Carton Brewing (May 2017)

we had a tank become free, after memorial day through labor day we can't really fool around with the schedule so it was a "what'd be fun and can be brewed rightnow" scenario, and we had all the stuff we needed for AOE handy so i called matt and sam and said "you wanna brew this tomorrow?" they were down so it happened. might happen again might not, only a fool would commit

 

I also did the Kane and Carton run on Saturday and finally caved in and stopped into Best Buy and bought a beer fridge, albeit a mini, on the ride home from Carton. My wife is happier and there's room for things like fruits and vegetables in our actual fridge.

 

I generally buy smaller amounts when I buy cans these days, but if I am getting more than 1 or 2 4-packs its because someone asked me to grab them some, or I know I am going to share with friends. I do like to see how it changes over time sometimes so I will make sure I have a couple for me, but if I am buying a good amount its because I am sharing it and giving it to people. I guess my exception is a beer I really like a lot and I will get a bunch, like Party Wave.

My beer fridge was essentially empty Sat, in anticipation for me going to Boston this coming weekend, and I went and filled it up now, gotta find more room!

 

very similiar to be. Grabbed a 4 pack of each at carton over the weekend and usually split with a friend to get 2 of each... keeps the budget in check and also the waistlist under control

 

I'm pretty sure when Other Half re-released City Slickers a month or so ago, they gave a shout out to Arizona Wilderness again. Not sure what the protocol is for rebrewed collabs.

 

AZW brewed it at OH with them if I'm not mistaken. Because they also did Saloon Doors. Not sure if I'm just misreading what you wrote though.

 

No you are probably right. I forgot about Saloon Doors.

 

Interesting thoughts and question. I have the opposite thought when I see people walking out with just a four pack--unless you can get there all the time, why are you buying such a limited amount of these awesome beers?
If there are one or two types of cans available, I max out; if 3+ types i will get a bit less of each but usually leave with 2 or 3 cases. I will offer a four pack to a couple people i drink with regularly who don't get up to kane or carton ever, but won't go out of my way to sell any off and if no one wants it, all the more for me. I do this for three reasons first I like to drink local. Second, i live 45 minutes away and my weekends are jam packed so only get to kane/carton once every 4 to 6 weeks. Third, I like the idea of drinking locally produced beer. So i have a kegerator and keep a local option on tap nearly all the time, with a case or two of local beers in can/bottle in the fridge (including some older stragglers, usually high abv stuff). Results in a high quality selection at my house, but not as much variation. Right now I have head high in the keg, a four pack of sneakbox, two four packs of unjunct, and then one or two of a few other carton beers (though of course all the boat is long gone). Plus I pick up one or two growlers a week for variety, from growler station at local beer store or direct from closer breweries).

I am not really trying and don't have interest in trying all the other beers that have been coming out lately from all over the country. They just don't interest me because we have great local options, the majority sits warm on the shelves and I question the integrity of the shipping process.

 

Fair points. I'm not one of those IPAs-must-be-consumed-immediately people either, but it would probably take me a long time to go through an entire case of one beer just because I probably wouldn't want to drink the same beer that many times in a span of a few weeks. Not to say my way is right and other people are wrong, maybe others wouldn't get bored of the same beer. Interesting parallel with whisky, I'm pretty new to whisky and haven't had enough to really pick up most of the flavors that are described on the bottle.

Ha well if you have the opposite thought then I'm glad I started this discussion. I only buy a four pack at a time because otherwise I'd end up buying beer faster than I drink it. If it's a beer that I really like and that ages well, I'll get more though.

 

How often and how much do you drink? If you only drink a beer every day or two and you already said you like variety, then yeah a case is probably overkill. If you're doing two or three beers a night though, you can get through a case pretty quickly.

 

Have any of the beers posted on Saturday hit distribution?
Such as: Shinsu, Cosmonaut, or AOE

 

great discussion. I tend to by 1 4pack each...but i also try to drink beer 1 or 2 nights a week max, and try to not have too many beers. If i was more often I would buy more. Normally i also try to by something that sits well knowing i can have it spread out over a longer time.. Regular Coffee for instance..

does everyone have a beer fridge? I may be the minority not having one also

 

I doubt Shinsu or AOE will hit distro but i did buy Cosmonaut at joe canals.

 

Hoppun and ID have previously hit distro as well

 

I don't have one, but the bottom shelf of my fridge is usually filled with beer. I probably average between one to two beers a night and my roommate maybe half that.

I think your living situation is a heavy factor though. I share an apartment with a buddy of mine who also likes beer. We don't cook that often and I have a fridge in my office at work to keep my lunch stuff in, so I don't have much food in my fridge. If I was living with a wife and kids instead of a roommate who also likes beer, I might need that space for food, so if that eventually becomes my living situation, maybe I will need a beer fridge.

 

Hoping that some day you leave enough cans of BDG behind to get to the TR.

I know they exist, but you guys just shotgun every last one right off the line. I understand.

 

I usually drink 1 beer a night with dinner during the week and sometimes more on weekends depending on what I'm doing or if I have guests and such.

I typically only buy beer by the 4-pack as well mainly because I like variety and I don't want to drink the same thing night after night. I bought a case of mixed Alchemist beers back in August when I was in VT, and I drank the last Focal Banger in January of this year. I'm not a must drink IPAs immediately kind of guy, but that Focal definitely wasn't the same beer after 5 months. Still drinkable though.

The only beer I ever buy in bulk is Boat. Whenever the spot I buy it at posts it on beermenus, I'll buy a half case (partly because it's a 45 minute drive for me) and they're gone in 2 weeks. Not to fanboy in the Carton thread, but I could drink this beer every day if it was the last beer on earth. Speaking of regular coffee, I hit 3 stores in northern NJ in the middle of a blizzard and bought every can I could get my hands on.

I have a Danby 120 fridge. I used to keep my beers in a crisping drawers in our fridge, and the wife eventually said enough was enough once the beers started to spread to other shelves haha.

 

Was at the Carton event in Hoboken last night and was lucky enough to get some AOE before it kicked. I missed out on it last year, so was stoked. Boy is this beer phenomenal. It's really nice seeing two of the best breweries in the region collaborate on this.

 

Just wanna say about AOE: I already taste a difference between my first couple pints Saturday May 20 (canned May 17) and the one I'm enjoying right now. Edges are smoothing out, a tad less citrus rind bitterness, more of the sweet/tang pulp juice, flavors coalescing, subtleties becoming more apparent. And, for me, just like I enjoy my O-Dubs around three weeks after canning, I think this batch of AOE are gonna be INSANELY delicious in another week. I thank the beer gods for helping us buy as much as we did, and I thank Carton for producing such outstanding beers. NJ don't know how good we got it!!

 

Grabbed some BOAT from LSBS this morning. Canned 05/23. FRESH BOAT. Om nom nom.