Craft Beer, Cicerones and Changing Identities in Beer Serving

Where wine has sommeliers, beer now has cicerones. With the growth of the craft beer market, an industry has emerged around flavor training to ensure that beer servers know how to best match drinker to beer. However, little research examines the nature of craft beer service work and how it impacts on bar workers. In this chapter, we draw upon auto-ethnographic consumer research and online materials to examine the changing nature of ‘beer work’. We highlight the relevance of craftwork, prosumption and professionalization for beer servers and identify a number of recommendations for future research.