Recently I have become more than slightly annoyed or even pissed at the prices of flights and even pints in microbreweries. $18 to $23 for four 5 ounce pours. WTF. This is going on right now as I travel through Colorado. I'm sort of at this point of quitting trying new beers or new microbreweries and just enjoy stuff like Founder's Centennial (a beer I really like) which I can buy a 15 pack for $17.00 or less if it's on sale. Does it really come down to 180 ounces in a Founder's 15 pack for $17 or 20 ounces of what-the-fuck-ever for $18-$23 (this does not include barrel aged or other high ABV beers) plus tip and travel costs. Why do I even what to continue exploring new microbreweries? Am I alone in this thinking or just a grumpy drunk? I also recently drove from New Mexico to Florida and experienced a similar situation.
@LXIXME , thanks for starting this thread. It has been a very long time since I ordered a flight of beer I did not realize they got so expensive. I just did a web search to discover that at a local craft brewery they are charging $18 for flight of four small pours. Definitely more than I would prefer to spend. I imagine that some BA(s) will post that there is more effort in pouring/serving flights and this is the reason they charge so much. While there is some truth to this the real 'answer' is apparently some customers are willing to pay a premium for a flight so there you (we) are. Well, in fairness you really can't compare prices for beer you drink at home vs. drinking on-premise. There are employee and overhead costs associated with running a taproom which needs to be accounted for in the price of a pint of draft beer. That is very much a personal choice. I occasionally go to local craft breweries just to get out, socialize, etc. My last visit to a local craft brewery taproom was last Friday where I sat outside in the beer garden in an Adirondack chair, enjoyed a couple of pints and listened to live music. I could have opted to just stay home and drink my homebrewed beers but sometimes it is just nice to get away. Cheers!
My favorite tap house in Cedar Falls closed around the first of the year. It was a verified venue on Untappd and their menu (upwards of 100 beers) was always up to date. I'd go there two or three times a month for a flight of new beers. The Untappd menu listed the prices for various-sized pours, so I always knew what I'd be getting into. The 5-ounce pours would run from about $3.50 to $6, with some of the rarer stuff (e.g. TG Mornin' Delight) a bit higher. Even so, you could get a decent dinner and a flight for $35 or so. I didn't consider that to be out of line at all. I sure miss that place. RIP, Brass Tap.
Per comparison, sometimes flights made more sense to order than a pint years ago. A lot of places I visited 15-20 years ago would charge around $7-$8 for a flight of 4-6 pours while a pint would go for $6-$8. Do the math and getting flight was almost always the way to go. Part of me wonders if there was an “enticement” phase around that time to draw potential new beer drinkers at a minor loss. That’s how I cut my teeth in figuring out styles that I learned to enjoy. Are the higher prices a result of that honeymoon phase being over because we are on the other side of the “craft” beer boom peak? Or perhaps it’s to deter ppl from ordering flights because they are a pain or a way to take advantage of the tickers?
I order more flights from breweries when traveling. A brewery that I’ve never been to then i like to try 4 different styles from them . If im familiar with the brewery i will get a pint or 2 half pours ( if offered). As far as pricing im seeing on average $6-$9 a pint Flights (4) $12-$18 for 16-20 ounces ( not including BA) So flights are an expensive pint , however one that i order when im wanting to try several styles and still drive.
Geeze, I was just on vacation and I can't tell you how much the flights I had cost. I don't think it was out of line for a premium pint's worth of beer? I think it was something like $8.50 for 4 five ounce pours? Something like that? I always get a sampler when available at a new to me brewery. How else are you going to know what you like without getting loaded downing pints of their offerings?
Funny, I experienced the opposite just two nights ago at Craft Growler Shop & Tasting Room in Charlotte. Granted the flights were on special, $8.50 for 5 pours, but when he broke out the glasses they had to be at least 6 Oz, maybe even 7 or 8 Oz. And it's not even a brewery, but a beer bar, so their margins are thinner.
I've found flights to be pricey. Instead I simply ask for a sample of 1 or 2 beers that I might fancy and go from there.
That’s my recollection, too, I thought flights were something of a “loss leader“ I never really ordered them, but my wife would, and the flight was usually just a little more than a pint. For me, 4 ounces isn’t really enough to know if I like a beer or not, so it’s kind of pointless. I think it actually takes something closer to a six pack for me to really get a handle on a beer.
People have shown that they are willing to pay a premium for a taster tray, so why not find where the limit is for your brewery? And, yes, there is a lot more that goes into pouring a taster tray than a pint, so it should cost more.
For years, Blue Point offered three ~4 oz tastes for free at their River Avenue brewery taproom probably until the sale to ABInbev about 10 years ago. When I went in to buy a growler of ESB or Pale Ale ($8 with AHA card or $10 without), they always asked me to have the samples. Yes the pours were in plastic, There was no place to sit down inside. And the cask and more exotic beers were a buck or so apiece. But still . . . .
I think there maybe some truth to this. I live in an area (PDX) where flights are fairly common and for the most part modestly priced. I think $16 for a flight of four is the most I have to pay for a flight (5 ounce pours). With one exception. We have an exceptional beer bar in town that typically doesn't do flights, but you can buy a 4 ounce pour of anything. However, the pricing is enough to dissuade most people from ordering them. Generally, the price is $2 less than what you'll pay for a full glass pour. For example, PDX recently got a drop of Trillium stuff, and this particular taphouse had 6 different Trillium beers on tap. I wanted to try them all, but... a 10 ounce glass was around $6 and a four ounce pour was $4. If I'd have gotten a "flight" of all 6 beers, it would have cost $24 for 24 ounces of beer (mostly hazy IPA's). I receive a pretty decent retirement income, but I couldn't pull the trigger. Instead I just got a couple of 10 ounce pours and decided I wasnt all that curious after all. The pricing is the same for rare and/or limited stuff. For example, an 8 ounce pour of a ba impy stout or BW can cost $10 or $12. A four ounce pour would be $8 or $10 in that situation. I get it that there's some extra work involved when it comes to pouring a flight, and I don't mind paying a premium for it. But the extra work doesn't justify that kind of upcharge IMHO. Pretty hard to reach any other conclusion, other than the owner just doesn't want to be bothered.
In the last month I paid $9 for a beer at Other Half’s Rockefeller location and I had three pints for just under $9 at a hip little spot in central Texas. At both places I thought I was getting a good deal—compared to midtown Manhattan prices and options, OH is an oasis—but even if it wasn’t half-price pint night in Texas I’d have been happy with the $5-6/pint prices.
Long story short, in both instances it still made more sense to just get a full pour as opposed to tasters!
I think when you see the price above $12 the above logic is in play. But my recent experiences have shown some breweries are still holding the price down. Recent experiences varied from $8 to $18. I have a big decision to make if the price hits $20.
Recently i was at a craft tap bar and they had three different categories of flights 1. 4 5oz pours ABV < 5 percent $12 2. 4 5oz pours ABV 5-8 percent $16 3 4 5oz pours ABV 10% plus $19
The Guinness brewery in Baltimore charged $18 for a flight of 4 AND You don’t get your choice of what’s on the flight. You only to choose between a few pre determined flights and they pull shit like putting one or two common Guinness beers in each flight with a seasonal and a one off. Great jerk strategy for $$$. That place is only about getting as much of your money as possible.
Seems kind of short sighted as well. Part of the point of flights at a brewery is exposure. Not sure how pouring you beer you're already familiar with accomplishes that. Pricing doesn't sound very user friendly either. Again, that seems kind of short sighted. I mean, did they at least let you taste some of the other beers available there?
I've kinda settled into a routine of knowing what I like and don't really do flights anymore. I'd rather have a couple of pints or a few half pours than 6 little beers that don't really let me get to know them. Flights are great for figuring out what you like and training your palate. I'd rather have a full pour of the saison and pale mild.
