Flight Tasting Room: good beer, fun takes off in Yorkville

In the spirit of full disclosure, I would like to start this Mystery Diner review of an eagerly awaited new local craft beer tasting room and bottle shop with a few points:

While I am always game for trying new beers, I am not an official beer connoisseur. I brought along a guest who also would not consider themselves a beer connoisseur, but they were also game for trying new beers and for trying out an experience like this with me.

My bottom line is, I was kind of out of my element when it came to trying some beers. However, I'm pretty appreciative of staff at Flight Tasting Room and Bottle Shoppe in Yorkville, for being super patient and knowledgeable in the business's craft beer selection while my guest and I tried to figure out which beers we wanted to taste.

The main focus of Flight Tasting Room & Bottle Shoppe is to carry craft beer you wouldn't ordinarily find at your local bar or neighborhood liquor store. We decided on tasting these four beers, which came in 5-ounce glasses: The Tangled Roots Scandinavian Beachfront Property porter, the BrewDog USA King of Eights India pale ale, the Collective Arts Guava Gose sour and the Tandem Ciders Smackintosh apple cider.

I immediately was smitten by the look of the of flight board that staff used to bring our selections to us. Shaped as a propeller it definitely was in keeping with the overall "flight" brand.

The Tangled Roots Scandinavian Beachfront Property porter was a little bitter, with a nutty, coffeelike taste . To draw a parallel to a more mainstream beer, it kind of reminded me of Guinness.

For someone who usually is not about IPAs, I really liked the BrewDog USA King of Eights India pale ale. It wasn't too hoppy and it had some nice citrus notes that reminded us of of Blue Moon – despite Blue Moon not being an IPA.

I'm also not typically one to order a sour. However, the Collective Arts Guava Gose sour was not as tart as I was expecting, and rather was surprisingly refreshing to me, with more citrusy notes here, as well.

The Tandem Ciders Smackintosh apple cider came highly recommended by staff, and there's a reason for that. While I truly enjoyed different aspects of each beer I tasted, this was by far our favorite taste test out of the flight. This was crisp, not too sweet and tasted especially great with autumn starting to descend upon us.

What I really appreciated about Flight Tasting Room was not only how we could taste a variety of beers for just less than $12, but patrons are able to bring their own snacks or food. For the record, we brought in carryout Suzy's Pizza from Yorkville, and our medium pepperoni pie paired nicely with our beers.

Not only did I enjoy the beers that I tried, but my overall experience with Flight Tasting Room & Bottle Shoppe was a fun one. I know I'll definitely be back again soon to taste some others!

• The Mystery Diner is a newsroom employee at Shaw Media. The diner’s identity is not revealed to restaurant staff before or during the meal. The Mystery Diner visits a restaurant and then reports on the experience. The Mystery Diner is not intended to be a restaurant critic, but does highlight the parts of a dining experience that he/she can recommend.