Mandy Naglich is in training. But when she heads to a brewery, it's not for a beer after work — it is her work.

She's sipping on a variety of beers at Randolph Beer in Williamsburg and calling out the flavors and characteristics. "Kind of forest like. This one is dry hops. This one is a fruited beer. This one is American Hops," Naglich said.

Naglich is training to become one of the top beer experts in the world.

She is already certified as an advanced cicerone, or beer expert. There are about 100 on the planet.  

She'll test in the fall to become a master cicerone.  Right now there are only 19 master cicerone’s worldwide.  "

I'm tasting these now so when it comes to the blind tasting, and they put one of these in front of me, I’ll be able to remember, 'boom I know what this style is,'" she said with several glasses lined in front of her on the bar.

She often studies here and geeks out on all things beer with head brewer Flint Whistler.

"I haven’t even tried to go to the level of cicerone that she already has, much less consider going for master," said Whistler.

Naglich said she's on a mission to convert wine lovers to beer.

"I don’t think people appreciate what can go on with beer. It can be like a cocktail or a wine of a spirit. Something like this, it’s like a tiki drink and when it’s nice and effervescent it’s like a nice sparkling wine, she said holding up a glass of beer that did look a lot like a white wine.

Back at her apartment, Mandy continues her studies.. After becoming the first woman to win a gold medal at the National Home Brew Competition in 2016, Naglich left her job in marketing to make beer her career.

"That’s what sets beer apart from other drinks, is the protein net keeping all the carbonation in," she said referring to what most of us might call the foam on top.

She teaches blind taste testing, collaborates with breweries, and has a blog, "Beers with Mandy."

Still, there is constant disbelief that a woman can be a beer expert.

"I just won a gold medal at the National Home Brew competition and I was the only woman to do it this year again, so it’s kind of lonely place to be, but I want to inspire more women and bring them up with me," said Naglich.

Just throw a blindfold on her and it's clear she's a pro.

In a blind taste test with NY1, she was able to name the types of beer with plenty of specificity, but also ingredients like coriander and orange peel.

Mandy insisted people who don't like the smell of beer may be smelling the wrong ones, as she poured one that looked and smelled like a glass of red wine. "It’s fermented in oak barrels, so you get that vanilla and some of that acidity. It’s totally red wine in a beer bottle," she said.

She even popped a cork on what appeared to be champagne, but was actually a sparkling beer. Perhaps she'll choose that for a celebratory drink in the fall.