Belgian Black - John Harvard's Brewery & Ale House

SkunkWorks

New York

3.3/5  rDev -15.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 4.5

I hope I'm reviewing the right thing because it seems like all the reviews are kind of old on this one! I had this September 21, 2010 on tap in Smithhaven.

Poured black with a thin tan head that had good retention and left good lacing. When held to the light you could see reddish brown highlights to the beer. It smells sweet with some roasted flavors and coffee. The flavor is very sweet with some roasted malt flavor and almost no hoppiness. It was very smooth going down and medium in body with some silkiness. Its very drinkable and could easily be sessioned.

Overall, this is pretty average and nothing really stands out about it. Its a beer you enjoy but forget about afterwards. The name is also misleading because there's nothing about this beer that says "Belgian" to me.

Serving type: on-tap
@ John Harvard’s Brewery & Ale House, 2093 Smithhaven Plaza, Lake Grove

09-22-2010 13:55:04 | More by SkunkWorks

LilBeerDoctor

New York

3.9/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Note: This beer is now re-labeled as "Flanders Flemish" but it is the same beer. On nitro. Pours black with a small thick tan head. Aroma of roasted malt, nuts, and charred malt. Flavor of roasted nuts, peanut butter, bitter chocolate. Very smooth palate. This is actually one of the few beers (IMO) that works really well on nitro. Very good!

Serving type: nitro-tap
@ John Harvard’s Brewery & Ale House, 2093 Smithhaven Plaza, Lake Grove

08-03-2009 21:47:07 | More by LilBeerDoctor

plaid75

New York

4.47/5  rDev +14.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Poured a deep brown hue with streaks of ruby around the edges. There was a one finger creamy off white head, good retention and good lacing.

The smell featured a mixture of roated grain, candy sugar, molasses and chocolate.

The taste consited of a complex mixture of cocoa, coffee and molasses. Some cereal grains were present as well as some fruitiness and esters.

The mouthfeel was toward the lighter side of the style, which was good.

Overall a very complex and tasty Belgian style stout. May be the Seven Grain Stout grain bill fermented with Belgian yeast. One of JH's best beers to date.

Serving type: on-tap
@ John Harvard’s Brewery & Ale House, 2093 Smithhaven Plaza, Lake Grove

08-20-2008 18:28:43 | More by plaid75