Following years of intense study and dedication to his craft, Redmond-area local and Postdoc Brewing’s taproom manager, Bobby Wood, is the first to achieve a ranking above certified Cicerone in Washington state, and the 14th in the world to achieve advanced Cicerone certification.

Advanced Cicerone is the third tier in the Cicerone program and requires expert knowledge of proper beer service, storage, style, history and food pairings.

According to Wood, “I am very grateful to live in a place ripe with experienced and well-educated consumers and industry professionals. To me, this achievement has pushed me to dive deeper into everything that is beer, but more importantly, has inspired me to be the best server I can for my patrons.”

Wood spent nearly 40 hours a week for more than a year preparing for the difficult eight-hour advanced Cicerone exam. A collection of books and materials were studied, copious notes taken, a wide array of beer styles consumed and evaluated, and several tasting panels were organized to learn off-flavors and train for the tests. After recently traveling to Chicago to complete the blind tasting portion of the exam, Wood achieved advanced Cicerone certification on Sept. 3, becoming the highest ranked Cicerone in the state.

In 2014, Wood’s early advancements in the Cicerone program caught the eye of head brewer Tom Schmidlin at Postdoc Brewing, where Wood is now taproom manager, and organizes inspired beer and food pairing events at the taproom and local beer festivals throughout the year.

“I find great satisfaction in providing people with not only delicious beer, but also knowledge about what is inside their glass,” Wood said. “With the enormous diversity of beer styles in the world, I firmly believe that there’s a beer for everyone to enjoy. When I can get a person who said they don’t like beer to say, ‘Wow, I didn’t know beer could taste like that!’ I feel like I have made the world a better place.”