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BACK 2 BASICS By John Fischer Flight noun \fl īt\ 1. A group of beings or objects fl ying together 2. A series of steps between fl oors 3. A series of hurdles across a racetrack Beer Flights A or two guests. Whatever they're called, fl ights have become extremely popular in both wine bars and beer-centric establishments. While the history of wine and beer fl ights is long and rather murky, they remain an important part of the beverage business, especially in bars and restaurants that specialize in beverage categories which off er a lot of variety. Beer-centric bars have, indeed, been off ering fl ights of draught beer for decades. In the days when Americans didn't know the diff erence between lager and ale, the only way for guests to choose a pint was to taste most of the beers on tap. Pricing beer fl ights seems to hew somewhat close to the line of charging about the congregation of wine? A bevy of beer? No. Somehow, fl ight has become the agreed upon term for an off ering of several (sometimes many), sample-sized glasses of wine or beer that are served at the same time, presumably to one same as you would for the equivalent volume of beer if served in one glass. At BXL, a Belgian specialist in New York City with two locations, they serve 13-centiliter samples (just shy of 4 ½ ounces) at $10 for three and $15 for fi ve. Meanwhile, over at Rattle N Hum, also in New York, they'll give you four, four-ounce samples for the same price as a pint. In other words, sell the fl ights at a higher cost to invite neophytes and budding beer. FLIGHT CONTROL You could let your guests run pell-mell all over the beer menu, but that's not going to help anyone. You see, the guest will never have a grounding concept in mind and won't necessarily learn anything useful. As for the bartender, a guest without a clue will inevitably be harder to get an order from. 46 | APRIL 2012 features a beer fl ight program in which guests choose an "American Craft," "Old World Import" or "Staff Favorite Flight" and gets four four-ounce samples. As with wine and cheese, there are many ways to categorize beer. Here are a few categories you can use to decide what kind of "tours" to off er. Place of origin: You could feature a country. Belgium comes to mind. Or, if you feature American craft beers, why not highlight the products from one state? You could chose a state other than your own and let your guests try the best beers from a state next door. Range of fl avors: take the guest's Th e Old Chicago Pasta & Pizza chains how to price them and perhaps even put a few together, should you? Ask yourself a few questions. Is beer a major source of revenue for you? Would you like it to be? Even more so, maybe a beer fl ight program could be that experience to engage your guests more fully. Last boarding call for fl ight 16-ounce to profi tability! the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. He has worked as a wine director in many New York restaurants, including the Rainbow Room, where he was cellar master. John Fischer is an associate profess at mouth on a roller-coaster ride, and bring them from a refreshing Hefeweizen, all the way to a beastly Barley Wine. Birds of a feather: sure IPA is America's slightly bitter girlfriend these days, but how many people have tried multiple versions at the same time? "Hop to It:" So you might go with one particular microbrew, but you could off er beers that showcase diff erent hop strains. So now that you what beer fl ights are, www.cheersonline.com