Carton Brewing (May 2017)

I would be stunned if it doesn't. I thought it was decent but it's not a super popular (ipa) style and the weather tomorrow is bringing the pain so I don't see many people crowding Carton.

 

So... I just want to say this as an objective beer drinker, for other people who might have gone through the same.

When I say that a beer is not for me, it doesn't mean that the beer isn't good or doesn't have its merits or that it is terrible or undrinkable. With that said, Shinshu wasn't for me. Can I appreciate the beer? 100%. Did I enjoy it? To a certain extent. Is it a bad beer? No.

So I told a few people my honest thoughts about it and was quickly given the card of "Well, maybe you don't like good beer or maybe you are turning into a hater."

That's not the point of craft beer and if anyone hits the divisiveness of this industry any better, it is Carton. Consistently there is a barometer of what is likable and what isn't and not all of their beers are for everyone. But to say that a brewery is good based on how much everyone likes all of their beers is ridiculous.

Honestly, I love the approach for beers like Shinshu, but it just doesn't suit my palate, but if breweries didn't try to push the boundaries, we'd all be drinking boring beer. So, congrats Carton, you made Shinshu, a beer that isn't for me, but that I'm 100% glad that you made. Cheers to that and many other beers that I've enjoyed or not.

 

No one can fault you for this opinion. Generally speaking the "haters" don't speak with constructive criticism. So you're no hater just a person who treats the craft with respect.

 

Damn, that's brutal for those to tell you that. Totally not cool and reeks of all the crap that is not cool with beer today. I suspect Augie would be the first one to tell us that not everything will be for everyone. Not in an arrogant way but in the way they are trying to push boundaries and expand on what we think beer can be. Some of the most interesting beers I have had are from Carton and I would definitely say they are not always going to be appealing to all. I think you have been a pretty positive presence on this forum and give criticism where but would never paint you as hater. Sorry you had that experience.

 

I find it hard to believe anyone would give beertoro a hard time considering he's one of the nicest guys on this forum. Plus he's very positive on his hops and horns review site. But then again, there are a lot of assholes in the world.

 

i said it in the magazine a while ago and i say it again here, i have made 80 beers in the last five years if 50 of them made you happy i am happy if 2 of them made you think i am delighted. let's play these games and see where they can go...

https://www.beeradvocate.com/articles/9492/augie-carton-of-carton-brewing-company/
5. Court hatred
Carton compares the brewing industry to the restaurant business. Budweiser is McDonald’s, he says. Blue Moon is Applebee’s. Craft brewers are local restaurants, and Carton Brewing is a modernist kitchen, not a classic bistro. He points to Intermezzo, a sour beer brewed with puréed green apples and fresh wasabi root. “It was as wild as a beer could get,” Carton recalls. “It smelled like apples, wasabi, horseshit and parmesan cheese. I loved it.” The fact that the beer provoked strong reactions—positive and negative—meant it did its job. “Some people hated it. You have to push boundaries. If you make something that doesn’t offend anybody, you’ve made Budweiser.”

 

And I think that's where I've been split lately. It looks like some of the crowd is at a point where they believe "If I don't like this beer, it must then be a bad beer..." And I wish it stopped there, but it goes further into "...and then I must tell the world my opinion and if it is different than mine, than they don't know good beer."

And that's basically the gist of what happened. I gave an honest opinion of Shinshu to a person next to me and two other people chimed in saying that I didn't know good beer and that Shinshu was awesome. I tried to explain exactly what I said above and was absolutely shut down. I don't understand this mentality of "If someone doesn't like it, it automatically means it is bad." It's not. I love the nuances and the process involved to get there, but sadly not every beer I am going to try is going to be for me or else I'd be worried something is terribly wrong with my palate.

I know the two people aren't completely indicative of the community as a whole, but it just came out of left field on a Saturday afternoon. I'm always up for discussion and fair criticism of what is good and not, but as long as it is a conversation. That's the one thing I've enjoyed about Carton beers so far, more often than not, they provoke a conversation and that's much better than just labeling something a "good or bad beer".

 

well first and foremost let me just get out of the way Shihshu is awesome, i mean really awesome
but that's a point of view, one that has an appreciation for salt, because it is a salty beer. and one that likes the classic "beer flavors" of a cream ale while appreciating the experience of umami in what is classically an umami free style. It can also be just interesting if you like that vanilla tones and of the miso as not a vanilla thing.
BUT
for all these reasons it can be "too weird"
who wants a classically lean beer to fill your mouth so completely?
why take a beer that is so stony in the first place and make it salty?
why take one of the only 2 beers truly born of american tradition and Japanese it all up?
and on the can it says "vanilla" and this tastes nothing like a milk shake so eff this beer!
i mean jeesh not everything needs to be science project, right can't we just have a beer!

but really @beertoro what you are dealing with isn't beer it is humanity through the lens of the social media age, some people suck and some people are great and that is life, wishing everyone was great is a lifetime thing best to keep the beers you like around and dull the noise some times

 

i tend to contrast when i pair rather than compliment but in this case i think some complimet will work. there is a restaurant in Asbury called taka, this beer will trounce most their sushi except those rolls that use sauces like "spicy or eel" but they have a miso grilled sirloin that this would be amazing with. i suspect aged Goudas would love this, any roasted thing with a fruit component but perfection is gonna be risotto

 

Mushroom risotto?? may be?

 

Budweiser offends me. Does that mean it's doing it's job?

 

sure, but i more meant risotto, just risotto, but well made obviously

 

really? whats offensive about budweiser? i think what people find attractive about it is it's the most neutered version of those flavors there is

 

That's what offends me! I want beer with balls that can procreate!

 

At some point down the line someone will ask what's the most out there descriptor you've ever heard; my answer has changed from horse blanket to horseshit.

 

then i would say you are wasting time and energy on the inconsequential in life, but hey you do you. for me it's not worth the effort not to care

 

you gotta drink more burgundy man. the perfect village burgundy smells like a cherry wrapped in horse shit

 

I've heard horse blanket, horse sweat, horse apples (the Urban Dictionary definition, not the mulberry-ish fruit), and straight up manure as descriptors before in everything from a seven-year-old bottle of St. Lamvinus to a young Château Flotis Negrette. As someone whose list of tasting notes is still growing, I *think* those are mostly interchangeable (if anyone wants to differentiate between them by all means go for it). Feel free to add 'em to your horseshit note as well. Impress your friends!

 

I think horse sweat/blanket are different from manure. I think horse blanket is a sweaty, gamey, earthy odor more like like mushrooms or locker room. It definitely has musk to it though. Horse manure is its own thing.