Kane Brewing...

I don't see the highest acclaimed thing. They make some world class beers but they are all the kinds of world class beers everyone, everywhere makes these days. In NJ on Beer Advocate alone Ramstein and Carton hold much higher rankings in various categories than Kane does. Maybe that's it? Maybe Kane's brewers realize that if what they are gonna do is make hoppy pales, BA stouts, and simple sweet Belgians, all be it at an exceptional level, they can do that at bunch of places, maybe their own or one that isn't a start up and can afford to pay better

 

Or maybe Mike Kane is a crazy perfectionist and is too demanding? Could be a million reasons I guess.

 

I said highest acclaimed IN NJ, not in the world. Carton is the second most acclaimed in the state; the only style Carton does with better ratings than Kane on BA and Ratebeer is their session ale, Boat Beer.

Of course, Carton occasionally releases something amazing and unique - like their coffee cream ale - but for the most part their brewery offerings are the typical IPA, APA, milk stout, rye beer, and cream ale. Maybe one special beer every two months. Kane's styles more frequently go beyond the norm, at least in terms of barrel aging and higher ABVs. They also offer more taps at the brewery than any other NJ brewey.

I don't think Carton is yet capable of a beer takeover like Kane was able to accomplish at Cloverleaf -- now THAT tap listing described why Kane is NJ's most acclaimed brewey.

 

The tap takeover by Kane at Cloverleaf was phenominal. Carton is having a pretty big one on April 15th. Would like to see some one-offs on Swisher, Coffee Regular and maybe something new. Carton and Kane have distanced themselves from all other breweries in NJ. I hope the changing of the guard at Kane doesn't hurt them.

 

I absolutely love Carton. all of their beers are solid. Boat Beer is the best session beer available around here IMO.

just comparison-wise, I think Kane is a little more advanced at this stage of the game, primarily because they offer multiple specialties (like bourbon barrel aged stout, peach-infused Belgian blonde, flagship IPAs dry-hopped with specific hops, etc) at the brewery, whereas Carton will have one specialty at a time (right now it's Swisher). also, the ratings for Kane's IPAs are nearing elite level. Carton's 077xx IPA is good but nothing mind-blowing at the moment.

 

I am not arguing I love both breweries, nothing makes me happier than walking in a bar and seeing Overhead and 077xx on tap next to each other.
But Carton has another Cloverleaf event coming up (last one was 18 or so beers that ran out 9 the examiner just reported) with 26 different beers on the list, only 2 of which are variations, so it would seem not only they can, but they can, with more unique styles. They have the number 1 & 3 spot on Beer Advocate for top cream ales, the number 15 spot for black ales, and on Rate Beer Boat is the number 5 session IPA in the nation in spite of only being available in NJ and NYC/Philly.
Like I said I'm very happy for them both and it's hard to directly compare them beyond Overhead/077xx because Carton doesn't make a regular IPA like Head High and their stout is 4%. Which I appreciate because as the 2 of them go there are 30 or so cool NJ beers from just those 2 guys and not 2 versions of 12beers. To me Kane makes exemplary beers of current style and Carton innovates style, but all that aside I am having trouble finding more acclaim for one than the other besides your claim.

 

wow! you're right -- the Carton takeover list at Cloverleaf sounds amazing. once again, I wish there was a brew pub like Cloverleaf in NJ that was close to NJ Transit.

I guess my only criticism of Carton is that it would be nice if their actual tasting room had more variety, especially since they're clearly capable of it. I mean, at Cloverleaf I am seeing a porter with sour cherries, a sour stout, berliner weisse, imperial porter with peanuts... I just don't see this type of innovation in Carton's tasting room. it's ALWAYS Boat Beer, BDG, 077XX, Carton of Milk, Red Rye, Wisco and ONE specialty beer on tap there.

so I guess if Carton could learn anything from Kane, it would be to make their specialty beers easier to obtain via their tasting room. sub out BDG, Carton of Milk, or Red Rye once in awhile for some of the rarer, more interesting stuff. then again, maybe they're trying to appeal more to the on-the-cusp craft beer drinker as opposed to the Beer Advocate types like ourselves.

 

I don't see how you can have a tasting room and not run your all your full time beers, even if it's just for the neighbors to fill growlers. Last year they did 14 special brews, beyond their regular 5 (8 if you count the restaurant ones(they have a cool you tube page if you've never checked it)) they usually run out in a weekend or three, then usually it's the thing they call a knuckle, what ever they are working on for next. I get there often enough that I would know if the other 3 taps and cask pump were getting boring and they don't.
Looking at the two Cloverleaf lists it seems best explained Carton does variety and Kane does variation and I guess it boils down to what you are into. I am just glad we have one executing and one innovating, and I don't know how we lost Ramstein which has the #7 Weizenbock,which the Bros gave 100 but thnk about that and Remember this state 5 years ago?
But now we are so far from why Kane is on a 3 rd head brewer in 3 years I'm just giving up. Let's leave it at there are 3 acclaimed breweries in NJ right now and one of them is looking for a new head brewer.

 

Did you try their intermezzo apple wasabi sour last year? It was so wild funky I could barely finish, there is no way they make a beer like that for gateway drinkers.

 

I don't think I've even seen any Ramstein beers ever around here in central Jersey. Odd. I definitely need to keep an eye out.

Didn't try the wasabi, but Carton's Coffee Regular was easily one of my favorite beers of the past several years. I get what you're saying about Carton's tasting room. it's just that, if I already tried all their flagship beers, and I can buy cans of Boat down the street, it's hard to entice me to drive an hour to the brewery if there's only one specialty on tap. Kane, on the other hand, always has something I've never tried before. they're both equally awesome breweries. I just like Kane's variety of options in their tasting room more.

I wouldn't make that criticism if I didn't know Carton was fully capable of putting out innovative, successful beers. seems they allot more of that stuff for bars than their tasting room, which I can't fault them for, but it would be nice to have an access point.

 

Two thoughts: Carton is a smaller space across the street from a school maybe that's why they leave it to the bars- and or they don't have a sign maybe they are more catering to locals?
Either way every time I've been to Kane it's been Head High plus Head High with a different hop, Drift Line, Drift Wood, Drift Wood and vanilla, and something else with some other thing done to it. I guess these are different beers... but not really, where as at Carton it's 9 totally different beers, 5 of which are their regular beers,and one of which is that months super rare seasonal so I'm still not sure I see the difference you do other than style of brewing. Anyway we should start a Carton/Kane love thread or something this is no longer on topic at all.

PS
Are you really saying on Beer Advocate difficulty in getting their beers makes them not good? What I like best at both places is they seem to be trying very hard to cover all of NJ

 

I never even remotely suggested that ease of access has an impact on how I perceive a beer's quality. I agree that Kane and Carton do a splendid job of spreading their beer throughout the state. My criticism is strictly limited to Carton's tasting room variety compared to Kane. If we are comparing Cartons selection to the average brewery tasting room it's absolutely above average. But I'm comparing it to Kane specifically. Carton just doesn't alternate enough considering they easily give pubs like Cloverleaf TONS of variety.

Also, I think Carton has the session ales and cream ales down perfectly, but Kane reigns supreme with their IPAs, Belgians, stouts, etc in my opinion. Just my opinion though.

But yeah, cartons regular coffee beer was the best thing I've had from either brewery

 

Are there any updates about this weekend?

 

The list will most likely be posted tomorrow or Wednesday.

 

What is going on this weekend? I decided to make a trip down this past Saturday but may have to take another run.

 

The 3rd annual Celebration of the Stout event. 15-20ish different variations of Port Omna. It's amazing.

 

Oh man looks like I'll be convincing the girlfriend we need to make another stop.

 

I was lucky enough to try Port Omna this past weekend at the Pour House in Haddonfield , NJ. Wow! Good stuff. It might be time for me to make the 1.5hr trip to Kane. Any tips on good places to eat by the brewery?

thanks!

 

There are tons of great restaurants and bars to eat at in Asbury Park.

 

Yup, it's a fun area. Cool places in Asbury Park and Belmar are nearby. The Boathouse in Belmar (10 min away) has great food and a solid craft beer offering.

Unfortunately gotta miss the Omma event, but looking forward to checking this out soon.