What Exactly Is a Cicerone, Anyway?

In the world of beer, one word is growing in popular recognition. And, perhaps surprisingly, it’s not a style or a brewery. It is, rather, the title of beer expert: a cicerone.

It’s the beer equivalent of sommelier, or wine expert. Perhaps you’ve heard of it, perhaps you haven’t. But what is a cicerone, exactly? How does a person become one, and what happens after that?