Cafe Revolver
Carton Brewing Company

 

Canned 1/1/21

Chugging right along with another Carton Cream Ale, we have a relatively new one, and a weird one at that. The base beer is bourbon barrel aged with orange bitters. So, a Cream Ale old fashioned? A strange concept, but I have a feeling it just might work. Let’s crack it open

Pours a cloudy brownish orange with 2 fingers of light tan head that slowly fades to a thin cap and leaves minimal lacing

Oh wow, this one is really different from the others in the nose, almost Barleywine-esque. I’m picking up on aromas of brown sugar, bourbon, orange zest, light roast coffee, brown bread, graham cracker, and caramel

It’s more true to the series in taste but it’s still different enough to keep it interesting. On the front end of the sip I’m tasting sweet orange, acidic coffee, biscuity malt, spicy bourbon, toasted oak, and toffee. The swallow brings notes of spicy bourbon, acidic coffee, orange zest, sweet corn, biscuity malt, and light toffee

A medium full body pairs with gentle tingling carbonation, resulting in a creamy beer. Finishes off dry with an interesting spice

This one is kinda out there, but I do enjoy it. Probably my least favorite of these so far but they’ve all been good so that’s not saying much

Canned on 1/1/22; consumed on 1/29/22

Pours a dingy, dark orange body capped with two fingers of fluffy, rocky, off-white foam; good retention yields a half-finger of creamy cap, a large, frothy collar, and a generous spatter of webby/spotty lacing spread across the walls of the glass.

Aromas of Teddy Grahams waft through fresh diner coffee with hints of creamer, building to coffee Old Fashioned and accentuating orange oils into the back end as vanilla deepens a budding floral sweetness into the close.

Taste opens to creamy orange bitters as a corny cream ale base fuses easily with hints of bourbon oak, evolving vanilla over the mid-palate to balance fresh, roasty coffee peaking into the back end.

Mouthfeel features a medium body with prickly, moderate-high carbonation; a soft grit evolves to creamy/silky textures over the mid-palate, while a slick back end warms to a pleasantly boozy tingle and the pseudo-tangy sensations of orange pith linger through the finish.

The cream ale base plays genially into the Old Fashioned-type treatment, offering sweeter takes on the citric infusion of coffee predominance while the bourbon barrel influence more patently resounds through the profile; a lightly intensified addition to the Regular Coffee series, while maintaining the signature, high-ABV drinkability that makes it so unique.

Reviewed one week after release. Poured into a Carton pint glass. It pours a cloudy, orange-brown color, darker than most Carton coffee variants, with a finger of creamy, milk-white head and thick lacing. It smells of freshly-brewed coffee, sweet milk, and a whiff of orange peel. Wow, this is different. It opens like Regular Coffee - fresh, acidic brewed coffee with lots of milky sweetness - but almost immediately I can taste the orange bitters, which add more fruitiness than I'd anticipated. The effect of the barrel-aging is evident but it's very delicate and doesn't distract from the coffee at all. The result is quite unique - combining Saturday night's cocktail with (early) Sunday morning's coffee. The tail of Jersey dog. The feel is reminiscent of the other Coffee variants; it's thick and creamy for the style with pleasant carbonation, and per usual the 12% ABV isn't in your face. I always enjoy the Regular Coffee variants and this one is particularly fun to drink.