Carton Brewing

Carton Brewing is a craft brewery based in Atlantic Highlands, in Monmouth County, New Jersey. Founded in 2011 by cousins Augie Carton and Chris Carton, the brewery was created around an ambition to make beers that reflected the flavors, culture, and character of their Jersey Shore community. Its original home was a 5,000-square-foot red-brick historic warehouse in Atlantic Highlands, where the company established a tasting room and retail store alongside its brewing operations. The brewery's identity is rooted in a broad interpretation of American craft beer rather than a narrow commitment to one style. Its portfolio has included session ales, table ales, India pale ales, lagers, milk stouts, pale ales, saisons, sour beers, and wild ales. Core offerings associated with the brewery include Boat Beer, a session ale; Brunch. Dinner. Grub., commonly abbreviated B.D.G., a table ale; 077XX, an East Coast double IPA; Carton of Milk, a session nitro milk stout; This Town, a helles lager; and The Hook, a late-hopped wheated pale ale. The range reflects Carton's interest in producing beers suited to everyday drinking while also exploring more distinctive ingredients, fermentation methods, and regional references. A major operational change occurred in spring 2018, when Carton moved most of its brewing activity into a newly constructed 10,000-square-foot facility next to the original warehouse. Rather than abandoning the first location, the brewery repurposed it as a dedicated sour-focused space. The original site continues to house the tasting room and retail store and also supports production of sour beer and saison in a 30-barrel foeder. This expanded program is known as Carton Brewing OWC and is focused on wild ales, sour beers, stouts, and other experimental beverages. Collaboration is another important part of Carton's operating model and public identity. The brewery has worked with a range of craft producers, including Other Half Brewing Company, Trillium Brewing Company, Barrier Brewing Co., Interboro Spirits & Ales, Green Flash Brewing Company, Alpine Beer Company, Industrial Arts Brewing Company, Cape May Brewing Company, Bolero Snort Brewery, Against the Grain Brewery, Burial Beer Co., and Magnify Brewing Company. In 2018, Carton introduced the &telier label, an open-source collaboration concept intended to give breweries a shared framework for experimenting beyond their usual brewing styles. Carton's principal consumer-facing presence remains its Atlantic Highlands facilities, particularly the tasting room and retail store at the original site. The brewery is best understood as a New Jersey craft-beer producer with a strong local identity, a varied beer portfolio, an expanded production footprint, and a willingness to use collaborations and mixed-fermentation programs to explore styles outside a conventional core range.

Carton Brewing was established in 2011 by cousins Augie Carton and Chris Carton. The founders wanted to create beer connected to the flavors and cultures of their home community, leading them to choose Atlantic Highlands, a Jersey Shore town in Monmouth County, New Jersey, as the brewery's base. The company began operations in a 5,000-square-foot red-brick historic warehouse. The site combined production with a tasting room and retail store, giving Carton a direct connection to local visitors and beer consumers. From its beginnings, Carton developed a portfolio that crossed several craft-beer categories. Its beers have included session ale, table ale, double IPA, milk stout, helles lager, wheated pale ale, saison, sour beer, and wild ale. The brewery's core range has included Boat Beer, Brunch. Dinner. Grub. (B.D.G.), 077XX, Carton of Milk, This Town, and The Hook. This mix has allowed the brewery to serve both drinkers seeking approachable, lower-intensity beers and consumers interested in more strongly flavored or technically experimental styles. The brewery's physical expansion became a significant turning point in spring 2018. Carton moved the majority of its brewing operations from the original warehouse into a newly constructed 10,000-square-foot facility located next door. The move increased the company's production capacity and allowed the original building to take on a more specialized role. The first location continued to operate as the tasting room and retail store, while also supporting sour-beer and saison production in a 30-barrel foeder. Carton used the original production space to create Carton Brewing OWC, a program centered on wild ales, sour beers, stouts, and other beverages. The OWC initiative broadened the brewery's technical and stylistic scope by giving mixed-fermentation and experimental products a dedicated setting. It also complemented, rather than replaced, the more familiar beers associated with Carton's core lineup. Collaboration has remained a recurring feature of Carton's brewing activity. The brewery has collaborated with producers including Other Half Brewing Company, Trillium Brewing Company, Barrier Brewing Co., Interboro Spirits & Ales, Green Flash Brewing Company, Alpine Beer Company, Industrial Arts Brewing Company, Cape May Brewing Company, Bolero Snort Brewery, Against the Grain Brewery, Burial Beer Co., and Magnify Brewing Company. These relationships connected Carton with breweries from New Jersey and other American craft-beer markets. In 2018, Carton also launched the &telier label. The label was conceived as an open-source term for collaborations among breweries experimenting outside their normal stylistic boundaries. Rather than functioning only as a conventional branded beer line, &telier represented a framework for cooperative and exploratory brewing. Taken together, Carton's facility expansion, OWC sour program, and collaboration work show a brewery balancing local hospitality and recognizable core beers with experimentation and partnerships. The company remains associated with its Atlantic Highlands base, where its original site continues to serve visitors through the tasting room and retail store.

• 2018

  Expansion into a second adjacent facility

  [1]Carton Brewingen.wikipedia.org

  Carton moves most brewing operations into a newly constructed 10,000-square-foot facility beside its original 5,000-square-foot warehouse.

• 2018

  Launch of the &telier label

  [1]Carton Brewingen.wikipedia.org

  The brewery introduces &telier as an open collaboration concept for experimental brewing projects.

• 2011

  Carton Brewing is founded

  [1]Carton Brewingen.wikipedia.org

  Cousins Augie Carton and Chris Carton establish the brewery in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey, with a stated aim of drawing on the flavors and cultures of their local community.

A locally rooted New Jersey craft brewery combining approachable everyday beers with experimental sour, wild, seasonal, and collaborative brewing.

• Session ale

  Boat Beer

  A core session ale associated with Carton's approachable, everyday-drinking range.

• Table ale

  Brunch. Dinner. Grub. (B.D.G.)

  A table ale forming part of Carton's core selection and reflecting the brewery's emphasis on food-friendly, accessible beers.

• East Coast double IPA

  077XX

  A double IPA identified with an East Coast brewing profile and included among Carton's core beers.

• Session nitro milk stout

  Carton of Milk

  A session-strength milk stout served in nitro form, combining a lower-intensity format with the creamy character associated with nitrogenated stout.

• Helles lager

  This Town

  A helles lager in Carton's core selection, representing the brewery's work beyond ale-focused styles.

• Late-hopped wheated pale ale

  The Hook

  A wheated pale ale distinguished by late hopping and included in Carton's established lineup.

• Sour and wild ale program · 2018

  Carton Brewing OWC

  A program developed in the original brewery space after the 2018 expansion. OWC focuses on fine wild ales, sour beers, stouts, and other experimental beverages, with sour beer and saison production supported by a 30-barrel foeder.

• Collaborative brewing label · 2018

  &telier

  An open-source collaboration label launched by Carton for breweries experimenting outside their typical brewing styles.

• 2018

  Repurpose the original brewery as a sour-focused spaceStrategy

  Background

  After moving most production into a larger adjacent facility, Carton had the opportunity to dedicate its original warehouse to specialized brewing and customer-facing functions.

  Action taken

  The brewery retained the original site as a tasting room and retail store while using it for sour beer and saison production, including work in a 30-barrel foeder. The resulting program became known as Carton Brewing OWC.

  Aftermath

  The arrangement separated much of the brewery's expanded production from its visitor-facing and experimental operations and supported a broader wild and sour beer program.

  Source

• 2018

  Introduce the &telier collaboration frameworkStrategy

  Background

  Carton regularly collaborated with other breweries and sought a way to formalize experimentation beyond conventional style boundaries.

  Action taken

  Carton launched &telier as an open-source term and label for collaborative brewing projects among breweries.

  Aftermath

  The label extended Carton's collaborative identity and provided a shared concept for experimental beers made with partner breweries.

  Source

1. 1Carton Brewingen.wikipedia.org