Regular Coffee
Carton Brewing Company

Regular CoffeeRegular Coffee
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From:
Carton Brewing Company
 
New Jersey, United States
Style:
Cream Ale
Ranked #3
ABV:
12%
Score:
94
Ranked #2,339
Avg:
4.23 | pDev: 9.69%
Reviews:
121
Ratings:
670
Status:
Active
Rated:
Feb 09, 2024
Added:
Dec 13, 2013
Wants:
  266
Gots:
  110
A Classic Jersey-ism is "regular coffee." Here when you oder a "regular coffee" at any place you trust to make a pork roll and cheese you get a paper cup of coffee with "milk and 2 sugars" rather than a "black coffee that hasn't had the caffeine removed." Acidic bitter coffee flattened by milk and sweetened; the perfect foil for the salty unctuous savor of breakfast on a roll. For our homage to Jersey's breakfast beverage, we teamed up with our neighbors at Fair Mountain Coffee Roasters looking for an elevated version of classic crappy coffee. We chose Mexican Chiapas for its bitterness akin to artichoke, roasting it a little darker than usual, along with Ethiopian Sidamo for its pleasant lemon-like acidity, which we pushed up through fermentation. We added this coffee blend to a high gravity golden cream ale, contributing our "milk and 2 sugars." Drink Regular Coffee because running over a black beer with coffee is no way to get to work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AtZGKBsd94&list=UUnN44_ILc3y0x6WbvjLR1Kg
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by abkayak:
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Rated by abkayak from New York

4.4/5  rDev +4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Jan 31, 2015
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4.31 by saymike32 from New Jersey

Feb 09, 2024
 
Rated: 4.25 by Jdells09 from New Jersey

Jan 12, 2024
Photo of SteveMackin
Rated by SteveMackin from New Jersey

4.84/5  rDev +14.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
Perfect coffee beer. Subtle coffee nose and taste. Smooth drinking for a higher abv. Great finish.
Sep 04, 2023
Photo of Bouleboubier
Reviewed by Bouleboubier from New Jersey

4.58/5  rDev +8.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
(12 oz can, journey began 01/01/23; purchased single off shelf at Bobkat yesterday... poured into a teku)

L: polished-clear, dehydrated-piss amber liquid; big, beautiful, buxom, golden-tinged foam... laces like a doily party

S: coffee-stained malt liquor - I'm in!... ohh god, heavenly... caramel yogurt and flavored cigar smoke (permeating the nasal passages, sip after sip)... until you're halfway through and urine-stained port-o-potty rocks the house; I'm still in...

T: coffee liqueur in a Steel Reserve reserve (I can't compute the specs)... aromatics humming on the top of the palate make up most of its flavors, while the palate floor is coffee acids, a lightly nutty gourd seed note... damn dry, wow... almost butter pecan thing halfway through... the 'cream ale' part of it re-emerges in the second act; corn meal residuals... coffee and cream never thrilled me so much

F: it's damn near almost 'cream'y... fades into the background of your brain... no heat, no burn, but a tiny tingle... a spicy wrinkle... one can Maß this truly; a phantom flow

O: beautiful beer: sights, scents, and sensations... shame it took me so long to get acquainted... too well woven; no need to tweak (2158)
Jul 12, 2023
 
Rated: 4.21 by shelby415 from Oregon

Mar 04, 2023
Photo of MutuelsMark
Reviewed by MutuelsMark from Kentucky

4.35/5  rDev +2.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Story was weird until I tasted this fantastic beer. Color was light like a typical light lager. Head was white and quickly faded. Nose was coffee yet soft like the label describes a creamed, sugar coffee. Taste was smooth and coffee and cream and sugar. Well done!!!
Dec 03, 2022
 
Rated: 4.04 by not2quick from Missouri

Nov 22, 2022
Photo of dano213
Reviewed by dano213 from Pennsylvania

4.08/5  rDev -3.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
12oz can purchased from the fridge as a single for $14.99 plus tax. It's hard to read the canned on date, it looks like 01/01/22. If so, then this is almost 6 1/2 months old.

Look: Pours a very nice light copper color with a thick off-white head that receded slowly. There are a bit of small particle floaties.

Smell: I love the aroma - smells like coffee, caramel, and creme brulee, vanilla pudding, toffee. Secondary cocoa powder
and cinnamon notes along with flaky puff pastry. The nose is clean - there is not much else coming through or interfering. It smells very different compared to a coffee stout, for example, because you don't have the roasted malt notes to compete at all.

Taste: Very boozy (no kidding, it's a 12%ABV imperial cream ale). Considering how high in ABV this is, I would not have guessed that it is 12%. It tastes more like it's 8 to 9%. It's pretty smooth. The finish is boozy and there is a pleasant bitterness from the coffee and hops as well as a sweetness from the residual sugar and malts. As I get into it more, it becomes easier to perceive the pleasant lemon-acidity from the Ethiopian Sidamo on the finish. Very nice. This is really interesting not just because it is tasty but also because it is different.

Feel: Moderately carbonated. Somewhat slick, medium bodied mouthfeel.

Overall: A very interesting beer. It's not really my cup of coffee, but I can certainly appreciate it for what it is and its creativity and uniqueness. The imperial cream ale canvas allows the coffee flavors to shine and it's very difficult to recognize where the cream ale maltiness ends and the coffee flavors begin.
Jul 12, 2022
Photo of philbe311
Reviewed by philbe311 from Pennsylvania

4.17/5  rDev -1.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
Pillowy two fingers worth or lush creamy light khaki colored froth... Excellent retention... Color is a slightly hazed pale honey amber... Coffee doesn't signal coffee in the traditional sense, but rather loaded with sweet cream and sugar... Some minor earthy and woody character as well... Flavor profile is consistent nose, but the intensity is dialed up ten fold... The coffee was especially intense... Medium bodied, smooth and sleek. Surprising and enjoyable brew that challenges the senses for what a cream beer could be...
May 20, 2022
 
Rated: 3.84 by Taenim from Maine

Apr 26, 2022
 
Rated: 4.16 by sjones5045 from Pennsylvania

Apr 24, 2022
Photo of DIM
Reviewed by DIM from Pennsylvania

4.08/5  rDev -3.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Canned 1/01/22

What the hell kinda brewery are they running? Working on New Year's day??

So this not how I take my coffee, gotta be black. But they clearly accomplished what they set out to do and I'm liking it. The sugary sweetness and rich cream dominate. The roasty coffee notes are there, more subtle than I prefer, but at the intended intensity I'm sure.

Glad I tried it, but give me a coffee showcase of a stout any day.
Feb 02, 2022
Photo of Rug
Reviewed by Rug from Massachusetts

4.1/5  rDev -3.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
On draft at the taproom

My first of the series, and the base beer. I got a bunch of variants to go so a quick review for this

Clear gold with a finger of white head, fades to a thin ring and leaves decent lacing

It’s an interesting combo in the nose. I’m picking up on aromas of sweetend coffee, fruity yeast, bready malt, caramel, and light hazelnut. Understated for the abv

More expressive in taste. On the front end of the sip I’m tasting light roast coffee, caramel, biscuity malt, vanilla, and light grassy hops. The swallow brings notes of sweetened coffee, coconut, sweet cream, chewy caramel, light toffee, cocoa powder, and light orange

A medium body pairs with gentle carbonation, resulting in a silky beer. Finishes a touch sticky

This is unique stuff. Very good and I’m even more excited for the variants
Jan 28, 2022
Photo of jrc1093
Reviewed by jrc1093 from Connecticut

4.08/5  rDev -3.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
Canned on 1/1/22; consumed on 1/22/22

Pours a foggy, translucent burnt orange body capped with a finger and a half of fluffy, off-white foam; solid head retention leaves a paper-thin veil of cap, a taut, frothy collar, and thick, webby walls of lacing encircling the entirety of the glass.

Aromas of fresh coffee impart ripe diner brew in waves while sporting touches of cream and subtly enhanced vanillins; prickly coffee roast persists throughout atop a corn fusion delivering amplified sweetness from the base.

Taste highlights a boozy corn base building with soft vanilla and cream leaning into hints of confectionary sugar over the mid-palate; a casual roast persist, while a bright diner coffee sensation remains omnipresent from start to finish.

Mouthfeel brings a medium body with rounded, fluffy, moderate carbonation; taut textures into the mid-palate become a steadily creamy counterbalance to coffee ground grit flowing into the back end with edges of dryness while a subtle warmth builds to the finish.

Gimmick infusion levels of coffee find a natural pace against a fervently understated cream ale backdrop, a clean culmination of authentic vision built from a classic New Jersey flavor profile and a stunningly masked 12% ABV.
Jan 23, 2022
 
Rated: 3.98 by Nichols33 from Massachusetts

Feb 28, 2021
Photo of BubbleBobble
Reviewed by BubbleBobble from New York

3.94/5  rDev -6.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Pours a dark yellow, light orange from the can, a slight amount of haze, very little visible carbonation; decent coaster of head, minimal lacing. Nose is dry coffee grounds and half and half creamer singles, but the aroma is really subtle. The same holds true for the flavor - dry roasted coffee and sweet room temp cream; the high ABV even helps to simulate that dizzy feeling you get if you down a few Hood creamers at a diner; dry, bitter, nearly harsh finish. Mouthfeel is appropriately full, the carbonation fleeting. I go back and forth with this beer - I like the flavor profile, but want it bit more amped up and complex, particularly when it comes in at 12%. Still, I appreciate the nuance as well as a coffee addition in unexpected places.
Feb 21, 2021
 
Rated: 4.12 by TWStandley from Massachusetts

Feb 20, 2021
 
Rated: 4.26 by jaxon53 from Connecticut

Dec 14, 2020
Photo of sicilian
Rated by sicilian from Florida

4.7/5  rDev +11.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75
Smooth and strong
Jun 05, 2020
Regular Coffee from Carton Brewing Company
Beer rating: 94 out of 100 with 670 ratings