Virtual Beer School: Level 1
A 9-week interactive online prep course for the Certified Beer Server exam. The next course begins on February 1st, 2023.
Virtual Beer School gives everyone the opportunity to learn more about beer and show what they know
through interactive online courses taught by
Beer Sommelier & Advanced Cicerone® Natalya Watson.
Looking to learn more about beer and show what you know?
You’re in the right place!
Virtual Beer School: Level 1 helps prepare attendees for the Cicerone Certification Program’s Certified Beer Server exam.
The exam – and therefore the course – covers the fundamentals of beer flavour and evaluation, beer ingredients, beer styles, and how to best store and serve beer.
Find out more about the Certified Beer Server certification in the FAQs below.
(Please note: The cost of the exam is not included in the cost of the course. Virtual Beer School is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Cicerone Certification Program.)
The current course is now in progress from February thru early April 2023.
If you’d like to join late, please contact Natalya to get signed up.
Otherwise, check back later on this year for new course dates!
Course overview
What:
Join Beer Sommelier & Advanced Cicerone® Natalya Watson for Virtual Beer School: Level 1 – a 9-week interactive online course that covers all subject areas on the Certified Beer Server exam syllabus.
The course is comprised of 9 video lessons, plus 9 weekly online live discussion sessions.
The video lessons (each 60-75 minutes in length) are released weekly on Wednesdays, giving attendees a full week to watch on their own time prior to the live discussion session the following Tuesday.
During the live discussion session, you’ll meet online with Natalya and your fellow classmates to discuss the weekly lesson, test your understanding, and get your questions answered.
After 9 weeks, attendees will be prepared to take the Certified Beer Server exam, if interested.
(Attendees are more than welcome to sign up for Virtual Beer School to build up their beer knowledge without an interest in taking the Certified Beer Server exam.)
When:
The next course begins on Wednesday, February 1st, 2023.
Video lessons will be released each Wednesday (starting on February 1st), with the weekly online live discussion sessions held the following Tuesday from 7 – 7:45pm GMT (UK time).
Dates for the live discussion sessions include: Tuesday, February 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th; March 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th; April 4th.
Where:
Video lessons will be released weekly via the Course Hub here on virtualbeerschool.com (you’ll be emailed when they go live). The live discussion sessions are held online via Zoom.
How:
The course costs £90 in total. (That’s £10 each week.)
Course reviews
“Taking part in Virtual Beer School was a fantastic experience. Nat is extremely knowledgeable and presents information in a simple and easy to digest way. The course is extremely engaging and I found that I learned a lot more than I thought I would. I feel ready to take the Cicerone CBS exam!” – Virtual Beer School attendee, December 2020
“Fantastic course, Nat has such a vast knowledge about beer styles, their history and serving. I learnt so much and was introduced to beer styles that I had never heard of before. All with interesting facts and history. Nat made it really friendly and easy to interact with fellow beer qeeks. I now have so much more knowledge that I can share with my friends. I can’t recommend the course enough, you won’t be disappointed.” – Virtual Beer School attendee, March 2021
“I would recommend Nat’s course to anyone looking to learn about beer! I found the course gave me all the tools I needed to prepare me for the Level 1 exam and I really enjoyed the social aspect of the learning style, it’s been wonderful to meet like minded people. Nat’s teaching style is clear, informative and well broken down and she always recaps everything. Very much enjoyed the experience!” – Virtual Beer School attendee, June 2021
Find more course reviews here.
Sign up
As the course is currently in progress, sign ups are now closed. (If you’d like to join late, please contact Natalya.)
Otherwise, check back later on this year for new course dates!
(Please note: Refunds cannot be issued once the course is in progress, but attendees can roll their place over to a future course instead.)
Want an idea of Nat’s teaching style?
Check out her YouTube channel and her beer education website, Discovering.Beer.
FAQs
What’s a Certified Beer Server?
According to the Cicerone Certification Program – the certification body for beer professionals – Certified Beer Server is the “first-level certification for those who work with beer”.
The Certified Beer Server exam is an opportunity to “demonstrate your mastery of the fundamentals of beer service, styles, and flavour.” The exam involves 60 multiple choice questions and can be taken online from anywhere in the world for $69.
(Please note: The cost of the exam is not included in the cost of the course. Virtual Beer School is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Cicerone Certification Program.)
What does the Certified Beer Server exam – and therefore the course – cover?
The exam covers the fundamentals of beer flavour and evaluation, beer ingredients, beer styles, and how to best store and serve beer.
Virtual Beer School uses the International English syllabus from the Cicerone Certification Program for reference. All areas are addressed, however, they are not discussed in the order of the syllabus.
Find a weekly breakdown of the topics covered in Virtual Beer School: Level 1 here.
While the video lessons cover all course content, for attendees interested in taking their studies a bit further, additional learning materials on each week’s topic (recommended reading, podcasts, and more) are also provided.
Who is this course for?
This course is open to everyone from around the world at any level of beer knowledge.
Attendees are welcome to sign up for Virtual Beer School to build up their beer knowledge without an interest in taking the Certified Beer Server exam.
Why should I take this course?
While all certifications from the Cicerone Certification Program can be achieved through self-study, Virtual Beer School helps to structure your learning and helps to make the learning process much more fun.
Not only do you become a part of a vibrant community of fellow beer lovers from around the world all working towards the same goal, the course helps you break the syllabus down into manageable chunks, carve out time each week for your studies, and should you need clarification on any of the content, you can immediately ask Natalya for help during the weekly live discussion sessions. If you need any more convincing, check out the course reviews from past students here.
Who will teach the course?
Virtual Beer School is taught by Natalya Watson, an award-winning beer educator, Beer Sommelier and Advanced Cicerone®.
During lockdown in 2020, Natalya began hosting free weekly online educational sessions on a variety of beer-themed topics, crowd-sourced from attendees.
The idea for Virtual Beer School developed from there as a more formal, paid-for offering to help prepare interested attendees for the Certified Beer Sever exam so they could have an opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge of beer. Now, more than 300 students have completed Natalya’s courses.
Find out more about Natalya and what inspired her to set up Virtual Beer School here.
How many people can attend the course?
Course attendance will be capped at 60 people, in order to better facilitate discussion.
How interactive is the course?
Very – and this is something that many past students have encouraged Natalya to emphasise as they’re really pleasantly surprised by it!
During the weekly live discussion sessions, participation is welcome over audio, video or via the chat (whichever attendees are most comfortable with). Not only does this give you an opportunity to interact with Natalya and get your questions answered live, you can also interact with and learn from your fellow classmates during this time, too. You’ll also have access to an online forum to keep up the conversation outside of class.
What happens if I can’t join live for the weekly discussion?
The audio from each weekly discussion session will be recorded and shared with you, along with any slides shown. You can also contact Natalya directly with your questions.
How do I access the course materials?
Once you sign up for the course, you’ll receive a confirmation email from Natalya, not only to say thanks for signing up, but also to learn a bit more about you and your interest in beer.
Natalya will then get back in touch on February 1st, 2023 to give you access to the Course Hub on virtualbeerschool.com (where you can watch the first lesson) and to send you the Zoom link for the first weekly live discussion session on Tuesday, February 7th at 7pm GMT.
If you have any questions about the course in the meantime, please don’t hesitate to contact Natalya directly.
How long will I have access to the course materials for?
All attendees will have access to the Course Hub for 3 months from the start of their course. (For example, attendees on the February 2023 course will have access to the course materials through the end of April 2023.)
Do we do any tastings during the course?
As the Certified Beer Server exam is taken online there is no tasting component (meaning you will not be asked to taste a beer and identify its flavours or style), so we don’t necessarily need to do any tasting practice as part of Virtual Beer School.
That said though, tasting different beers can really help bring their flavours to life in a much more impactful way than simply reading about them. So for certain sessions – primarily when we’re discussing regional beer styles (Weeks 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8) – Natalya will recommend a few beer styles to have handy to compare and contrast as she leads you through a guided tasting during the lesson, but again, this isn’t a requirement
Once you sign up for the course, you’ll receive a list of the recommended beer styles to taste along with some suggested commercial examples of each, but you’re more than welcome to source your beers from whichever brewery you prefer or skip the tasting all together.
Why are the lessons no longer taught live?
Virtual Beer School was initially launched during lockdown in 2020, when we all had a bit more time on our hands and, well, nowhere to go! Now that we’re no longer in lockdown, Natalya decided to move to pre-recorded video lessons in order to give everyone (1) a bit more flexibility in their schedules to get through the course content and (2) a bit more time to process the lesson before taking questions on it. All content covered is the same.
What if I’ve already passed the Certified Beer Server exam?
If you’re ready to start preparing for the next level, Certified Cicerone®, join Natalya for Virtual Beer School: Level 2! Following a similar format, VBS: Level 2 is a 12-week interactive online prep course for the written portion of the Certified Cicerone® exam.
For more information, head to the Level 2 course page here.
Still have a question?
Contact Natalya directly on natalya@beerwithnat.com and she’ll be happy to help.
Virtual Beer School gives everyone the opportunity to learn more about beer and show what they know.
Online beer education brought to you by Natalya Watson, award-winning beer educator, Beer Sommelier & Advanced Cicerone®.
Virtual Beer School is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Cicerone Certification Program.
Virtual Beer School 