Black Watch Stout
John Harvard's Brewery & Ale House

Beer Geek Stats
From:
John Harvard's Brewery & Ale House
 
Massachusetts, United States
Style:
Irish Dry Stout
ABV:
4%
Score:
Needs more ratings
Avg:
3.46 | pDev: 10.98%
Reviews:
6
Ratings:
6
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Mar 19, 2007
Added:
Mar 27, 2005
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  0
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews.
Photo of Damian
Reviewed by Damian from Massachusetts

3.31/5  rDev -4.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.5
Drank on-tap at John Harvard's Brew House, Cambridge, MA

Poured a jet black with a tight, dense, creamy, one-finger, mocha-colored head that lasted most of the drink. A thin blanket of lacing initially covered much of the glass.

Aroma was fairly mild. Musty, peaty, powdery and overall quite dry. As the beer warmed, some notes of dark chocolate became detectable.

Taste was sharp up front with deep, roasted malts, notes of charcoal and a touch of smoke. Some coffee and dark chocolate flavors were noticeable mid-palate. Fairly hoppy on the back end with a super dry, lingering finish that consisted of a mix of espresso and smoke.

Mouthfeel was quite thin, flat and disappointing overall.

Drinkability was decent. Dispite this beer's intensely dry nature, it's full flavor, lighter body and low alcohol content made for a rather easy drinking stout.
Mar 19, 2007
Photo of EPICAC
Reviewed by EPICAC from Massachusetts

4.08/5  rDev +17.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5
I had this on tap at John Harvard's in Cambridge.

Appearance: Pours an opaque black with a creamy beige nitro head. The inside of the glass is coated with lace.

Smell: The nose is fairly light. Hints of fruitiness and roasted aromas of chocolate and coffee.

Taste: There's a sweet light fruitiness upfront, with a roasted coffee bitterness in the finish.

Mouthfeel: Light, low carbonation, smooth and a little watery.

Drinkability: Light, flavorful and easy to drink.

Overall: I'm not a huge fan of Irish Dry Stouts, but this is a great example. Much better than Guiness or Beamish.
Jul 09, 2006
Photo of PeatReek
Reviewed by PeatReek from California

3.32/5  rDev -4%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Presentation: pint on tap. Incidentally, Black Watch is my favorite tartan; too bad this stout doesn't measure up. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Appearance: why have this field for stouts? The beer is black with brown head. Not the most durable head ever, but it's there.

Aroma: smells cool and a bit sweet, mostly coffee-roasty though.

Taste & mouthfeel: taste not as sweet as the aroma is, actually tastes rather dry and goes straight into the roast barley flavor, with overtones of coffee and espresso. Little-to-no hop taste. It occurs to me that I'm basically just describing the stout style here, and that's how this beer strikes me: just another stout.

Drinkability: done after one pint.
Mar 09, 2006
Photo of gentlebubbles
Reviewed by gentlebubbles from Massachusetts

2.98/5  rDev -13.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3
8/31/05
Black body with thin layer of tan on top. Check.
Malty aroma. Check.
Roasty malt flavor with a slight sourness. check.
Thin body. Um, check.
The next time I argue that cask is supposed to be boring, remind me about this one. It's just. Boring. Check, please!
Sep 16, 2005
Photo of waughbrew
Reviewed by waughbrew from Massachusetts

3.2/5  rDev -7.5%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3
Black with a small head, some lacing shows where the rest of the head was before. Aroma is pretty weak but decent, with an earthy character as well as roastiness. Flavor is nice with that roastiness reminding me a bit of coffee and ash but not harsh or offensive at all. Nutty and earthy as the flavor developes. Espresso too. Smooth, slick, very low carbonation and body. The good flavor makes up for the water-like feel to result in an overall pleasant and average beer that goes down easy.
Apr 16, 2005
Photo of Truh
Reviewed by Truh from New Hampshire

3.85/5  rDev +11.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5
Joined the regiment with this one on 3/25/2005. 16-oz pint pour at the Cambridge location.

Described as “This smooth, dark ale is brewed in the tradition of the famed dry stouts of Ireland. An assertive hop bitterness complements the roasted coffee character of the malt” and 4% abv. Huge cream pudding mocha head at least ½-inch in height and stuck all the way through. Black as a star-less and moon-less night with nothing but a cold, hard vacuum inside. No doubt about the roasted characters and some earthiness on nose; some slight nutty (walnut) notes as well. Very smooth on the mouth with some quite light roasted char on the tongue; not as much body as their Milk Stout, but very drinkable and it goes down quickly at 4%.
Mar 27, 2005
Black Watch Stout from John Harvard's Brewery & Ale House
Beer rating: 3.46 out of 5 with 6 ratings