What Is a Tasting Flight and How Does It Work

A row of small glasses holds beers from pale gold to deep brown, ready to be sipped in turn on a rustic wooden bar counter.

A tasting flight is a set of smaller beer pours served together, so you can compare several beers side by side instead of committing to one full pint. Think of it as a short tour of the beer list, all in one go.

It’s the friendliest way we know to explore craft beer here in Singapore. Rather than betting a whole glass on a name you can’t pronounce, you try a few and let your own palate pick the favourite.

Below, we’ll cover what a flight is, why it suits a bar with a changing selection, how to taste through one in the right order, and how to ask for one.

The idea is simple. Instead of one full pour, you get several small ones at the same time, each a different beer.

The whole point is comparison. Put a pale, light beer next to a dark, roasty one and the differences jump out. One smells of fresh bread and citrus peel, the other of coffee grounds and cocoa. Tasting them in a row teaches you more in one sitting than a few separate orders would across an evening.

When a bar’s selection keeps changing, a full pour of something unfamiliar is a bit of a gamble. You might love it. You might be stuck with a pint you only half enjoy.

A flight turns that gamble into a low-stakes experiment. If one beer isn’t for you, there’s only a small pour to get through and another one waiting right beside it. If one surprises you, you’ve just found your next full glass.

It also helps you notice your own taste. Plenty of people discover they like something they’d never have ordered by the pint, like a sour that smells of green apple or a dark beer that tastes more like toast than smoke. If you’d like a head start on where to begin, check out our top picks.

Order matters more than you’d think, and a little routine makes the whole flight more rewarding.

A common approach is to go roughly from lightest to darkest, or from mildest to strongest. Taste delicate beers first, so they aren’t drowned out by something much more intense. It’s like sipping a gentle tea after a spoonful of chilli: the tea never stood a chance.

If you’re not sure which glass is which, colour is a decent guide. The palest pour usually goes first and the darkest last, though strength can shuffle the order a little.

Take each glass through the same short steps:

• Look: hold it up and notice the colour, from straw and gold to amber, copper or near-black.
• Smell: give it a gentle swirl and a good sniff before you sip. Aroma does a lot of the work.
• Sip slowly: let it sit on your tongue and notice what shows up first and what lingers afterwards.
• Compare: go back to an earlier glass and see how it tastes now. Often it has changed.

Between glasses, a sip of water helps reset your palate. There are no wrong answers here, only preferences you haven’t discovered yet.

Not every bar has a fixed flight menu, so don’t be put off if you can’t spot one on the list. Many bars will put one together if you ask, and that includes us.

Craft Beer by Ki-setsu offers tasters, samples or a tasting flight on request. With a rotating selection of local and international craft beer, there’s usually something new to try, which makes a flight a natural way to explore it.

The next time you’re at Craft Beer by Ki-setsu at Fortune Centre, just ask the staff for a flight. Tell them what you usually drink and what you’re curious about, then work through the glasses from lightest to strongest.

Take your time, trade sips with a friend if you like, and note which one you want a full glass of. That’s the one to order next.

What is a tasting flight? A tasting flight is a set of smaller beer pours served together, so you can compare several beers side by side instead of committing to one full pour.

What order should I drink a flight in? A common approach is roughly lightest to darkest, or mildest to strongest. That way delicate beers aren’t tasted after something much more intense.

Does every bar offer a tasting flight? No. Not every bar has a fixed flight menu, but many will do one on request.

Can I get a tasting flight at Craft Beer by Ki-setsu? Yes. Craft Beer by Ki-setsu offers tasters, samples or a tasting flight on request, given its rotating selection of local and international craft beer.

Is a tasting flight good for beginners? It’s a great fit. You get to try several beers in small pours, so you can find what you like without committing to a full glass of something unfamiliar.