knew he finally needed to strive for the fourth and highest certification. However he additionally predicted it might be an enormous problem. And it was: Even after greater than two years of intensive finding out, he failed his first grasp cicerone examination in November 2019.
However Combs wasn’t deterred. He doubled down on his preparation, spending most of his free time researching types, substances, tasting notes, meals pairings, the brewing course of and historical past. He sipped and in contrast a whole lot of beers so he may describe their delicate stylistic variations. Within the months main as much as the take a look at, his fridge held between 60 and 70 completely different beers.
Combs additionally hosted elaborate dinner events at his home — which he shares along with his spouse, Megan, and their younger daughter, Charlotte — so he may observe pairing beer with meals. One night in July, as an illustration, he handled friends to a six-course menu centered round seared duck breast with miso brown butter caramel, roasted oyster mushroom clusters, fried elephant garlic and grits. He paired the dish with a Belgian darkish sturdy ale and a Flanders crimson ale.
“I’d try a secure pairing and an formidable one,” he stated. “The pairings weren’t all the time profitable, however they had been all the time academic.”
Lastly, in October 2023, he tried once more. He and his household flew to Kansas Metropolis, the place he spent two days answering questions throughout a sequence of grueling oral and written exams. Then, he waited.
Combs didn’t count on to cross and had already ready his response for when folks requested concerning the final result: “Oh, no. Not this yr…”
So, when he obtained the excellent news in mid-November, he was ecstatic. Combs, together with 5 different people, earned the grasp cicerone title this yr.
“I used to be in full shock and disbelief,” he stated. “Even now, it feels fully surreal.”
Combs remains to be attempting to determine what the title means for him, each personally and professionally. However for now, he’s reveling in the truth that he set a lofty aim — and really completed it.
And, regardless of the numerous hours of finding out, he’s nonetheless simply as fascinated by beer and brewing as he ever was. “A well-made beer is actually the right mix of artwork and science,” he stated.
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