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Craft beer drinkers are being offered novel ways to enjoy their favourite tipple after a Belfast bar introduced ‘flights’ and ‘growlers’.

Flights are usually associated with wine tasting, with a number of glasses lined out in front of the would-be drinker so they can compare them with each other.

But The Woodworkers pub in Belfast is now offering flights of beer so drinkers spoilt for choice can try a number of small glasses of different ales without getting too tipsy. The flights contain four 7oz glasses of beer (around one third of a pint) usually to be tasted from the lightest to the darkest or strongest tasting beer.

And if you know which one you and your mates like, you can order a growler which many people might call a flagon. The two litre jugs can be filled with your beer of choice and after leaving a deposit you can use them to bring some home for a craft carryout. The bar, which is linked to Lavery’s in Bradbury Place, rotates its beers to offer customers choices that change from one week to the next.

Michael Quigley, general manager at Lavery’s, told Belfast Live that a new wave of beer drinkers like to try new and interesting brews.

He added: “We maybe have a bit of a macho culture when it comes to drinking pints in Northern Ireland, but people coming here want to try beers that are often six, seven or even eight per cent. You’d even see beers that are 11%. People just don’t want to drink a pint of that so the flights are a great way to experiment with a few different beers and compare them.

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“We have six rotating taps too so there’s always new choices. We’ll have a beer from a real craft beer brewery and maybe only two or three kegs so once that runs out, there’ll be something new in there. People are getting so much choice you can’t be drinking pints of everything.”

The pub also runs ‘tap takeover’ nights when small-scale brewers will come in, some from as far away as Sweden, to offer a selection of their beers and talk to customers about their brewing techniques.

Local co-operative brewer Boundary is known for bottling all their beers but are making kegs especially for The Woodworkers.

The growlers are a painted glass jug that you need a £10 deposit to use. You get the money back, of course, if you return it after you’ve emptied it.

The bar says on its Facebook page: “In case you’re wondering, the name apparently comes from the sound of gas escaping as the beer sloshes around.”