How often do you get half pours or flights?

Flights at any new brewery I visi. Full pours of the ones I really like

 

I like to get a flight whenever I visit a place for the first time, but I'm always disappointed when they don't use a proper sampling glass that accommodates a little bit of head and allows the aromas to concentrate. I'd be ecstatic if everyone used 6-ounce snifters for this. As for the half pour, I'm hoping to get one tomorrow. The Market Cafe at HyVee is tapping a '15 Even More Jesus. I love EMJ, but a little goes a long way - for me, anyway.

 

Have never seen half pours. Maybe it's where I live, just don't have them. Tasters all day but not half pours. That being said I LOVE taster flights! For sure gives me enough of an idea if I want to get a pint of whatever beer. Can try 8 beers I've never had and still enjoy a pint or two afterwards without getting stupid.....

 

Personally I never do half pours, usually a flight or a pint. Typically I like to try a flight of the 4 beers that look most interesting, and then select a pint of my favorite. I rarely drink at a brewery more than that. If so I probably just different pints of my favorite styles or whatever sounds interesting.

 

I do half pours if it's high ABV during a session. I never do flights. Too much of a palate assault. I'm still young, I'll take the full pint.

 

Half pour -No Sir--Flights on a rare occasion.

 

You were usually being served 16 oz./pints of draught beer in the 1970s?

Typical draught beer serving sizes varied from bar to bar, of course, and also region to region but the brewing industry standard was 6-8 oz = "a glass of beer" from Repeal into the 1980s (or what today is called a "half pour" ).


A "regular" glass in many bars was usually 6-8 ounces (and sold for 25¢-40¢), some offering larger size mugs (10-12 oz.) or goblets or schooners* of 12 oz or more.

(* Except the PNW where a "schooner" now
refers to a smaller than usual glass ).​

 

I turned 21 in 1977 and the draft serving size then was 12 oz's if memory serves. So a half pour then would have been 6 oz's . I stand by my statement.

Just to further clarify, if a standard serving size of a certain draft beer is 8 oz's, and that is the only serving size option, I don't consider that a half pour. A half pour would be 4 oz's.

 

I do flights at places that do decent size pours. Most places here do 6oz pours on the flights, and that's enough for me to get an idea of how much I like the beer.

 

A half pour to me is getting the pint instead of the 22oz.

The closet thing to a flight is when our group orders and we end up with four or five different beers.

I'm only 60 and I fondly remember the 6-8 oz pours for two/four bits but heck how much was a sixer? A flight back then was your air time getting thrown out on the curb

 

At the sake of dragging this conversation even further in to semantics, I have never ordered a beer off a menu in which the words "half pour" were used.Or if there are 8 oz and 16 oz sizes, I always get the pint. etc. , etc. I have also never asked for a "taster", but bartenders often stick them in front of me. I drink them to be polite.

 

Ha! on the tasters- happens to me too- lately it's at the growler stations far from home. At a certain point I have to go "no more, please! I have a 2 hour drive ahead of me."

 

I always enjoy it when a bartender just gives me a unrequested taste of something, not because I'm deciding on what to order, but just because they want to share something and they are being conversational or they know me. There have been plenty of other times when a bartender asks me if I want to taste anything and they give me a funny look when I say no and proceed to order. Sometimes I'll order a beer and the bartender will ask me if I want to try it first. I'll say no, and they continue to push the sample. They're probably used to dealing with people who reject a beer after they order it.

 

Not very often, although in theory I like them.

The only place that has a flight program near me is Whole Foods, and they have really odd ball selections since they merged the wine and beer buyer positions together, and you have 99% of the time a wine person ordering whatever the distributors want him to.

Ocelot Brewery I go to somewhat near me has flights, which are great especially since they have a lot of high gravity brews. Aslin is no longer pouring on premise, but I enjoyed those when they were available. They would have 8 brands of Pale/IPA/IIPA and they were all way different.

 

If we aren't supposed to order flghts, why do breweries make so many different beers?

I tick. Sue me. I sometimes get flights, and sometimes get half pints. And I rate on a 4 oz taste, having found my reviews seldom change on the fifth oz.

 

Backing up a few things that have been said so far-

1. I love it when the server senses your curiosity and beer knowledge and offers free tastes.
2. I get flights very rarely, when the place is slow, the beer is new to me and I have my wife to share, then we choose our real beer.
3. If the place is busy, fuck you if you ordering flights. Places should have a policy that you pickup 1-glass at a time and go to the back of the line and repeat until your paddle is full.

 

Ocelot also offers half pours. I like it and the concept for them, as I know their beers and visit often enough myself.

I have no problem with flights, and leave it to the brewery to offer and deal with them appropriately. I fall in the category that rarely gets a flight as my main goal, but to figure out what from a new brewery or which of the new offerings (assuming there's enough to make a flight) from a known brewery interests me.

I'm a tad surprised this is such a "religious war," given some statements. Nothing has been argued that provides me with reason to change my behavior; I'll just continue to be uncouth to some of you .

 

I would say I order half pours (or 10 oz pours) at least 85% of the time. If a place doesn't offer 10 ounces pours, honestly, I probably won't frequent the place on the regular.

Flights, or 4 ounce pours, I rarely do though.

 

I always get a flight or two when I go to a brewery for the first time, because I want to try everything. How do you know that porter you passed up on for the IPA won't be the best porter you've ever had?
Once I've tried them all and have found my favorites, then I'll get a pint of whatever I like best.

 

Definitely on this exact same page. Of course, it does depend on the styles though. Unless we're talking strong ales, I love to drink or try 4 half pints, pick a favorite, and then do a full pint (or full pour) of a favorite. And maybe one more if it's vacation or something and I can get a bit buzzy with 4 pints.