French Coffee
Carton Brewing Company

 

 

Pours dark golden with ample foamy head. I smell the base cream ale with notes of coffee. Faint notes of Grand Mariner. Flavor is coffee cream ale (base beer) and the orange brandy comes through nicely in the background. Sweet but not cloying, a very nice variant.

8/2/19
12 oz can from brewery dated 2/14/19
4.25 rating

From a 12 oz. can into a snulip glass, this beer pours out dark golden/amber/caramel like. It forms a pinky width of eggshell white bubbles as a crown.

The nose carries in huge whiffs of candied orange mixing with warm notes of brandy, a coffee being roasted, and lighter caramel and brown sugar notes in the background. Wow.

The taste brings a greatly creamy, rich, even chocolatey coffee that tangles with brown sugar, faint oranges and just a kiss of brandy. This is really nice the way the brandy interacts without stealing the show.

It’s widely creamy with layers of thick, rich sweetness just rolling through, soft the whole ride. ABV is dangerously hidden, as in all these cream ales Carton makes. Yes, you can tell it’s there but you would never guess 12%.

Overall, that’s it. I’ve had enough. I want Cartons cream ale secrets.

A: Amber with a solid foamy head and thick white lacing.
N: Really nice coffee, orange and brandy notes.
T: Follows the nose, a solid brandy/orange hit, coffee and some malt.
M: Really clean and full flavors.
O: A enjoyable coffee beer, flavors are outstanding. This is really good.

In what's both a pick-me-up and a put-me-down, the brewers at Carton Brewing conjure up an all-American cream ale but heighten its stature to imperial strength; a strength that's balanced by French coffee, cream and a nice long slumber on orange brandy oak for complexity and roundness.

Faintly hazy, golden and topped with an espresso-like cremel, the beer's mild mannered appearance is once again dashed by the scent of coffee and spice. Its earthy, nutty and nearly chocolatey character is a clear juxtaposition to the floral and candy scented cream ale beneath. Sweetness ensues a taste of cereal and corn tortillas that aligns beautifully with caramel, vanilla and honey on the early palate

As the ale swirls on the middle palate, the flavors of cream ale and coffee come together for a condensed milk and rich smooth jafa melange. Aspects of the soil-like character of French blends and their latte counterpart come along side of the citrusy flavor of orange brandy to add a spicy, candied orange and overall curacao character that rests upon a persistent base of grain sweetness and heavy whipping cream.

Light in bitterness, the ale allows the coffee to provide balance even as the ale remains stubbornly creamy, lightly marshmallowy and trails with the sweetness of candied oranges aged on fortified wine. A sweet coffee linger supplies a long aftertaste of the type of coffee that kisses this shift goodbye.

 

Pours a translucent copper with a finger of white foam that retains decently well. Aroma is coffee, candied sugar, brandy and toasty, nutty, caramely malts. Coffee is very pleasant, but not overly forward, instead balancing out well. Flavor profile is toasty, nutty, caramely, bready malts with coffee, chocolate, brandy and candied sugar. Balance nets out in the middle, with the sweetness of the candied sugar balancing out the bitterness of the coffee and light heat from the brandy. It's robust, and yet calculated. Alcohol is folded in well, coming off smoother than its ABV would suggest. Mouth feel is smooth, with a very light effervescence up front. It has a medium thickness. Overall, coffee is lovely paired with brandy in this tasty cream ale.

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

Poured from 12 oz. can into a Carton pint glass. It pours a honey-amber color with a thin, milk-white head and creamy sheen of lacing. It smells of freshly-brewed coffee, brandy, caramel, orange peel, and caramel. The taste opens with a blast of brandy that blends very nicely with the base Regular Coffee. There is also orange peel, oak, and caramel. The feel is thick and creamy with moderate carbonation, and the 12% ABV is noticeable. Overall, this Regular Coffee variant grew on me as I drank it. The brandy and fruit are highly flavorful and it's not overly sweet. I really enjoyed it.

12 oz. can dated 2/14/19, poured into Lawson's tulip glass.

L: Like the usual Regular Coffee, just about no ahead, little lacing, and a thin ring. Beer is a mostly clear deep amber.

S: Definite notes of orange, brandy barrel, plus the Regular Coffee base beer

T: It's pretty sweet, but the high ABV cuts it a bit. Orange and brandy taste, plus creamy coffee. Pretty good and definitely something new.

F: Full-bodied, not much carbonation. The melding of the flavors is not completely there and it's both a bit too sweet and a bit too boozy.

O: It's an ambitious effort and I love them for it.

Another twist in Carton's run of coffee cream ales. This one lacked balance for me; the sweetness was just a bit too much and as the beer warmed, alcohol came through a bit too loudly. Sweet and boozy knocks this beer down a peg.

This one pours a light amber-ish color, with a small head, and not much lacing.

This smells like spicy oak and wood, fruity coffee, fresh citrus, brandy, and vanilla.

This is a really unique rendering of the Regular Coffee game for sure. It's probably the least sweet variant I've had, as the wood adds a nice oak character that really balances the sweet fruity coffee and the vanilla creamer. There's some nice orange peel and citrus from the brandy, too. It's a weird combo that works well. "Weird combo that works well" is basically the tagline for this series, and Carton in general.

This is medium bodied, pretty creamy, with a great level of drinkability. There's somehow not really any booziness in this - a definite hallmark of this crazy series.

Unsurprisingly, I like this quite a bit. It might not be better than the base Regular Coffee, but it's still a worthy entrant to the series.

A: rich dark amber color with some faint orange and woody colors. Thin tan head

S: creamy seeetness, caramel, orange zest, brandy, oak, grass, a touch of vanilla, leather. Very deep malt complexity in this aroma

T: follows the nose. Rich sweet malts and caramel, sweet grains, orange peel, brandy, oak, cream sweetness, a touch of grassy hops. Not much coffee

M: heavy, sticky mouthfeel with medium carbonation

O: a pretty decent variation here. The coffee flavor is weak, but the citrus and brandy barrels that shine in the flavor are quite good and work well together

Thrilled to buy (and review as the first) this at brewers tonight. It looks as good as it tastes.
a) Dark, grand marnier body that throws up a good lace and a ring of last.
s) Crazy strong brandy, http://www.grand-marnier.com/ nose and taste.
t) Amazing that beer is so brandy-like with essence and distillation of orange-brandy ....
f) Smooth sipper, long in the draw. totally worth the price. Sip, meditate, simmer. Totally let it resolve to cask temp!
o) Hard to discern between French and St Kitts the best of the coffee series? St Kitts by a husk of a tiny margin,