Thursday, March 23, 2017

Unjunct


+CartonBrewingCompany "Drink off the Beaten Craft"


Another stout a day keeps the doctor away, right? Well let's try that tonight. I am sampling a beer from a Brewery in New Jersey. I have tried one of their brews before and I have wanted to try more from them. I just have not been able to get my hands on their stuff until now. This brewery was founded in 2011 and has come a long way in five plus years, their six year anniversary is coming up in August 2017. They now have a 15 barrel brew house and were founded by Chris and Augie Carton. They created Carton Brewing Company and have not looked back since. Their focus is applying a passion for stimulating flavor to inspiration found all around them. They set out with a goal to make tasty beers in the place that their tastes had be born. Carton Brewing Company is located in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey. 



Unjunct Stout by Carton Brewing Company


These cousins created Carton Brewing Company around where the were born and raised. I find that to be inspiring, it's like giving back to your hometown with their brews. Tonight I am trying their stout. I am sampling their brew called Unjunct. Unjunct is a stout that has an alcohol by volume or ABV of 8.5% and a bitterness or IBU of 60. From reading the side of the can, which explains the story behind the flavors and the additions to this brew, I am intrigued.



Artwork/Story on the can. 


From the side of the can background of the beer I can tell this brew is going to complex and that should come through in all aspects of the beer. As I poured this beer the first thing I noticed was the jet black appearance to the beer coming out of the can. There was a thickness to the color and the pour that coincided. The foam or head of the beer has a deep brown hue to it. In addition to that, as it pours the head is very noticeable as it then begins to thin out to a thin layer a top the glass. There is lacing around the edge of the glass as you swirl it around. The more and more I think about the aroma, the more there are so many different notes. At first you notice the coffee aroma it is complex. It's has so many different things to it: rich, smooth, sweet. Then I noticed the roasted malt backbone of the beer. the subtle sweetness that pairs with the coffee note. Going further there is a fruity ester noter in the brew that is hard to pinpoint. All of these notes are pulled together with a subtle vanilla aroma that pulls you back from the darkness/smokiness. 



Head or foam of the beer 



Appearance of  Unjunct Stout 


Taste of this is going to be hard to pinpoint after taking a whiff of the aroma of Unjunct.  I took my first sip and I instantly notice the complexity of this brew. The body and mouthfeel are medium and creamy. Almost makes me think about how this stout would be on nitro because of the mouthfeel. After noticing the body and mouthfeel, I began to pick up on the taste notes in the beer. The primary one that I notice is the roasted malt backbone in the beer. Which is paired with the complex roasted coffee notes that collides in the aroma. The next tasting notes I am able to pick up on is the fruity and spice notes in the beer. The fruit adds a layer of sweetness into the brew that has a layer of bitterness coming from the roasted and coffee notes. There is a back and forth taste fight going on as I drink this complex stout. The creamy mouthfeel helps pull out the sweetness in the beer and the medium body is solidified by the roasted/coffee notes.  The more I sip on this beer I begin to notice that the sweetness takes a backseat to the bitter side of the beer as it lingers on. They are all there, but not as pronounce as they were in the beginning. 



Check out Unjunct by Carton Brewing Company

I kept thinking the more I drank this stout, there was a certain tug and pull aspect to the beer. Almost like a Yin and Yang aspect to it. The more you notice a sweetness, the more a bitterness came after it to bring it back to even. Unjunct was a complex beer that toed the line of bitter and sweet. In chocolate terms this beer reminded me of a dark chocolate bar. You are looking for a bitter and sweet combo in the chocolate. That is what this beer brings to mind for me. I really enjoyed the beer and the constant battle between the two sides. For beer enthusiasts this is a must try. If you are looking to get into stouts this a beer you want to wait to try. I would say the more developed stout profiles you get into this is one that you could try. Unjunct is complex and nothing to fool around on. There is a noticeable booze note the more and more you get into this stout.  



Check out Carton Brewing Company on their website and their social media: 














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