Thirsty Thursday Eve - The Inexorable Death of the Beer Flight
The beer flight is reaching a slow and inevitable death, and there’s nothing that you or I can do about it.
Picture it: you walk into a new bar or micro brewery and their tap list is both overwhelming and intriguing. Everything sounds great, but you can’t say from the name and style if it’s something you would like. Instead, you order a flight of four different beers and sample each of them. A flight, for those unfamiliar with the term, is “a line of four or five small glasses atop a long, wooden board” (Dunphy, 2024). It makes more sense to order four small pours of four different beers, rather than stake your entire pint on something at random or on the recommendation of someone else. If any of them strike your fancy, you order another pint of that (because too much of a good thing is never enough).
Breweries and their administration would have you believe this isn’t the appropriate way to consume beer. You can’t possibly appreciate the nuance of a specific brew if you’re only drinking a 4oz pour of it. Furthermore, how can they possibly equip you to fully experience a brew if all flight glasses are the same and not tailored to the style of beer?
Hogwash, I say. This logic suggests that bar patrons are in for infinitely many pints and will continue to drink brews that they love indefinitely. Furthermore, it assumes that EVERYONE who orders a beer at a pub or brewery is an expert on beer and all its styles. Not only is this absurdly pretentious, it’s just plain wrong. I have no source to prove it, but my experience is that MOST of the people who walk into a bar are there to get a buzz. They aren’t experts on one particular style or another, and they may not know exactly what they do and don’t like.
The main two complaints that I hear from bars and breweries about flights are 1) that you can’t appreciate a beer from 4oz and 2) its additional effort for the bar staff. I’ll refute the first with a very simple response; I may not know what I like from 4oz, but I will absolutely know what I don’t like. If you were to serve me a sour or IPA in a 4oz pour, my opinion on ounce 16 is probably about the same as ounce 4: this is garbage. I just don’t like sours or IPAs in general. I’m willing to try them, but the ones I like are few and far between. The typical pour of a fight is more than enough to determine if I hate it. If it’s at least passable, I’m more than likely willing to order more. You’ll unpack more from a pint than you would from 4oz, but if you lost me in the first 4oz, you lost me as a customer for good.
Can you get more from a pint of beer than just a 4oz pour of the same beer? Sure. But I can also tell in less than 4oz whether I’ll hate the beer. I’d much rather be stuck with 4oz of beer that I don’t really like than an entire pint. If it’s decent, I’ll uncover more details about the same beer as I drink it, and maybe even consider ordering a full pint. If I order a full pint of a beer I hate, I’m probably calling it a wash and going to another locale.
As for additional load on your bar staff, it doesn’t have to be. There are plenty of options available to deprioritize flights behind pints. Maybe you have a dedicated person for flights that also has other duties. Maybe you instruct your bar staff to only pour flights after all current pint orders have been fulfilled. There are numerous options to prioritize loyal customers ordering a pint of their favorite above tourists ordering a flight, but it seems like many bar owners just don’t want to explore those options.
Another complaint is that pouring a flight is economically unfeasible for the bar. Specifically, some assert that “more expensive-to-produce beers are reduced to a price below the cost of production or profit” (Dunphy, 2024). My resolution is: don’t. As a patron who wants to purchase a flight, I would be more than willing to pay the cost of the most expensive beer of the lot in order to try multiple. Say your flights are a 4 count of 4oz pours, equivalent to a standard pint. If the standard pints of brews that I pick cost 6, 8, 8, and 10 each, I’m fine with paying 10 for the flight to try each of them as that covers the most expensive of the options. There doesn’t have to be a discount associated with a flight, that’s up to the brewery to determine. If you decide to discount flights below the profitability point of a particular brew, I’m sorry that your business savvy skills aren’t up to the task of running a profitable bar. Maybe you should charge more.
Lasbury suggests that “they’re an investment in the patron, hoping to get it back later in pint sales,” and I think that’s a very healthy and effective way to approach flights (2017). Plenty of businesses give free samples of their products to let potential customers make an informed decision. Heck, even breweries will offer tastings or samples for free half the time. I can’t see why a flight isn’t just the logical extension of a free sample. It’s more volume and customers actually pay for it. Even if it isn’t as profitable as full pints, you’re breaking even at worst and giving customers the opportunity to try a few different styles that encourages them to (maybe) buy another pint or two. I find it moderately hypocritical that a brewery would willingly give free samples but express disdain for flights. They’re just variations of the same concept.
The list of reasons NOT to sell flights of beer goes on and on. Flight glasses don’t allow you to select a glass that is appropriate to the style of beer. See my previous point about knowing quickly whether I’ll dislike a beer. If I like it in the generic flight glass, I’m sure I’ll enjoy it even more when I order a full pint in the appropriate glassware. Some even argue that a beer novice is more likely to simply order a full pint of whatever their buddy is drinking rather than select a few different options for a flight. While I disagree with that logic vehemently, that option is still on the table. If you sell flights and full pints, someone can order a pint on recommendation, while someone else picks and chooses different options for a full flight. They aren’t mutually exclusive.
The pretentiousness around beer and beer flights is core to the problem. In recent years, craft beer has very much mimicked the wine snobs of yesteryear. In one of the more vitriolic examples, Greg Back goes so far in his (since archived) opinion piece to say that “flights are dumb, and you’re dumb if you like them” (Back, 2015). People like what they like, and if you’re going to criticize them so aggressively because you hate flights, that really reflects a lack of maturity on the criticizer rather than the person who likes the supposedly dumb thing.
Bernot shares my opinion that individuals should do whatever makes them happy, whatever floats their boat so to speak. She offers the resolution that “if you, the beer drinker, are having a positive experience at a brewery and not bothering anyone else, then why should you change what you order” (Bernot, 2018). Furthermore, she goes on to make the apparently groundbreaking revelation that “more rigorous contemplation of a beer might require a full pour, but full-out beer judging isn’t what most people came to a brewery to do” (Bernot, 2018). Maybe those who hate flights so much just fail to realize that distinction. I’m not a connoisseur, and I’m not going to a brewery to really unpack all the small nuances of a particular brew. I want to have a beer or two with friends, and trying a few different styles in a flight improves that experience for me.
One compromise that I can agree with is breweries that sell half pints or smaller pours individually without explicitly offering flights of multiple at once, “so guests can still discover a beer without committing to a full pour” (Iseman, 2024). I am very hesitant to buy a full pint of anything outside my preferred arena of dark and malty. The middle ground of allowing me to buy a smaller volume with the restriction that I have to focus on that one beer until I finish it is probably the best of both worlds. I’m not confusing my palate or mixing flavors, but I am able to have a sort of demo beer before I decide I want the full thing. I would still PREFER that a brewery offer flights, but small volume pours are a healthy balance that allows undecided or novice customers to try new beers without tremendously impacting the profitability or staff availability.
In summary, bars and breweries are more than welcome to serve in whatever volumes they want. If they want to avoid flights of beer entirely, far be it from me to tell them they have to serve something they don’t want to. However, flights open up an entire world of drinkers who would otherwise be intimidated away from ordering at all. If you allow a patron to order a small pour of a few different beers, they’re much more likely to order a full pour of their favorite from the bunch. If you’re too preoccupied with your own principles and pretentiousness to ignore that sector of potential income, feel free to cater to your beer snob customers. When your business tanks, don’t come crying to me when I told you what would bring in more casual drinkers with less clout in the industry.
If your bar or brewery doesn’t want to sell flights of beer, fine, that’s your decision to make. But if you want to trivialize flights or claim that they SHOULDN’T be sold, be prepared to lose out on that sector of the industry. Personally, I think flights are a great way to allow patrons to sample multiple beers and then order more of whichever they like best.
Picture it: you walk into a new bar or micro brewery and their tap list is both overwhelming and intriguing. Everything sounds great, but you can’t say from the name and style if it’s something you would like. Instead, you order a flight of four different beers and sample each of them. A flight, for those unfamiliar with the term, is “a line of four or five small glasses atop a long, wooden board” (Dunphy, 2024). It makes more sense to order four small pours of four different beers, rather than stake your entire pint on something at random or on the recommendation of someone else. If any of them strike your fancy, you order another pint of that (because too much of a good thing is never enough).
Breweries and their administration would have you believe this isn’t the appropriate way to consume beer. You can’t possibly appreciate the nuance of a specific brew if you’re only drinking a 4oz pour of it. Furthermore, how can they possibly equip you to fully experience a brew if all flight glasses are the same and not tailored to the style of beer?
Hogwash, I say. This logic suggests that bar patrons are in for infinitely many pints and will continue to drink brews that they love indefinitely. Furthermore, it assumes that EVERYONE who orders a beer at a pub or brewery is an expert on beer and all its styles. Not only is this absurdly pretentious, it’s just plain wrong. I have no source to prove it, but my experience is that MOST of the people who walk into a bar are there to get a buzz. They aren’t experts on one particular style or another, and they may not know exactly what they do and don’t like.
The main two complaints that I hear from bars and breweries about flights are 1) that you can’t appreciate a beer from 4oz and 2) its additional effort for the bar staff. I’ll refute the first with a very simple response; I may not know what I like from 4oz, but I will absolutely know what I don’t like. If you were to serve me a sour or IPA in a 4oz pour, my opinion on ounce 16 is probably about the same as ounce 4: this is garbage. I just don’t like sours or IPAs in general. I’m willing to try them, but the ones I like are few and far between. The typical pour of a fight is more than enough to determine if I hate it. If it’s at least passable, I’m more than likely willing to order more. You’ll unpack more from a pint than you would from 4oz, but if you lost me in the first 4oz, you lost me as a customer for good.
Can you get more from a pint of beer than just a 4oz pour of the same beer? Sure. But I can also tell in less than 4oz whether I’ll hate the beer. I’d much rather be stuck with 4oz of beer that I don’t really like than an entire pint. If it’s decent, I’ll uncover more details about the same beer as I drink it, and maybe even consider ordering a full pint. If I order a full pint of a beer I hate, I’m probably calling it a wash and going to another locale.
As for additional load on your bar staff, it doesn’t have to be. There are plenty of options available to deprioritize flights behind pints. Maybe you have a dedicated person for flights that also has other duties. Maybe you instruct your bar staff to only pour flights after all current pint orders have been fulfilled. There are numerous options to prioritize loyal customers ordering a pint of their favorite above tourists ordering a flight, but it seems like many bar owners just don’t want to explore those options.
Another complaint is that pouring a flight is economically unfeasible for the bar. Specifically, some assert that “more expensive-to-produce beers are reduced to a price below the cost of production or profit” (Dunphy, 2024). My resolution is: don’t. As a patron who wants to purchase a flight, I would be more than willing to pay the cost of the most expensive beer of the lot in order to try multiple. Say your flights are a 4 count of 4oz pours, equivalent to a standard pint. If the standard pints of brews that I pick cost 6, 8, 8, and 10 each, I’m fine with paying 10 for the flight to try each of them as that covers the most expensive of the options. There doesn’t have to be a discount associated with a flight, that’s up to the brewery to determine. If you decide to discount flights below the profitability point of a particular brew, I’m sorry that your business savvy skills aren’t up to the task of running a profitable bar. Maybe you should charge more.
Lasbury suggests that “they’re an investment in the patron, hoping to get it back later in pint sales,” and I think that’s a very healthy and effective way to approach flights (2017). Plenty of businesses give free samples of their products to let potential customers make an informed decision. Heck, even breweries will offer tastings or samples for free half the time. I can’t see why a flight isn’t just the logical extension of a free sample. It’s more volume and customers actually pay for it. Even if it isn’t as profitable as full pints, you’re breaking even at worst and giving customers the opportunity to try a few different styles that encourages them to (maybe) buy another pint or two. I find it moderately hypocritical that a brewery would willingly give free samples but express disdain for flights. They’re just variations of the same concept.
The list of reasons NOT to sell flights of beer goes on and on. Flight glasses don’t allow you to select a glass that is appropriate to the style of beer. See my previous point about knowing quickly whether I’ll dislike a beer. If I like it in the generic flight glass, I’m sure I’ll enjoy it even more when I order a full pint in the appropriate glassware. Some even argue that a beer novice is more likely to simply order a full pint of whatever their buddy is drinking rather than select a few different options for a flight. While I disagree with that logic vehemently, that option is still on the table. If you sell flights and full pints, someone can order a pint on recommendation, while someone else picks and chooses different options for a full flight. They aren’t mutually exclusive.
The pretentiousness around beer and beer flights is core to the problem. In recent years, craft beer has very much mimicked the wine snobs of yesteryear. In one of the more vitriolic examples, Greg Back goes so far in his (since archived) opinion piece to say that “flights are dumb, and you’re dumb if you like them” (Back, 2015). People like what they like, and if you’re going to criticize them so aggressively because you hate flights, that really reflects a lack of maturity on the criticizer rather than the person who likes the supposedly dumb thing.
Bernot shares my opinion that individuals should do whatever makes them happy, whatever floats their boat so to speak. She offers the resolution that “if you, the beer drinker, are having a positive experience at a brewery and not bothering anyone else, then why should you change what you order” (Bernot, 2018). Furthermore, she goes on to make the apparently groundbreaking revelation that “more rigorous contemplation of a beer might require a full pour, but full-out beer judging isn’t what most people came to a brewery to do” (Bernot, 2018). Maybe those who hate flights so much just fail to realize that distinction. I’m not a connoisseur, and I’m not going to a brewery to really unpack all the small nuances of a particular brew. I want to have a beer or two with friends, and trying a few different styles in a flight improves that experience for me.
One compromise that I can agree with is breweries that sell half pints or smaller pours individually without explicitly offering flights of multiple at once, “so guests can still discover a beer without committing to a full pour” (Iseman, 2024). I am very hesitant to buy a full pint of anything outside my preferred arena of dark and malty. The middle ground of allowing me to buy a smaller volume with the restriction that I have to focus on that one beer until I finish it is probably the best of both worlds. I’m not confusing my palate or mixing flavors, but I am able to have a sort of demo beer before I decide I want the full thing. I would still PREFER that a brewery offer flights, but small volume pours are a healthy balance that allows undecided or novice customers to try new beers without tremendously impacting the profitability or staff availability.
In summary, bars and breweries are more than welcome to serve in whatever volumes they want. If they want to avoid flights of beer entirely, far be it from me to tell them they have to serve something they don’t want to. However, flights open up an entire world of drinkers who would otherwise be intimidated away from ordering at all. If you allow a patron to order a small pour of a few different beers, they’re much more likely to order a full pour of their favorite from the bunch. If you’re too preoccupied with your own principles and pretentiousness to ignore that sector of potential income, feel free to cater to your beer snob customers. When your business tanks, don’t come crying to me when I told you what would bring in more casual drinkers with less clout in the industry.
If your bar or brewery doesn’t want to sell flights of beer, fine, that’s your decision to make. But if you want to trivialize flights or claim that they SHOULDN’T be sold, be prepared to lose out on that sector of the industry. Personally, I think flights are a great way to allow patrons to sample multiple beers and then order more of whichever they like best.
References:
Back, G. (2015, January 6). Flights are dumb, and you’re dumb if you like them. Beer Nut. https://web.archive.org/web/20161001155436/https://blog.timesunion.com/beer/flights-are-dumb-and-youre-dumb-if-you-like-them/3385/
Bernot, K. (2018, July 30). Ask Kate about beer: What’s the problem with beer flights? The Takeout. https://thetakeout.com/whats-the-problem-with-beer-flights-1827926931
Dunphy, M. (2024, February 8). Why breweries are saying no to beer flights. InsideHook. https://www.insidehook.com/beer/why-breweries-saying-no-beer-flights
Iseman, C. (2024, March 21). Are beer flights passé? the debate captures Craft Beer’s growing pains. PUNCH. https://punchdrink.com/articles/craft-beer-flights-debate/
Lasbury, M. (2017, September 25). Pick a side: Are craft beer flights helping or hurting?. Indiana on Tap. https://indianaontap.com/news/pick-side-craft-beer-flights-helping-hurting/
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