原文標題：

Beer sommeliers
Draught me in
The growth of craft beer is creating demand for a new type of beer expert
啤酒侍酒師
給我倒一杯
繁榮的精釀啤酒業(yè)急需新型啤酒人才

The growth of the “cicerone” shows how craft beer is thriving
More complex brews require guides who can tell customers what to drink
“cicerone”的激增反映了精釀啤酒的蓬勃發(fā)展
啤酒日漸復雜，顧客需要向導提供建議

[Paragraph 1]
NEIL WITTE, from Kansas City, Missouri, has two degrees, in philosophy and in German.
奈爾·維特來自密蘇里州堪薩斯城，他擁有哲學和德語兩個學位。

Yet he says that the toughest exam he has ever taken was the one he did to be qualified as a “master cicerone”—that is, an expert in beer, roughly equivalent to a master sommelier. (The word comes from an Italian term for guide.)
然而，他說他參加過的最難的考試是“大師級Cicerone”資格考試。“大師級Cicerone”是指啤酒專家，大致相當于一名侍酒師。（這個詞來源于意大利語中的“向導”一詞。）

The exam is organised by a firm based in Chicago, and takes over two full days. It involves a three-hour written essay question, a multiple-choice test, as well as a blind tasting test and an oral examination.
考試由一家芝加哥的公司組織，歷時兩天多。題目有三小時的書面作文題、多項選擇題、盲品測試和口試。

Mr Witte, who passed only on his third attempt, is now one of just two dozen or so fully qualified “masters” on the planet.
維特先生第三次才通過考試，現(xiàn)在他是這個星球上僅有的20多名“大師級Cicerone”之一。

But there are around 4,500 qualified cicerones (which also requires an in-person exam), as well as almost 150,000 people qualified as “certified beer servers” via an online multiple-choice exam.
但約有4500名“認證Cicerone”（這也需要現(xiàn)場考試），以及約有15萬“認證啤酒侍酒員”（需要在線做多項選擇題）。

[Paragraph 2]
The growth of the “cicerone” reflects the ever increasing complexity of American beer.
“cicerone”人數(shù)的增長反映了美國啤酒業(yè)日益復雜之勢。

In recent decades, the overall consumption of beer has lost market share to wine, spirits and alcopops.
近幾十年來，啤酒的總消費量已被葡萄酒、烈酒和泡泡甜酒擠占。

Yet “craft beer” has thrived. In 1982, there were just 93 breweries across the entire country. Last year, there were 9,247, according to the Brewer’s Association, an industry group.
然而，“精釀啤酒”卻在蓬勃發(fā)展。1982年，全國只有93家啤酒廠。據(jù)美國釀酒師協(xié)會稱，去年共有9247家啤酒廠。

The number continued to expand (though more slowly) even when the covid-19 pandemic shut bars.
即使在新冠時期酒吧關閉期間，這一數(shù)字仍在繼續(xù)擴大（盡管速度較慢）。

Craft beer now accounts for 13% of total beer output, and is growing at a hoppy rate of 8% per year, while sales of traditional brews are flat.
精釀啤酒現(xiàn)在占啤酒總產量的13%，并且以每年8%的速度增長，而傳統(tǒng)啤酒的銷量則持平。

More complicated beers require better-educated bartenders to sell them, says Ray Daniels, who first invented the concept of the cicerone.
最先發(fā)明“cicerone”概念的雷·丹尼爾斯說：“復雜的啤酒需要受過良好教育的調酒師來銷售?！?br>

[Paragraph 3]
Some brewers are even trying to compete with wine and spirits for prestige.
一些釀酒商甚至想與葡萄酒和烈酒互爭雄長。

Samuel Adams, a craft brewer from Boston, Massachusetts, sells a beer it calls “Utopias.”
塞繆爾·亞當斯是一位來自馬薩諸塞州波士頓的精釀啤酒商，他出售一種叫做“烏托邦”的啤酒。

The latest version is aged with cherries for nearly 30 years in bourbon and wine casks, and contains an alcohol level of 28%.
最新款的啤酒用波旁威士忌酒桶和葡萄酒酒桶加上櫻桃陳釀近30年，酒精含量為28%。

Your correspondent tried some, and to his uncultured taste buds, it tastes less like beer and more like an intriguing sort of sherry. But it sells for $300 a bottle.
本報記者試喝了啤酒，對他未經熏陶的味蕾來說，這款酒嘗起來不像啤酒，更像一種有趣的雪利酒。但它的售價是每瓶300美元。

Goose Island, a brewery in Chicago, also sells a beer aged in bourbon barrels, for a somewhat more modest price (around $50).
芝加哥的一家釀酒廠“鵝島”也出售一種用波旁威士忌酒桶陳釀的啤酒，價格略低（約50美元一瓶）。

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Both Mr Daniels and Mr Witte admit that beer will never have quite the elitist draw as fine wine.
丹尼爾斯先生和維特先生都承認，啤酒永遠不會像葡萄美酒那樣吸引精英。

For one thing, even the most exciting beer does not store well, making it a poor speculative investment.
一方面，即使是最烈的啤酒也不好儲存，這使得它成為一種不良投資項目。

But Mr Witte says becoming a master cicerone has cracked the possibility of tasting pairings with meals at fancy restaurants.
但維特先生表示，一名大師級Cicerone有機會在高檔餐廳嘗試美食美酒搭配。

And though few restaurants yet employ in-house full cicerones, there is stout demand for the qualification from distributors and marketing types.
盡管很少有餐廳雇傭駐店全cicerone，但經銷商和營銷工作對cicerone資質的需求依然強勁。

Customers are getting ever more demanding, about types of beer but also things like cleaning draught lines.
顧客對啤酒的種類要求越來越高，而且對啤酒濃度等要求也越來越高。

The untapped market for beer expertise gets lager day by day.
與啤酒專業(yè)知識相關的藍海市場也越來越龐大。

（恭喜讀完，本篇英語詞匯量520左右）
原文出自：2022年10月22日《TE》United States版塊。

精讀筆記來源于：自由英語之路
本文翻譯整理: Irene本文編輯校對: Irene
僅供個人英語學習交流使用。

【補充資料】（來自于網絡）
Cicerone認證項目是美國精釀啤酒行業(yè)中，致力于提升精釀啤酒從業(yè)者的水準，為提供消費者更好的啤酒體驗的一個權威認證系統(tǒng)。Cicerone認證項目有四個級別。第一級：認證啤酒侍酒員Certified Beer Server。第二級：認證Cicerone。第三級：高級Cicerone。第四級：大師級Cicerone。

國內已推出第一級考試Certified Beer Server的簡體中文版本。Cicerone會在今年10月28日在上海舉辦國內首次第二級考試，Certified Cicerone Exam。雖然考試的語言仍然是英語，但是考試現(xiàn)場會提供詞典，方便母語為中文的考生查詢。

波旁酒桶比標準橡木桶略高、略薄，葡萄酒與木材的比例提高了?！案鶕?jù)法律規(guī)定，波旁威士忌的酒桶必須是100%純正的美國橡木桶，而且要經過嚴格的炭化處理。”因此，釀酒師使用的波旁威士忌酒桶的焦味比傳統(tǒng)的葡萄酒陳釀酒桶的更明顯。一家位于加州的釀酒廠提供各種桶裝啤酒，都是在波旁威士忌桶里陳釀的。1992年，Goose Island 釀造了第一桶波旁陳釀啤酒。從那以后，這類公司在波旁陳釀啤酒方面取得了巨大的成功。自2011年以來，啤酒廠推出桶裝陳釀啤酒的數(shù)量一直在穩(wěn)步增長。

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【重點句子】（3?個）
The growth of the “cicerone” reflects the ever increasing complexity of American beer.
“cicerone”人數(shù)的增長反映了美國啤酒業(yè)日益復雜之勢。

Some brewers are even trying to compete with wine and spirits for prestige.
一些釀酒商甚至想與葡萄酒和烈酒互爭雄長。

The untapped market for beer expertise gets lager day by day.
與 啤酒專業(yè)知識相關的藍海市場也越來越龐大。