John Harvard's, Framingham, MA location

Sorry, it was a really dark night, and this is from our cell phone. Plus, that's one bright sign!! This place was in a higher-end style strip mall, it was very strange. The sign reads "John Harvard's Restaurant & Brewery". To the right through the windows, you can see the brewery's brew system and fermenters, it could  also be seen through glass panes inside the brewpub.          

John Harvard's, a small brewpub chain throughout Massachusetts and Connecticut, was one of our first brewpub stops during our trip from December 4-6, 2009. The place had a very friendly feel to it with a pub-style open concept. Old style painting with historic figures "cut and pasted" over the heads donned the walls. The walls, floors, and tables were exposed wood, with the brew system on clear display. They served up awesome food; I had the Shepard's Pie (it made even better leftovers!). The service was exceptional, our waiter was friendly, extremely knowledgeable about their beers, and willing to hand out samples (a must at a brew pub).


Stout - Their stout was a standard stout, but a very good standard stout. It was very dark, opaque as I remember. Robust flavors, involving a healthy serving of roasted malts, possibly chocolate. When served it was very good, the only problem was that the roasted barley became a bit too obtrusive when the beer warmed up. I will admit, I was a bad beer enthusiast that night and drank like a cat... that may not make sense, just know that I hate cats. Demon creatures, they are. I digress; my main point is that it was a nice malty stout with a slightly creamy mouthfeel that went perfectly with traditional English pub food. Just be a real drinker and don't let it get warmer, roasted barley tends to come off as a bit too acrid when warm, especially in a beer that had a healthy portion of it.


Belgian Pale Ale - This Belgian offering had a hazy deep amber/red color, a sweet belgian aroma, with notes of banana; really a beautiful sweet smell. It was a medium to full bodied beer, certainly not dark or heavy in the sense, but a flavor-blast. The taste was like a mix between Belgian and Bavarian yeast strains, though Bavarian yeasts fall under the Belgian category. It was a nice mix between the spicy sweetness of a Belgian yeast and the smooth bubblegum flavors of a Bavarian yeast. Unfortunately, I sampled it out of a growler in a hotel room in Connecticut, and didn't get to ask our friendly waiter what yeast strain they had used. And when I say sampled, I mean I drank the entire half gallon while watching Saturday Night Live. Blake Lively is awful. The wonderful tastes were crisp on the tip of your tongue, possibly from a very subtle spiciness, and a smooth sweetness rounded out the end of the sip with very subtle hop notes to finish, typical in a Belgian. This was not hoppy like a pale ale which did make me raise a few questions, but honestly I was content with that. With a very smooth mouthfeel I deemed it - DELICIOUS.


We're hoping to get back there again soon. Looked like they had some nice upcoming brews, and they had a pretty long list of them in the first place. But, we had to drive... far. So, we had to conk out after one, hence the purchasing of a growler!