Coffee & Pavlova
Carton Brewing Company

Canned on 1/1/22; consumed on 2/3/22

Pours a translucent, dirty bronzed orange body capped with a finger of fluffy, off-white foam; decent head retention leaves a paper-thin layer of cap, a slight, frothy collar, and a generous, evenly distributed array of webby lacing draped across the walls of the glass.

Aroma impresses a fresh diner coffee prominence upfront with a prevalent graham cracker roast ceding to delicately fruity accents; strawberry is stronger while kiwi advances in the distance, and a rounded corn underbelly resounds into the close for a delicate sweetness to balance.

Taste brings coffee in flux with a smooth cream ale base, sweet corn engaging distant esters of strawberry and kiwi husk fusing an edge of brightness to the more dominant layers of roast over time, leaving floral vanilla and sweeter malty subtleties to linger with the finish.

Mouthfeel offers a medium body sporting a moderate fluff of carbonation, exposing a subtle grit into a creamy mid-palate and remaining crisp into the back end, followed by a subtle, drying tautness finishing.

Initial impressions as a more subtle take on the Regular Coffee series are somewhat deceptive, the beer revealing a steady expansion of a more focused fruity coffee component unexplored in other variants; while indeed subtle, there's a bright, almost tropical berry balance to the otherwise bittersweet roast.

Canned 1/1/22

Alright, I finally got my hands on some of Carton’s Cream Ales! Drove down there for the first time yesterday before heading into NYC for a concert and had the OG Regular Coffee, now it’s time for the variants. Should be fun to work through these during this blizzard. This one is definitely the weirdest with strawberry and kiwi so let’s get into it

Pours a cloudy orange gold with 2 fingers of creamy white head that slowly fades to a thin cap and leaves minimal lacing

The fruit in here is actually a wonderful compliment to the base beer. I’m picking up on aromas kiwi, sweetened coffee, strawberry jello, graham cracker, spent coffee beans, and light brown sugar

Likewise in taste, all the components play nicely together, better than I had expected. On the front end of the sip I’m tasting strawberry jam, tart kiwi, light roast coffee, sweet cream, cocoa powder, and crackery malt. The swallow brings notes of sweetened coffee, tart kiwi, strawberry jam, crackery malt, vanilla, and light caramel

A medium full body pairs with gentle carbonation, resulting in a smooth and gentle beer. Finishes off dry with a pleasant tartness to balance the sweetness of the coffee

Oh yeah, this is good stuff, even for a variant that is quite out there. I’m super excited to have the others now

2021. Poured into a Carton pint glass. It pours a slightly cloudy, honey-orange color with a modest, ecru-colored cap and minimal lacing. It has the typical, freshly-brewed sweet coffee smell but with a hint of strawberry. The taste is something between "regular" Regular Coffee and strawberry short cake. The berry is rather tart and balances the milky coffee sweetness. There's a fair amount of bitterness at the finish. Its mouth feel is typical for the Regular Coffee variants; creamy and moderately carbonated with a warming 12% ABV. Overall, while Pavlova is an interesting take on the Regular Coffee franchise, it's not one of my favorites.

Very lively orange-amber brew, topped with a decent off-white head from a moderate pour. Despite quite a bit of activity, the body is transparent upon close inspection.

Expecting the nose to be filled with coffee, possibly accented by fruit, it's actually reversed: sharp notes of strawberry and kiwi lead the way; picking any coffee or cream out of the mix is pretty challenging. It's a pleasant aroma, but it's a strong departure from the nose featured throughout the Regular Coffee series.

Much better blend of the flavors on the palate. Strawberry and kiwi still lead the way, and are particularly strong on the second half and the finish, but there's plenty of cream, doughy pale malt, and sugar throughout, providing a nice foundation for the fruit. The coffee itself is still pretty much an afterthought, although it does start to cut through the sharp fruit just a touch on the finish.

Remarkably smooth and drinkable, especially for a 12% brew. Insanely easy to drink. Almost too thin, in fact.

Overall, a very tasty and creative brew. It doesn't perfectly hit the mark for me, as I would have preferred more coffee flavor in my coffee cream ale, but I liked it.

 

A: Dark gold/amber with white foamy head that fades fast and sticky lacing.
N: Coffee, strawberries, and some chocolate.
T: Follows the nose, strawberry hit mixed with chocolate and coffee. Some berry notes and maybe light vanilla.
M: Fresh and sweet with nice coffee notes.
O: A twist on coffee beers but it works, refreshing and flavorful.

L - ah, the next iteration in the rego coffee series. Nice. Pours a golden orb with fine suspended particulates. Unusual appearance for these beers. A thin, but lasting, bone white head sits atop the fossilized amber.

S - strawberry jam and and brown-sugar sprinkled coffee with two creams. Smells like angel food cake with all the fixins. Perhaps some grape jelly and all the essence of your classic seedy 24 hr diner.

T - tastes like pancakes smothered in strawberry syrup, butter, and whipped cream. Hm. Smashed kiwis, graham crackers, and glazed sugar. I'm starting to wish I cracked this earlier... like for breakfast!

F - surprisingly neutral for 12%. A bit of fuzzy electricity, mostly from the sugar methinks, but this is quite drinkable. A bit of stickiness on the end after a few sips.

O - the coffee isn't nearly as pronounced as other variants and it tends to be a bit more fruit/sugar-forward. Can be a bit cloying at times, but that's what we're here for, innit? Strawberries and kiwi won't be for everyone, but it is for me... just not as much as the goats like Cafe Y Churro.

 

Pours a foggy orange with two fingers of white foam. Head retention is good. Aroma is kiwi and strawberry from the moment the can is popped open. Coffee is medium-roast with a fruity tone. Toasty, caramely, nutty malts round out the aroma. Flavor profile medium-roast coffee, kiwi, strawberry, and nutty, earthy, caramely, toasty malts. It's sweet, nearing on a dessert level of sweetness, with the coffee and malts adding a touch of bitterness, but not enough to tip the balance. Mouth feel is fuzzy and velvety, with a medium thickness. It drinks smooth for 12% ABV. Overall, kiwi and strawberry are strong with coffee as a bit of an after thought. Flavorful and focused.

Served in a 15.5oz Spiegalau tulip from a 12oz can.

 

 

Canned 3 weeks ago.

Pours clear amber with a thin white head.

The nose is the highlight of the beer. Strawberry pastry and coffee.

The taste is good but not as good as Cafe Y Churro. Almost like Ethiopian coffee with the acidity/red fruit. I get strawberry and semi-bitter coffee.

The mouthfeel is medium with subtle booze.

Overall, good but not my favorite variant of Carton Coffee.

Pours a 5 on the SRM index,looks translucent with a quickly receding foamy head. Taste is surprisingly delicious ! They some how managed to add fruitiness to their regular coffee and not screw it up. Wow, I am amazed at how well blended the flavors are. Feels not slick or viscous which is also impressive for such a big beer. Overall this rocks-

Ahhhh the Reg. Coffee variants. Here we go...

Head dissipates quickly. Keeps a bit of foam stuck to the sides of the glass however, seemingly marked where the legs have been. Slightly dark golden color. Honestly it's not the most appealing but everyone in the know, knows that it's what is inside the glass.

The nose is dessert sweet, like powdered sugar, strawberry and kiwi syrup. There is also a coffee note, and it's sort of done in by the sweet, fruity notes that take over. It evokes confectionery sweets, which is probably the goal.

My first impression from the flavor is that there is a fair amount of blending with the expectations of Regular Coffee and the fruits here. Coffee and cream or strawberry/kiwi? It's hard to tell where one begins. That's not necessarily a bad thing in this case though, because they are quite harmonious, as I was expecting. Notes of fresh kiwi, diced strawberry, and sugar crusted pastries without any breadiness. Any coffee in this is heavily done up with sugar and cream. (Even more so than RC.)

The feel of this is, as usual, incredibly drinkable for 12%. It is slightly syrupy, and is about as carbonated as you'd expect it to be. This plays in it's favor however.

There seems to be a pantheon (ugh) of Regular Coffee variants now, and I get the sense this one will be regulated to some "lesser" reputation because it doesn't seem as distinct as the others, or that kiwi and strawberry and coffee are an odd couple. I hope that doesn't happen. It would be inaccurate. This one exists in a very specific way, wherein someone realized the inherent complimentary aspects of something out of the ordinary.

On tap at EBF in Boston, MA.

This one pours a light clear straw yellow color, with a small head, and not much lacing.

The aroma indicates this is going to be one of the fruitiest Regular Coffee variants yet. There's lots of strawberry and a touch of kiwi, with a much more muted actual coffee character than this beer usually provides.

This is still delicious, but it's one of the lesser variants in this series. I come here for coffee goodness, and the kiwi and strawberry deaden the coffee character slightly. It's still a very interesting beer, though.

This is light bodied, and fairly creamy, with no booziness evident. It's surprisingly drinkable.

I appreciate Carton constantly thinking outside the box. This isn't my favorite, but I would definitely get it again if I ever saw it.