By Mary Ann Bourbeau
ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS – While Carton Brewing’s fourth anniversary van tour is filled up, those still who want to sample the brewer’s different beers can just stop in each of the six area bars on Friday, Sept. 19, and meet up with the tour group.
“This is a celebration of our anniversary and a big thank you to the places that have supported us from Day One,” said Augie Carton, one of the East Washington Avenue brewery’s owners.
Carton’s initial tour consisted of 15 people in a van. This year, Carton secured a yellow school bus to bring about 45 people on the tour to six Monmouth County bars that have supported his brewery since it opened in 2011. He expects this will be as big as the event will ever get.
“Some of these places can’t hold much more than 100 people,” he said.
The special beers brewed for the event are called 077XX, a local’s only brew named for the participating bars’ zip codes. Each bar will have a keg of Carton’s Double IPA, but for every batch, the third dry hopping process will be done with a different type of hop.
Those who want to sample the 077XX beers might want to head to these pubs Friday, Sept. 19, because the kegs often don’t last past the first night.
The tour will leave Carton Brewing at 6 p.m. and will arrive at Maloney’s Pub in Matawan at about 6:30 p.m. There they will be serving 07747, brewed with an Australian Galaxy hop that has citrus, peach and passion fruit flavors. The next stop at about 7:30 p.m. will be Bond Street Bar in Asbury Park for some 07712, brewed with a Centennial hop that contains floral and citrus tones.
Ron’s West End Pub in Long Branch is next, serving 07740, finished off with a Simcoe hop that has passion fruit, pine earth and citrus characteristics. The bus then heads to Boyle’s Tavern in Monmouth Beach for a taste of 07750, brewed with Nelson Sauvin, a hop that has white wine fruitiness with fresh crushed gooseberry and grape infused flavors.
“It has wine-like characteristics like a sauvignon blanc,” Carton said. “Boyle’s is like our honorary home base. They were the first place to sell a keg of our Boat Beer.”
Participants will get back on the bus and head over to Jamian’s in Red Bank to taste 07701, brewed with Apollo hops that have a strong grapefruit and hoppy flavor. The tour will hit about one bar an hour before ending at The Chubby Pickle in Highlands. There, they will be pouring 07732, finished off with Cascade hops that have floral, citrus and grapefruit tones.
“For the tour, we pick people up at the brewery and drop them off at the Chubby Pickle so they don’t drive,” Carton said. “They can call a cab or have a friend pick them up.”
Two other bars in New Jersey serve the 077XX brews, even though they are not in a zip code that starts with 077. Barcade in Jersey City serves 077-07302, made with a Warrior hop that has citrus, pine and herbal tones. The Cloverleaf Tavern in Caldwell serves 077-07006, finished with a Sorachi Ace hop that has lemon and dill characteristics.
“These were the first two big bars outside of Monmouth County to take us on,” Carton said.
After only four years in business, Carton is now on tap in nearly 300 bars in New Jersey, close to 50 in New York and 20 in Philadelphia. With nine full-time employees, the business produced about 2,250 barrels last year, and its brewers are always looking for new ideas. To date, they have concocted about 45 different recipes, such as Monkey Chased the Weasel, a sour ale made with mulberries, and Comma, made with black pepper saison.
Carton said one of his next creations, due at the end of September, will be called Rav, an idea that was spurred a plate of ravioli he had on his honeymoon in Italy.
“It was butternut squash ravioli with a butter and sage sauce, and they grated a biscotti cookie over it at the table,” he said. “I made it clear to my brewers what I want the flavor to be. I tasted it five weeks ago and I loved it.”
Vibe writer Mary Ann Bourbeau can be reached at mbourbeau@tworivertimes.com.
