13 Tips For Building The Perfect Beer Flight

If you're eager to explore the fascinating world of draft beer – regardless of your level of experience — nothing is better than a beer flight. Sometimes called a tasting flight, a beer flight is essentially a selection of sample-sized beers that generally consists of four to six different options. Unlike a single pint, a beer flight lets drinkers experience a wider selection without settling on one option. It's an incredible learning tool for discovering more about different beer styles or experiencing the diversity that a single style can offer.

Over my many years in the hospitality and brewing industries, I've put together more beer flights than I can remember. While managing a craft beer bar (with 28 taps) for a large-scale independent brewery, I used flights to run beer schools, as well as highlight our outstanding and varied range. I curated flights for beer newbies and nerds alike, and learned the nuances of tailoring a selection for folks with less-developed palates alongside those with broader, more distinguished tastes.

Now, while I've written this guide from a professional perspective — as in, for a bartender preparing a beer flight for a customer — most of these principles apply even if you're creating a beer flight for friends at home. Without further ado, here are some professional tips I've picked up over the years for building the perfect beer flight.

You've almost certainly heard that "the customer is always right." Yet after countless years working in the service industry, I can confidently tell you that's not the case. However, the full quote – "the customer is always right in matters of taste" — has some weight to it. Although the general purpose of a beer flight is to introduce people to new beers, it's still worth asking the customer about their specific taste preferences.

A well-crafted beer flight can set a complete novice on the path to becoming a passionate beer lover. Conversely, the wrong choices may cement the idea that beer just isn't for them. For example, if you're serving someone whose only experience is with mass-produced lagers, they may not have the palate for a heavy imperial stout. The trick is to ask the right questions; talk in terms of flavors rather than styles to avoid confusing those who aren't as well-versed in beer terminology.

If you're ordering a flight for yourself, make sure to communicate with the bartender to pin down beers you'll like. Beer aficionados will be more aware of the styles they prefer, but it's still worth having a conversation. Just because a bar can offer a unique or highly regarded beer doesn't mean everyone will like it, after all.

One of the best things about beer flights is that they can be tailored to suit different purposes. I started to fall in love with beer when I realized just how many different styles could be brewed from the same four ingredients: barley, malt, hops, and yeast. With that in mind, a flight is an ideal way to showcase the diversity of beer.

I personally like to demonstrate the variations between light and dark beers when crafting flights. It's interesting to see how people react to the change in flavor from a crisp, clear lager to a rich, black stout. You can include a hop-bomb of an IPA, a mouth-puckering sour beer, or even a smoky German Rauchbier.

The key for these kinds of flights is to focus on beers that have contrasting flavors. For example, if you decide to include a dry, bitter beer, you should also add a high-quality sweet beer to the flight. Just make sure you remember my first tip, and check the customer's preferences first. Even if they dislike a certain style or flavor, there are plenty of alternative options to demonstrate the astounding level of variety within the beer world.

Although flights are superb for showing off the full spectrum of beer styles, they're also fantastic for highlighting the nuances of a single style. This is particularly handy if someone prefers just a handful of beer styles.

Now, I've found that when people first start getting into craft beer, they often begin by working through the different styles before digging deeper into the types they love. Consequently, a flight that highlights a single style is great for customers who've already bought into craft beer and are looking to expand their knowledge and tastes within their preferred variety.

You could create a lager-based flight that includes a hop-forward pilsner, a malty helles, a robust bock, and a pitch-black schwarzbier. These are great for demonstrating how malts can produce flavors that range from sweet caramel to roasted coffee. On the other hand, you might want to exhibit the various styles of India pale ales and the influence of hops on beer with a flight that features a bitter West Coast IPA, a juicy New England IPA, a creamy milkshake IPA, and a dank, high-strength double or triple IPA.

Sometimes, a flight is simply a way for a customer to enjoy a selection of beers they know and love. That being said, I feel flights are at their best when they introduce the drinker to something new. As long as the beer doesn't contradict the customer's stated preferences, it's always worth including an unfamiliar option on a flight.

Start by digging into the kinds of beers and flavors the customer likes and dislikes, then use that information to decide what direction to take. One option is to use their preferences to select a unique beer style that aligns with the characteristics of one they already enjoy. For example, if the customer likes malt-forward lagers, you might suggest a scotch ale that boasts pronounced toffee-like malt flavors.

Conversely, if the drinker is open to tart and fruity flavors, you could suggest they try a delicious sour beer. For those who love dark beers, perhaps they're ready to face a powerful, barrel-aged imperial stout. If you're struggling to suggest a brand-new style, you can always recommend something from a brewery they haven't heard of before.

While factors like style, flavor, and novelty are crucial for building the perfect beer flight, it's important to consider the combined alcohol strength, as well. After all, in my experience, a beer flight tends to contain more alcohol than a standard pint. Not only do serving sizes vary between flights, but the number of beers can differ, too.

Additionally, keep in mind that many craft beers are stronger than your everyday brews. Double IPAs tend to range from 7.5% to 10% ABV, while triple IPAs are even stronger. Many Belgian beers feature boosted ABVs, and imperial stouts and porters can hit the 15% ABV mark – which is boozier than most wines. Although there's nothing wrong with serving a flight of high-strength beers, you should think about reducing the flight or serving size to help the drinker avoid becoming over-intoxicated in those cases.

I typically prefer a four-beer flight size for stronger beers, with no more than 3 ounces per serving. This also prevents the drinker's palate from becoming overwhelmed, as the flavors of strong beers have a tendency to linger, making it harder to fully appreciate subsequent samples.

It's no secret that there are dozens of different types of beer glasses out there, each one typically associated with a specific style of beer. Some glasses are designed to promote carbonation, for example, while others are meant to concentrate and highlight rich aromas. There are glasses built to support proper head retention or maintain an ideal drinking temperature, and many that exist out of pure tradition — as a way to pay homage to historic styles from specific regions. Fortunately, there are a handful of reliable and versatile glasses that are excellent for beer flights.

Ideally, a beer flight should use one type of glass for consistency, and you want one that gives the best tasting experience across all beer styles. A glass that's too wide will kill carbonation in bubbly beers, whereas one that's too narrow will hold back aromas.

Reduced-size Willi Becher glasses, stemmed tulip glasses, or British-style nonic glasses are always solid choices, as they're narrow enough to suit carbonated lagers, yet have wider rims to emphasize the aromas of fragrant ales. However, my go-to pick will always be a Teku glass: A stemmed, wine glass-inspired vessel designed specifically with professional beer tasting in mind.

As I mentioned earlier, the stronger a beer, the more it will linger on your palate. But this doesn't just apply to alcohol strength, since beers with bolder flavors are apt to overpower the taste of subsequent beers, as well. One of the best tips for drinking a beer flight is to place the beers in ascending order, starting with the lightest tasting beers before moving up to more intensely flavored brews. It's also a good idea to make the customer aware of the suggested drinking order.

As a rule of thumb, I recommend ordering beers from light to dark. Light lagers (like pilsners or Kölsches) belong at the start of the flight, as they tend to have more subtle profiles. Blondes and wheat beers come after, as they're usually a bit more fruity with fuller bodies. Hop-forward pale ales and IPAs usually feature next, although pay attention to their strengths (as they can vary massively). Follow these up with sweet, malty amber ales, before moving on to the roasty brown ales and porters.

Reserve the end of the flight for any bold stouts and high-ABV, barrel-aged beers, before finally coming to sour beers and wild ales. I usually place these towards the tail-end of a flight due to their high acidity, but you can always move lighter-bodied varieties back towards the start of the drinking order.

If a beer flight contains beers of similar strengths and intensities, the drinking order won't make a whole lot of difference. But for varied flights, residual flavors can run between beers and impact the tasting experience — even if they're consumed in the right order. That's why I always suggest providing some kind of palate cleanser to wipe the flavor slate clean between each beer.

The easiest palate cleanser is also the simplest: water. Not only does it help remove lingering flavors, but it's also a good way to keep hydrated and reduce the risk of over-intoxication. While plain water is perfectly suitable, sparkling water is even more effective as the carbonation and acidity do a better job of refreshing your palate. Just make sure not to serve it too cold since icy water can dull taste buds, making it harder to detect nuanced flavors in the beer.

I also recommend providing a small serving of bland crackers, like saltines. The texture helps absorb residual flavors, while chewing promotes saliva production, further rinsing the mouth of any lingering tastes. Be sure to pick crackers with a neutral flavor; if they're too bready, they might interfere with the profile of malt-forward beers.

If you're introducing someone to new styles of beer with a flight, the ability to accurately describe the different aspects of each beer's taste is crucial. This includes detailed flavor notes, aromas, and mouthfeel. Beer can be sweet, dry, tart, bitter, acidic, or a combination of flavor aspects, after all, while carbonation and body also play key roles in beer tasting. With experience, you'll be able to give a solid approximation of a beer's character based on its style alone.

Now, as you learn to break down individual brews, it's worth tasting as much beer as you can (it's a hard life, I know). Additionally, although beer language can be subjective, try and tailor your descriptions to the customer. A seasoned beer drinker may be familiar with advanced terminology, whereas a newcomer may feel out of their depth if you don't simplify your language.

Either way, try to avoid generic descriptors. Describing a beer as "hoppy" is like describing a wine as "grape-like" — and the same goes with "malty." Simply put, specificity is the key to being able to adequately describe beer.

You might be surprised how many folks are unaware of the basics of beer despite drinking the stuff regularly. On that note, a beer flight can be an extremely fun and informative learning experience — regardless of how much beer knowledge one has beforehand. In fact, when I ran regular beer schools, the flight was the backbone of each session. Since you can use them to teach folks about beer, it's worth ensuring your own knowledge is well-honed before serving beer flights.

Beer flights allow you to introduce different facts about the brewing process and various ingredients, as well as how changing these elements results in different styles of beer — each with their own unique characteristics. You can include fascinating facts about the history of beer and interesting anecdotes relating to different brewers to keep things from getting too dry when presenting a beer flight, as well.

Improving your own knowledge allows you to tailor the information you're providing to the person you're serving, too. A newcomer might get confused or overwhelmed if you start talking about yeast strains and water chemistry. On the other hand, you might come off as condescending to a beer nerd if you start explaining what hops are. If you're serious about improving your own beer knowledge, I recommend looking into the cicerone program, as a cicerone is to beer what a sommelier is to wine.

One of my favorite ways to elevate a tasting flight is to offer small food pairings to accompany each beer. Eating helps reduce the risk of excess intoxication, after all, and is an excellent way to educate people about the best beer and food pairings. Of course, while beer is more suitable for food pairings than most people realize, it can be tough to find the perfect match. The trick to beer pairing is thinking about how all the flavors will interact with one another, and this is true with flights, too.

Do the flavors contrast in a way that lets each one shine, or do they clash indistinguishably? Do they combine into something greater than the sum of the parts, or do they become too intense to be enjoyable? For example, while most beer styles can be paired with spicy foods, those with a higher ABV are more likely to amp the heat up too much. For stronger beers, fatty foods can help reduce that heat.

Malty lagers work well with crunchy pretzels and soft cheeses, while roasted dark beers are better with chocolate. Furthermore, salted snacks (like seasoned nuts) will help reduce an IPA's bitter notes, aromatic foods can benefit from pronounced hop flavors, and a citrusy wheat beer will go better with light and fruity foods that won't overpower it. Ultimately, it's worth experimenting with different combinations to find those that work best for you.

Since a flight is designed, in part, to help demonstrate beer can be considered a premium drink on par with wine or whiskey, it should always be well-presented. Most bars and breweries use special boards, trays, or paddles to deliver beer flights, though I've seen plenty that aren't well-suited for the task. I've lost count of the number of times I've encountered a flight board that looks great, but makes it nearly impossible to carry the beers from the bar to the customer without spillage.

To find the right board, consider the number of beers each flight contains and the type of glassware you're using. While some boards make carrying the beers easier, they lose stability when placed on the table, or simply take up too much space, so keep that in mind, as well.

Ultimately, it's important to strike a balance between aesthetics, portability, and functionality. I'm also a big fan of flight boards that make it easy for the customer to identify which beer is which, though I'll explain why in just a moment.

I can't tell you how often I've seen a beer flight arrive ... only to find the server suddenly can't remember which beer is which. Of course, I'd be lying if I said I've never done this myself, since it's an easy mistake to make (especially if you're working with multiple beers and serving lots of flights throughout a shift). Either way, if a customer isn't able to identify which beer they're drinking, it kind of negates the entire purpose of a flight. Thankfully, all you need is a good system for keeping track of the beers in the flight.

Numbered flight boards are a good place to start, as you can use corresponding cards or tags to remember which beer is which. You can also use flight boards with slots that let you display cards in front of each beer. It's a good idea to write down more than just the beer's name, too, like the brewery, ABV, style, and perhaps a few key tasting notes.

Additionally, I like to include copies of each beer's card next to the matching beer tap for my bartenders. It's particularly useful when someone starts their shift and there's an unfamiliar keg on tap, as this makes it easier to talk to the customer about specific beers.