Belgian Witbier - John Harvard's Brewery & Ale House

kmo1030

Massachusetts

3.98/5  rDev +7.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

growler from the framingham, ma location.
pours a nice hazy gold with a thin white head.
the aroma has all the requisite wit characteristics: yeastiness, orangey citrus, corriander, clove. i also get some anise, and maybe just a hint of a floral smell almost rose-like.
the taste is creamy and citrusy with more of the sweet orange flavors, touched with a little bit of anise/corriander. the yeast kicks in middle to back giving it a nice chewy, bready flavor. it's got a little more bitterness at the back with chalky herbal hoppage, but it works well.
the mouthfeel is a little on the thin side with fairly active, but delicate carbonation.
the drinkability is good, it's a thirst quencher. the first glass took me no time to get through. i'm pleasantly surprised, a solid wit.

Serving type: growler
@ John Harvard's Brewery & Ale House, 1 Worcester Road, Framingham

03-08-2009 00:03:57 | More by kmo1030

IrishRedRock

Pennsylvania

3.13/5  rDev -15.4%
look: 2 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Pretty weak for a Belgian Wit. They are headed in the right direction with this one, but the flavors and aromas come off as thin, lacking, and uncomplex. (I may have made that word up) Came in a standard pint glass, which I expected but was nonetheless disappointed with. Slightly hazy yellow body with nary a trace of head or lace. Aroma of yeast and cloves.

Flavors are scant and need to be more pronounced. I could taste a bit of citrus and spices, but the spice seemed like there were cloves thrown into the boil, not a yeasty spiciness generated from the yeast. Mouthfeel was oddly thin and rather watery. Tastes ok, but really not good for the style.I like a kick to my Wits and this certainly did not have it. Not awful, but not too great.

Serving type: on-tap
@ John Harvard's Brewery & Ale House, 33 Dunster Street, Cambridge

10-24-2003 05:04:22 | More by IrishRedRock