Samples. How many is too many?

Bars (should) have the cost of samples built into their pricing along with spillage and sampling by the staff so they can talk about the beers.

It's well understood that many customers are still relatively new to craft beer or do not keep up with all the labels to know what everything is. People are going to want to sample before committing to something they may not like and giving those samples will net far more business than not. It's why other places with a large variety of flavors offer samples (e.g. ice cream). It's not even just about selling that one $7 pint but building a relationship with a customer who will feel comfortable bringing other people in who won't have to blindly buy pints.

That said, it's not an invitation to take free beer from the bar. Samples should be requested with reasonableness for the purpose of determining what to purchase and the server's time getting you samples should be considered in your tipping.

 

I think it's really a situational type of deal. Whenever I go to Tired Hands, their entire tap list is different save for their two staples. After I've had a few beers with a dinner then I decide what I'd like to take home with me in a growler. They do offer 4oz pours, but I don't want to drink any more and still haven't decided what I want. This can be a difficult choice given some of the odd choices of adjuncts they have. Though I don't think I've ordered more than two.

At the same time I've ordered 4oz pours and the bartender suggested I have a sample of it first, because he knew the beer was just really polarizing.

 

Two 1 oz. samples then either get a flight of beers typically at the cost of a 20 oz. pint or order a pint or 12oz of a beer. Anything beyond that is just annoying and the server could be assisting someone else.

 

While I personally have this feeling, I've come to realize that some people just want a pint or at least a 12 oz pour that they can chill on. I can see how someone doesn't want to sit and look at a sheet and go "ok so now I'm gonna try this beer" when it kind of detracts from the social aspect especially since you can't carry around a flight comfortably. So I feel that, even when flights are offered, if you want a full pour of something, you should be allowed to get two free tasters to decide. However if someone's like "Let me try X, let me try Y, let me try Z...okay lemme get a half pour of Y" then that's fucked up.

This reminds me of a story. I used to work at a nationally popular brewpub where you could get unlimited tastes (within reason of course). I wasn't a bartender but one of the bartenders told me this one guy came in multiple times and asked for 4 tastes, said thank you, then Turned around and left. Never even took a seat at the bar. If you asked him what was up he'd probably say "Well I'm trying to get into craft beer but I just haven't liked anything I've tried yet." This establishment offered flights of course. Fuck that guy.

 

If i know the bar does samples, I have no reservations about asking for 1 or 2 samples prior to each round I order. That being said, I try not to drink the same thing more than once.

 

Yeah but my main point is, even if you could have a bunch of pre-prepared steaks lying around you'd still be ruining the steak by cutting off a piece for someone to try. A proper analogy would be someone asking for a taste of the tomato bisque before buying it and guess what? I've worked serving jobs at multiple different restaurants where someone asked for a taste of soup and every time I complied with permission from the manager. Same thing with wine (the cheaper bottles offered by the glass of course) although it was allowed only about half the time over the span of my serving experience. Some people call it great customer service, I call it someone being a pain in the ass.

 

Breweries are different because the profit margin is higher. Still, when I've bartended at breweries, as I'm putting down that third taste I say "Ya know, we do flights" and cut off the tasters at that point because every brewery does flights. That's the point of flights: to try those brews you're unfamiliar with without the brewery wasting beer on countless customers who feel they're entitled to unlimited free samples. A line must be drawn at some point.

 

And if they offer unlimited samples, they would lose way more than $7 in the long-term.

 

If a establishment sells flights I always go that route.
If they don't sell flights I would definitely like to try something before I pay top dollar for a glass full.
If I can't try it I will just pass.
So I guess the answer is as many as it takes, but I'm the kind of person that would not ask for free samples just to avoid buying a glass of beer.

 

See, this is where the establishment needs to set the policy so they're not taken advantage of and you're not put in that awkward situation. There are many variances on what the policy could be but two cut and dry ones are: unlimited samples but you can't send a beer back if you don't like it or cap the samples to two per person but you can still send back a beer if you don't like it. This is why many establishments need to realize that spending that extra money on small pour glassware and flight boards will save them so much money in the long run. Mellow Mushroom doesn't do flight pours or even half pours (I don't know what their taster policy is) which is ludicrous since most locations have at least 10 different craft beers on tap. At Yard House, they do preset flights and you can get tasters but they cap it at 2 per person. Much smarter.

 

I 100% agree with you but you have to admit that some people take advantage of free things whenever and wherever they can so there needs to be some sort of regulation or else the place is literally throwing money out the window.

 

And I will add likely to go back. We don't see samples a lot here.

 

I disagree that waste from sampling should be factored into the price of the beer in a market where the prices are already very high. Why should I have to pay more for a pour just to allow some bozo the freedom to get 5 free tasters of beer?

 

A truly cagey customer ponders his choice out loud and gets offered a sample without asking.

 

All good points, most places I visit limit to two or sell $1 2oz pours or full flights. I've seen the staff kindly suggest the flights or tell them outright that it will be $1 after the normal two tastes. My favorite place however, sees me coming in and puts out the samples of the beer they think I'll like before I've even got to the bar. Now that's service

 

Although your first point is entirely correct, it can also project you as a jerk, as in, seeing how much you can get away with. I'm all in with your second point, since the only time I ask for a sample is when I'm only going to have one or two and there are several beers which interest me. And offered samples are almost never turned down, the only time being when the sample is of a style I'm not all that fond of.

 

Absolutely. But I would say cagey and smart.

 

For free tastes, 1-2 is my MAX. And if I don't like either, I purchase a small glass of something else.

 

Usually if I inquire about a beer I am offered a sample. I could probably sample all 40 taps if I wanted because I am a good customer. The guy mentioned in @JdoubleA's post probably wanted to taste beers he had no intention of ordering. Or counted them as ticks.

 

Based on previous replies I'm in the minority here. Personally I have no problem asking for multiple samples, assuming of course that the bartender isn't crazy busy. As long as I tip on the overall service, samples included, I think it's perfectly fine to ask for samples. The same principle applies when I use my "beer of the month" card that gets me a free beer every month - I mentally add the beer to the overall tab and tip accordingly.

Okay...guilty as charged here. But I would argue there's nothing wrong with this when the bar offers samples and you don't go totally overboard. Sure, you can't write a full review of a beer based on a sample at a bar, but generally you can tell whether or not you want a full pour. Or whether it's worth purchasing a $14 bomber in the store later on.