DIY Beer flights

Seeing the price of beer flights makes my jaw drop each time! I had found 24 five ounce tasting glasses online for 39$ and decided, I'm going to make my own. This way I can design it the way I want, and I can match the stain to my keezer. So, I was feeling ambitious one night and designed my beer flight idea on a couple sheets of paper with measurements.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=108556&stc=1&d=1363570605

Last week I made a template of my design out of 1/4" plywood so I could just use this template for each of the wooden flight holders I would make (6 total). This weekend I picked up an 8 footer of 1x6 oak (I adjusted my above design to 5 1/2" wide to accommodate the wood so I adjusted each side by 1/4") and had it cut in half, so I could fit in my car (two 4 foot pieces). Each flight paddle is going to be 15" long and I cut out the six 15" pieces tonight. I then used my template to drill 1" holes to start my handle design. I used a 1" paddle bit. I need to pick up a 1 7/8" or 2" paddle bit for my tasting glass indents. I also drilled an 1/8" hanging hole above the handle. See my progress so far:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=108556&stc=1&d=1363571119

For the final product I also plan to add 1"x2" pieces of 1/4" plywood with either chalkboard paint or whiteboard paint underneath each tasting glass to write what it is. I got the motivation to do this project and figured I'd share with the HBT community who "get it", heh. I will post updates as I go along.

Ok, I worked on my beer flights some more last night. I had to go to the local hardware store and get a 2" forstner bit to drill the holes for the tasting glasses (they didn't have 1 7/8" so I adjusted). The holes for the glasses were the easy part. The handle was much more difficult. I had to try and maneuver a jigsaw to get these cuts with the finger notches. My first and second one I couldn't get the notches right, so I just made it a straight handle hole, but the others have finger notches like the pic below. I then started routing the edges and only got through a couple so far. I hope to work some more on these on Thursday. I need to finish the routing, then sand this beast, stain and clear coat. Then comes the whiteboard pieces. Thinking wood glue. These will be a fine addition to my next beer tasting! :rockin:

Looks good to me. Those finger holes remind me of brass knuckles for some reason; very cool. I think wood glue would hold a piece of chalkboard to that thing just fine.

Looks good, if you are looking for high quality glasses that are perfect for tasting I found these and just bought them myself:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QU1UEE/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

-MG- said:

Looks good, if you are looking for high quality glasses that are perfect for tasting I found these and just bought them myself:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QU1UEE/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

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Awesome, thanks for the tip, but I had already purchased these:

http://www.webstaurantstore.com/anc...-flight-taster-shot-glass-24-cs/55093013.html

454k30 said:

Looks good to me. Those finger holes remind me of brass knuckles for some reason; very cool. I think wood glue would hold a piece of chalkboard to that thing just fine.

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My father told me the same thing about the brass knuckles. Too funny. Maybe I should call it my Wooden Knuckles Tasting Paddle!

Ok, I finished routing all 6 of the paddles. Going on a work trip so won't be able to get any further for a week or so. Next, sanding, staining, clear coat, and the whiteboard pieces. I have to fix one of the handle holes too. After I sand it ill re rout it. It looks a little shoddy right now. The others look good though. Check out my progress below. Cheers!

I like the open handles instead of the brass knuckles. My 0.02.

pabloj13 said:

I like the open handles instead of the brass knuckles. My 0.02.

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Agreed.

Looks great though!

I stumbled across a sale of tasting and pint glasses sets at NB a couple years ago.. I did a basic paddle for the flights, certainly not as nice as yours..

Well done!

I just found these!

http://www.instawares.com/anchor-ho...gin={adtype}&gclid=CLeC1ZXekLYCFa9aMgodVWsA5A

Looks like the arch of the brass knuckles version should be inverted, or going the other way. It would be more ergonomic that way I think. May be wrong... 2 cents!

pabloj13 said:

I like the open handles instead of the brass knuckles. My 0.02.

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Ya, it would've been easier to do them all open handles. The finger notch look was a pain in the ass to do. I guess that's what happens when your creativity outgrows your skill

EZCyclone said:

I just found these!

http://www.instawares.com/anchor-ho...gin={adtype}&gclid=CLeC1ZXekLYCFa9aMgodVWsA5A

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Awesome! Thanks for the tip. Same glasses even cheaper. Now if I end up needing more, this will be a cheaper option.

ApothecaryBrewing said:

Looks like the arch of the brass knuckles version should be inverted, or going the other way. It would be more ergonomic that way I think. May be wrong... 2 cents!

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I totally get what you're saying. I didn't even think of that.

inthebackwoods said:

I totally get what you're saying. I didn't even think of that.

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You know what you should do is start over and do them the other way. You can just send the current ones to me for disposal...

Been a while since I posted any updates. Sorry about that all. I finished the project last night by adding the cork to the holes. Check out the photos below of finished product. Overall I am very happy with them. For next time, I would change a couple things, but these will be awesome to use for tasting:

those are awesome! great work

And here it is finally in action!

I was going to comment that you had one big problem, no beer in those tasting glasses! But you rectified that, great job.

Nice work. I also like those glasses. I was thinking about doing something similar and just cutting a hole all the way through the board. The glasses would sit down inside making it less likely for my oafish self to spill. The board would just slide right down the stem or thinner part of the glass and sit flat on a table once served. Those glasses would be perfect.

very nice!

Not a DIY but my SWMBO gave me this!

Awesome! Searched HBT for info on this and here you are!
Thinking about making 50 of these for the beer class I teach.
Cheers for the plans!

DeutschMark said:

Awesome! Searched HBT for info on this and here you are!
Thinking about making 50 of these for the beer class I teach.
Cheers for the plans!

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No problem dude! Good luck on the project.

We are in the planning stages for this and would like to know what you used to stain/seal the wood.

DeutschMark said:

We are in the planning stages for this and would like to know what you used to stain/seal the wood.

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Well, I don't remember the exact stain off hand, but I was trying to match my keezer as close as I could with the stains I had on hand as options. It didn't work so well. The paddles ended up so much darker than the keezer. Let me check on the polyurethane / sealer. I should be able to get that one for ya!

DeutschMark said:

We are in the planning stages for this and would like to know what you used to stain/seal the wood.

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Ok, here was the sealer I used:

Emmet's Good Stuff
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000DD2S2/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Cheers!

Cheers. Thanks for taking the time to look that up!

DeutschMark said:

Cheers. Thanks for taking the time to look that up!

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No problem! Good luck with the project. Would love to see pics when you get them done.

I'll post them. The glasses and racks arrived today!