Advice for all breweries...

First, I'm not anti-flights or tasters. Sometimes I get them; sometimes I go for the pint; sometimes a half-pint. It depends on what is available, my mood, the time I have, etc. No judgment on size... drink what you like

But I'm going to disagree about the pint is too large for understanding flavors part. Most beers have subtle and sometimes not-subtle changes as one drinks through a pint and the beer warms and/or develops mild oxygenation. These effects on beer are very well-documented and I'm sure you are knowledgeable of them, so I'll spare you the lecture; suffice to say the effects can be good, or bad, or neither and just different. Further, it would be very difficult to detect these nuances as one is switching between different beers in a flight of small pours. Many people here [myself included] would argue that noting these differences over time as one slowly works through a pint can be part of the beer drinking experience, takes concentration, and "maximizes understanding of beer" to use your words.

 

Good point some places do offer half pours, a nice option.

 

When I rate/review beer from flights, I don't drink the beers sequentially. Rather, I do an initial rating and review from approximately the first two ounces of each (cleansing my palate with water in between) and then return for additional sips of each to supplement my reviews (the numeric rating rarely changes, and, when it does, it's much more likely to go slightly down than slightly up as I quickly become accustomed to flavors that initially impressed). And because I'm rating multiple beers, it tends to take me longer to finish a flight than most people take to finish a pint. So I do take those factors into account. I observe a similar process when I'm not rating the flights as well. I don't find it at all difficult to keep my concentration while switching among four beers. At festivals, I find palate fatigue (where it becomes difficult to identify and distinguish flavors) tends to start for me at around ten small pours.

 

I still think flights are the best way to assess a brewery you've never been to. If nothing is good I can go on my merry way, if they make an excellent hoppy offering I might explore more of those, great saison, lager, darker beer, whatever I have direction now in exploring their brewing. I don't get flights at places I've been before and have a sense for but I have split a flight with my partner when traveling, quickly recognized the dud and gone elsewhere. Saved us a lot of time and money on disappointing beer

 

I see it the other way. I was recently at a brewery and I ordered a flight of their beer. The guy on my right ordered three samples and then picked one for a full pour. I don’t know if that guy tipped for every sample the bartender brought him, but he could have started with a flight and paid for that beer since it was an option on the menu. Personally, I wouldn’t ask for multiple free samples at a bar that offered flights.

 

Depends on the bar about asking for samples I suppose, but I’ve never ever got a second look asking for samples. But it’s rare I’m surprised by a beer I see here on tap so at the max is maybe two. But as suggested a few posts back some places do offer half pours, and I think that’s a great option. I might be more flight oriented if I visited new breweries with beers I’ve never had, but I don’t. So I think location and want to travel here plays a part, so if I was in Richmond and a first run at Veil a flight might be just right.

 

I've preached the virtue of variety in flights. I'll add to that to say that flights are the biggest reason that I try so many different styles of beer. If I'm buying a pint, there's no way I'm choosing the, say, cream ale, but it's not a big deal to throw four ounces of it into a flight, and sometimes it surprises. I can't tell you how many times my last choice that barely made my cut for the flight turned out to be my favorite of the bunch. I think part of the reason we see so many remarkably narrow-palated purported craft beer fans who almost exclusively stick to various forms of IPA or big stouts is that they zero in on their style of choice, buy full-sized servings, and rarely venture further.

 

Flights are for tickers, lol. Only kidding, but it helps.

 

Ticking is a great way to learn about beer.

 

I’d agree with that. I don’t tick, I have no inclination to tick but there’s no doubt that the want to try everything is a plus. It’s just not for everyone.

 

I'll get a flight when I'm driving. I'll get a pint of each when a friend is driving.

 

Breweries should print a date of bottled on a label, not on a bottle.

 

If I'm in a new place, or an old place with a lot of choices, I'm getting a flight, period. Im not dropping cash on 8/12/16 ounces of something I haven't tried in a while (if at all) if it doesn't taste right.

 

Seems a bit strange to not be user friendly, I support half pours where I find them. It’s not that hard, neither is serving flights.

 

This is my point. If I'm travelling and trying somewhere new, I want to sample multiple different beers because I'd like to see what the brewery is all about. I might ask for one or two samples, but I've seen too many people ask a server for half their taplist in free samples. Want to talk about ticking? That's how it happens, and I'd be extremely surprised if much of anyone ever tips for all those.

 

I don't know if anyone has reference this analogy before but IMO having a flight of beers at a brewery is like going on travel to someplace you've never been before and trying to cover all of the famous tourist attractions in a whirlwind visit. In either case it doesn't really give you a deep appreciation/full experience, but it does provide you a general overall feel for the experience without leaving many rocks un-turned and minimizing the missed opportunities.

 

Exactly. Here in North Carolina the distributor is protected after the first case sold. The franchise laws were written by a combination of old line distributors and good old boy legislators. This system is still largely in force, but brewers and distributors are more savvy about contracts and good faith agreements these days. I will have to admit that I benefited from the sale of franchised brands that were worth quite a bit. It is an antiquated system, but truthfully every state has a big mess of these type of arrangements, or other territorial complications.

 

If the hunting process were easier it wouldn't be hunting, it would shopping.

 

Yep, one of the local brewpubs has a 21 flight sampler board for sale, and I've seen numerous foursomes order it up. It's consumer's choice of brews, so you can diversify as needed. Win-win situation all around.