Top Hat Founder Ben Butler Receives Certified Cicerone® Designation

A lot of people claim to know about beer, but it can be challenging to tell who actually does.

That’s why the Cicerone^® Certification Program launched the Certified Cicerone^®, which critically evaluates an individual’s professional body of knowledge on:

Beer history
Keeping and serving product
Beer styles
Beer ingredients and brewing processes
Pairing beer with food
Sensory ability to evaluate beer by smell and taste.

“The CC exam is a seriously difficult in-person exam with written and tasting portions. Its passage rate is less than 40%, about 1 in 3,” says Chris Cohen here.

With a growing portfolio of over 18 beer brands, 100+ packages designed to date, and 21+ international industry awards, having Butler pursue this designation seemed like the natural next step to increasing our prowess in the space.

“Hold Your Pints, There’s a New Beer Design Agency in Town” by Hop Culture

Butler traveled to the Cicerone^® Chicago headquarters in September for the exam, and received official word of passage.

“It’s great to see a beer branding agency investing in their beer knowledge,” says Matt Lutton, the Marketing Manager at Reuben’s Brews. “It helps bridge the gap between our unbound recipe development and a creative packaging execution. We are all speaking the same language.”

Top Hat is a seven-person, award-winning design and marketing communications agency in Pittsburgh. Our services include branding design, packaging, website design and development, and full-scale marketing campaigns.

We’ve worked with breweries from Alaska to Seattle to Boston and everywhere in between. Notable clients include Lord Hobo Brewing Company in Boston, Reuben’s Brews in Seattle, and Pittsburgh Brewing Company (makers of Iron City and I.C. Light).