Remembering How to Enjoy Beer

Sorry but breweries drive this train with offering too many beers on tap and frequently rotating new ones every week or 2. That's what is bringing in the customers, because its not just a local watering hole to cater to the locals within a few city blocks, but catering mostly to beer tourism and quality beer seekers (hobby drinkers using social media to find the best beers and breweries to visit). Only way to sample the breweries offerings without getting drunk is...well to sample in small pours. No one wants to miss out on a great beer by only having a pint of what may be the worst beer in the tap lineup that given day.

If you frequent the same place every day as a local, then yeah, you'll finally settle into pints and socializing. For travelers, beer tourists or even infrequent locals, sampling in small sizes is necessary if you want to get a fair exposure to whether or not you think that brewery is great, good, avg. or horrible. Just trying 1 pint won't provide enough a sample size (pun intended).

So the sampler pours are a necessary evil to be able to taste all of the breweries offerings to give them a fair shake or determine which beers you like best (then maybe buy a pint, take home a crowler/growler etc).

 

The current American craft brewery taproom with # of taps and frequent rotation is sort of a mini sized beer festival for anyone visiting. No one goes to a craft beer festival to only order 1-2 pints and socialize.

 

As someone who travels often for work, the brewery sampler is my best option to try the offerings a brewery has. I can understand the opposing view, but different strokes for different folks. Last week in LA, I was able to end the day at the Bruery taproom. With all their options (about 30), would you blame me for not wanting to try as many as possible? I don't want to pick a pint and find that after a few sips it isn't as enjoyable as first thought. Factor in that I also stopped by Bottle Logic and had another sampler and a bite at their food truck, and I'm done for the night. Now if I've been to the place before and find something I know I like (thank you Smog City and Monkish), then I'll get my glass and be happy. But you can't have a brewery offer a bunch of new beer, the ability to try them all via a flight, and not expect an out of towner to take them up on it.

 

I think there's a happy medium here. I've seen some breweries start to offer 8oz pours in additon to full pints. I think 8oz is perfect - big enough to enjoy it "as the brewer intended", small enough where you can still have 3-4 more pours without getting hammered.

Honestly, when I go to a brewery that I don't frequent, I want to take advantage and try at least 3 different beers. Everyone else seems to have the same idea which is why flights/samples are offered and are so popular. A little tweaking as to the actual size of the pour would do wonders.

 

Lately Ive been sticking with what I know and like at a new brewery. i.e. Order a pint of their brown ale or stout. Then order a pint of their IPA. if those 2 check out... then they can brew some great things.

Im tired of the sampler trays too.

Cheers!

 

Flights have never been something I enjoy because the sequence in which the beer is presented is not how I typically enjoy beer. I generally go IPA first (personal preference) and depending on IBUs my palate is not as sharp after that. Two pints and I am done at most breweries.

 

I agree with @Celtics76 , I really like places that do a 'half pour' or something less than a full glass.

I can't determine if I like a beer in 2-3 oz. However I like to branch out and try things I might not like, but I really don't want to spend the money or be wasteful ordering a full pint of something just to experiment.

I also see benefit in a half pour, if you're driving!

 

I agree that the flavors aren't going to be the same as a full pint (a volume of which many are starting to seriously short, either in method of pouring or volume served - 12 oz pour for a 5.5% IPA for the same price??).

But breweries only have themselves to blame for this trend. Instead of offering a free few ounces of taste to ensure that a beer is not unliked by that particular person, breweries started charging for it and came up with the "flight" as another revenue-generator. Doesn't matter if they never intended that to be the main course, they created that monster and now they have to lie with it.

If you won't give me a few ounces to try it first, then I'm ordering a flight. And, if you have a very large assortment to choose from, maybe two (or three!) flights so that I can sample your wares. And if that ultimately results in sating my desire for more beers, well, you reap what you sow, brother...

 

I also find that at breweries that sell bottles to go, if I like my sample in the flight I'm likely to buy a bottle to ty at a later date. Especially when I'm travelling I find they are getting an incremental sale out of me.

 

I like the half pour option (8oz), especially for the higher abvs frequently offered by craft brewers. (Pints are fine, macho even, but with an 8% beer you've just had the equivalent of slightly more than two 12 oz cans of macro lager. An online BAC calculator shows drinking just three pints of an 8% beer over a leisurely three hours puts a 160lb person at an estimated .09 BAC.)

I much prefer if a place will give me one or two splashes (more than a couple of samples unless the place is empty seems discourteous) and then I can order a half or full pour of something with some assurance I won't hate it. It's nice to tip extra for this. I agree the 4 oz taster doesn't bring out the best in a beer, but if it's the only option other than a full pour of something I've never sampled I might choose it.

The trend for good breweries with high standards does seem to be moving away from sample paddles, which I applaud from a service standpoint.

Not sure what the difficulty having a conversation with a small glass might be. I'm not embarrassed to be caught with one. (It makes my hands look huge...)

 

I disagree that communication cannot happen over a sampler. I find quite the contrary occurs in my circles. I also appreciate the fact that I can try all the breweries offerings in a single setting, which allows me the ability to then order the pint or pints of those I find worth a fuller look. I also do not dive immediately into my samplers, consuming them rapidly, but allow them time to evolve and develop into that which is intended. I also usually take home at least a growler or two (and occasionally 3) of the offerings I find most appealing. In my case and those whom I appreciate great brews with, the money and time we spend enjoying the brewers efforts are definitely in the breweries best interests. I think it is the experience you make it to be but I for one must strongly disagree with the thoughts put forth in the article. If the author would invest the time and effort into this that I and my brother beer aficionados do, then they would see the advantages as opposed to the negatives of the experience. I personally think my palate and experience in the world of craft have benefited from the experience and it would most definitely take away from it if I could not try before I buy.

 

I was with you on this whole article until you used FOMO. If you're to fucking lazy to type out "the fear of missing out" after typing 471 full words before it; who the fuck is going to take you seriously as a writer, or want to continue listening to any opinion you might have? Also, overpoured is not a word.

 

I too like that some breweries now have half pint pours of some of their stuff. If it is a place I am unfamiliar with, or even if it is a place I've been to before and I know they have good beer and they have some new stuff on-tap I've never had before, that's a good way to try something without the risk of paying for a full pint and ending up not caring for the beer. Fortunately, pretty much all the breweries and even some bars in my area will offer you a small taste for free of beers on-tap so you can see if you like a beer enough before ordering a bigger sized pour.

Eric

 

There is definitely for myself a better opportunity to judge a brew if I have a whole pour. However, when I would have samples of the same beer in tasters I often found my overall enjoyment and rating of it wasn't that much different. If I go into a bar I mix it up and if there any many things I want to get my hands on then 4 oz pours are great! Also a lot of the high abv beers are in small servings anyway (sometimes).

I used to have full pours of everything but there's two simple reasons I don't do it anymore. 1) You're drinking more which means for me more time in the bathroom and putting more calories in your gullet 2) Ordering full pints is just expensive, especially if you live in my area. My bill at the end some nights was downright crazy in the past until I finally just said that's it I have to do the smaller pours now. Good luck finding a pint under $7 dollars here in the DC area.

I absolutely LOVE halves (8 oz) pours! It's the happy medium!!! I wish many places offered them more often, Selinsgrove in PA is a GREAT place for that with their awesome beers!

 

Honestly, I feel that a four ounce pour is a perfect way to enjoy the beer and asses its form. A glass of water in between pours goes a long way in judging them all objectively. This article seems to me to be written with some bitter intent. I couldn't help but get a sense of entitlement as I read through each paragraph. As someone who has poured beer before I can tell you that there are people that make a living out of "tasters". I have seen someone ask for as many as ten "taster" pours and then order nothing. It's fine if there is nothing that tickles your fancy on tap. I get that. However, think of the time invested in you tasting 10 beers and the paying customers that suffer. There needs to be a line drawn.

 

Well that was a level a beer snobbery without compare. No. I am not sure what craft brewers you've been visiting but out of the few hundred I've personally tasted at, a handful had "sloppy flights". Plus I am not going to stand at the bar and force the proprietor to give me sips of everything until I decide what to spend my cash on. Getting a flight of small pours provides an overview of the brewer's oeuvre. I want to get a sense of whether a particular venue is worth a second (or third or forth...etc) visit. Even if it is not a style I am particular into I want to know how their version fairs against that of others (also I've been able to discover particular brews of those styles that I actually enjoy and pursue). Heck if a craft brewer out rights bans samplers than I am much less inclined to return since I MIGHT have accidentally ordered the one beer that I strongly dislike.

 

Another shout out for the 8 oz option to lower ETOH intake when that is the right call.

 

Why is it necessary "to be able to taste all of the breweries offerings?" I thought the point of visiting a brewery was to enjoy their beer, even if it's "only" a pint or two, not check a box.

No, I'm not a fan of flights. If the beer gods wanted us to enjoy beer 5 or 6 oz at a time, they would've invented 5 or 6 oz bottles. IMHO, of course.

 

i agree that the 3-4 ounce pours take away from the experience. I have seen more places start offering 8 ounce pours, which I think is a happy medium where I can get the satisfaction of feeling I've enjoyed the full complexity of a beer and still be able to try others. Those 8 ounce drafts were crucial in being able to try a few new offerings, especially during the winter time when everything starts getting to be 7%+ in the tap room.

With that being said, I received some flight glasses as a bridal party gift and these 3-4 ounce glasses are helpful when I am entertaining at home and I bust out a bomber or a bottle that a few people would like to try. It allows me to pour the beer to at least replicate the effect of a pint glass instead of using larger glasses forcing a poorer pour.