What Is A Beer Lover Called? 7 words to use

There are plenty of words and phrases that can be used to describe a beer lover. But my personal favorite is Cerevisaphile.  Coming from the root word Cerevisia which is latin for beer and the suffix phile which describes lover. It matches the definition, it sounds important and sophisticated, and also just proud and dignified.

The pronunciation might look tricky, but it isn’t bad once you understand it. The way to pronounce it is “Sara- Viz- A- File.”

In popular culture, you might recognize Cerevisaphile from the popular video game Assassin’s Creed Syndicate. In this the game, you can unlock the “Cerevisaphile achievement” by having your character try beers throughout the game.

Other Words That Describe A Beer Lover

Zythophile:

This doesn’t have the same attractiveness that Cerevisaphile has in my opinion. But it has a similar structure in that the root word is greek and it ends with “phile.” The root word comes from zûthos, which means made from barley. Being made from barley would refer to beer, of course.

In the Craft Beer community you might see the word  zythology get used.  This would be used to describe the study or studying of the beer and brewing process.

Lots of brewing organizations use this word in there title. This includes the Zythological Society of North America, the Zythology League of Texas, and others.

Libationist:

This goes a little bit beyond being just a lover of beer. a true libationist will be very familiar with the ingredients that are in a certain beer and know about the brewery it came from and their brewing process. This term also goes beyond beer, and can describe a person that knows about liquor and cocktail drinks as well.

A YouTube channel that I absolutely loved was called “The Casual Libationist.” They would review and talk beers from small breweries. I loved it, but sadly it has been an inactive channel on YouTube for years now.

Since libationist goes more broad in beer with it including liquor drinks as well, I didn’t put it at the top of my list. But it is still a great word.

Hophead:

This is a fun one. It is self explanatory in that it is a play on the popular term “pothead” but referring to hops, a key ingredient in beer. Although this is a lot more fun, I can’t help but imagine a hop head being some young kid that sits at home all day watching tv or playing video games. It doesn’t have the same respect that Cerevisaphile has.

In some cases, hophead is used to describe a drug addict, which is a bit off putting.

Some breweries have even named beers Pothead, including Tree Brewing Co, Bend Brewing Co, Dark Star Brewing, and many others

Beer Enthusiast:

This one might be more obvious to most. Although it has the dignity that I would want, it is also very generic and lacks creativity and originality. Someone that loves craft beer should have a more creative title.

Cicerone:

You may or may not have heard this one before. A cicerone is someone who is experienced in selecting, acquiring and serving beers and pairing them with foods. Unlike the other words on this list, Cicerone is something you can be certified in. Certification options can be seen at www.cicerone.org. There are 3 levels of certification, with the top level being the master level.

Cicerone is mostly used for someone in the hospitality industry, and not for the general consumer. Although some general lovers of beer have gone on the get certified, it is mostly meant for people working as servers and bartenders.

Beer Snob:

Well, most people might have been expecting this one eventually, and here it is. I saved my least favorite for last. For a beer snob, people mostly picture someone who is judgmental and overcritical of not only beers, but people who drink them. A beer snob might think they are better than other drinkers, which is just not a very fun person to be around.

A beer snob might tell someone that them drinking but light shows they have no taste. But in contrast, a Cerevisaphile would still drink the craft beer that they like, but also accept the choices of what others drink or don’t drink.

People on the outside will often use beer snob as a derogatory term to describe a craft beer lover, which of course is not appealing.

Conclusion:

There is an almost endless list of ways to call someone a beer lover. These are some of the most common ones. Cerevisia is my clear favorite since it exemplifies dignity, respect, and creativity. On the other hand, beer snob is my least favorite. When it is used, it is often used to be a derogatory insult.

Being a beer snob can make us look like jerks to the rest of the world. But we are good people! We just love beer. So don’t be a beer snob and make us look like jerks. Be a Cerevisaphile and let the world see us for the good people that we are.