Why Breweries Are Saying No to Beer Flights

love flights

if you don't like them, stay away from them

if you're annoyed by people who enjoy them, take comfort that there's a great chance you're annoying as well

most people are, for one reason or another

sanctimony is definitely something that annoys a lot of people

 

I like my money. Thank God my kids won’t like my money by this standard. Perfect!

 

I can't stand flights. Takes forever for people to order them and for the order to get fulfilled. It's just a beer. Pick one. If you don't like it, pick a different one next time. And don't get me started on people who want "samples" before they commit to a pint. Fuck outta here.

 

Yeah... that's just plain stupid. Dude, the whole idea of the flight is to try the beers -- choose what intrigues you, take your flight and sit down, come back and order a pint of your favorite.

I've honestly never encountered this sort of lame indecision (but I usually sit at the bar, don't stand in line), but I'd definitely be put out by such ludicrousness.

 

Well, unfortunately, I have...several times (specifically remember a guy in front of me at a brewery, can only order at the counter, "sampled" 4 beers, got a flight of 6, the brewery only had 10 taps). All I wanted was their pilsner, took me a good long while waiting ha.

 

I guess Russian River Brewery isn't cool then. I mean 22 glasses in a flight?

 

Yeah, guess I'm lucky to never have visited such an establishment.

 

I've stood in line too many times because of flight customers in front of me.

 

I don’t enjoy flights. If you want one order one. Please know what you want and walk up and say what you want. If you take 20 min to decide while holding up the line I’m mad, other than that who cares.

I added the brewer mentioned in the OP article to my list. Won’t be stopping there. Guy comes across as someone I dont want to support.

Enjoy

 

As someone who needs to drive to places, I count on taster trays to get a sense of what a brewery does and how. I'm not going to say no to half pours, but that likely means I get to try only 1, maybe 2 beers. And I'm ok with that.

But dammit, quit yer condescension! I could just as easily comment negatively on how thr younger generations thinks a 15 second snippet is sufficient to judge a song, but I won't.

 

I mean, getting that many in a flight is kind of silly, but hey, if you think it is "cool" go ahead. Just order a damn beer though, and your shouldn't really be worried about getting a beer you won't like at Russian River

 

For me, it's groups. A group of friends will stand in line chattering away, not looking at the board until they get to the bar, where the first person will ask about every beer, before ordering. Then, 2nd person, having still been chattering away like a chipmunk, asks the same questions. Repeat for the rest of the group.

Fer fux sake folks, pay goddamn attention!

 

Specifically, if breweries are making it so everyone just orders at a counter/register (surprisingly lots do this around me, sitting at the bar doesn't get the service it once did, as some places you have to walk from your bar stool to the register to order, so nobody sits at the bar ha ), I have long thought there should be one line for people that want flights, another for people that know...well how to order anything at a bar. Though, considering barely anybody pays attention, as you pointed out, that probably wouldn't work. Of the nearly 60 breweries around me, I really only go to like 5 or 6 on any kind of regular basis, as this setup, along with just bad beer has driven me away from many.

 

I'll get a flight if I am driving. A pint of each if I don't have to drive.
A card to fill out with a pencil before approaching the bar is a good system for ordering flights.

 

I always order flights. I like trying multiple beers. So far, none of the breweries here have quit doing flights. If they do that will be the last time I go there.

 

Flights were great back in the day so you could choose which beers you wanted to try, especially when going out of your way to a brewery where you wanted to try more than a beer or two. These days it seems many breweries offer multiple sizes on draft so you can get a single 3-4oz pour of something or just order a whole bunch which basically is the same as a flight. A brewery’s job is to sell beer and making sure they resonate with the consumer is critical to more sales. Allowing them to try as many beers as possible increases the odds they hit on one they like and buy something to go.

 

Flights are primarily for beer tourism not the local repeat visitor. People who have never been to the brewery before tend to get a flights to sample a wide variety of what the brewery offers, general quality across the portfolio and possibly help make a decision on to-go purchases. Agree it’s not the best size sample to truly get to understand the beer. Also most flights are 5 servings x 4 oz so that is usually 20oz and if you are mixing in a few 8+% ABV beers can get to be much for some people.

If alone, I prefer to order 1 to 2 single 4oz servings of higher ABV options and either a 1/2 pint or pint of a lower ABV. That gives me a good idea of the beers that brewery serves or even if I’m A repeat visitor, allows me to have some different styles while not getting hammered.

Sometimes places don’t serve flights or half pours. If that is the case and I’m with friends, we’ll order 1 beer and then ask for some extra glasses to share. This way we can sample many beers of the brewery without getting wrecked. If the barkeep give you atritude about asking for empty pint glasses, backup plan is to get the plastic cups by the complimentary water cooler that most breweries offer. Not ideal glasswear but it works fine in a pinch for sharing a pint of beer.

 

Haha forcing flight lovers to wait in a separate "flights only line" behind other flight lovers would have ended flights many years ago.