The International Bitterness Unit (IBU) wasn't invented to tell beer drinkers how bitter a beer would taste. It was invented to help brewers make more consistent beer. Somewhere along the way, the brewing industry's quality control measurement became a consumer-facing marketing number—and that's where much of the confusion began.

Like most people, I rarely rely on my own knowledge to recall anything, and I almost exclusively rely on various software, apps, and algorithms to determine how I move through my daily life. This reliance naturally extends to my homebrewing.

Some beers smell distinctly like banana because yeast produces an ester called isoamyl acetate during fermentation. Learn why it is especially prominent in Hefeweizen, what affects its intensity, and when banana character belongs in a beer.

In a little over six months, I’ll go to the Cicerone Certification Program offices in Chicago, where I’ll sit for the day-long exam. The Advanced Cicerone exam will cover a subset of the information within the Master Cicerone exam and will have the same sections tested on each Cicerone level exam: keeping and serving beer; beer styles; beer flavor and evaluation; beer ingredients and brewing processes; and pairing beer with food.