Our Brews

Beer is Life

For John Harvard, beer was the foundation of family, community, and sustenance. From his childhood helping at the family tavern to his journey to the New World as an adult, he honored tradition, embraced hard work, and sought new experiences through learning and adventure.

Our Brewmasters keep the spirit of John Harvard alive today with their passion for beer, commitment to the art and craft of brewing, and desire to welcome new friends into the John Harvard’s community. We brew standard styles, several seasonal favorites, and even a few secret selections, reserved for enthusiasts. Each is unique, brewed on location to the House Brewer’s own specifications, honoring the ingredients and tradition while pushing forward with new ideas and innovations.

Fermentum Est Vita

Beer has been essential to civilization for centuries, serving as an element of sustenance and ceremony at the center of community and life. It remains so at every John Harvard’s, in deed (and in Latin).

Types of Brews

At John Harvard’s, our brewers create more than 60 different types of beer for guests, from light pale ales to deep rich stouts.

Elements

The basic ingredients of nearly every beer on our menus are: malt, hops, water and yeast. The varieties, how they are soaked, dried, roasted, combined, and stored are the chief determiners of a traditional beer’s style, flavor, body, alcohol, and aroma.

Check your local John Harvard’s page to see what’s brewing now.

 

Here are a few of our past award-winners:

Northern Light

Silver Medal Great International Beer Competition (2012)
Pilsner-style ale is brewed to be light-bodied, balanced and refreshing. Soft hop aromas fade to a subtle malt sweetness that finishes clean and dry.

Tettnang

Hops

10.2 Original

Gravity

pilsner

Malt

4.0% Alcohol by

Volume

Oktoberfest

Gold Medal, 2013 World Beer Championships
Gold Medal, 2012 Great International Beer Competition
Copper-colored, medium-bodied and very light on hops. Crisp and refreshing; toasted maltiness from the large addition of Munich-type malts.

Tettnang, vanguard, crystal

Hops

14.4 Original

Gravity

pilsner, Carabohemian, carahell, munich

Malt

 

 

5.7% Alcohol by

Volume

Mo’Bay Stout

Gold Medal, Sweet Stout
World Beer Championships (2009)
This unique Jamaican-style stout named after Montego Bay is dark and full-bodied.

English 1st Gold

Hops

18.4 Original

Gravity

Pale, Chocolate, Roasted Barley, Dark Crystal

Malt

8.1% Alcohol by

Volume

Nut Brown Ale

Gold Medal
Real Ale Festival (2002)
Named after the roasted, nutty flavor from dark malt that gives the beer its distinct character, our Nut Brown is deep amber and malty with mild hop character.

Northern Brewers

Hops

10.8 Original

Gravity

Pale Caramel & Chocolat

Malt

John Harvard’s Pale Ale

Silver Medal
Real Ale Festival (2000)
A tribute to the great British brewers of Burton-upon-Trent, Pale Ales are copper colored and hoppy.

Cascade

Hops

11.7 Original

Gravity

Pale & Caramel

Malt

Atomic Espresso Stout

Bronze Medal, Flavored Stout
World Beer Championships (2009)
A medium-bodied black stout that has been brewed with espresso specially roasted for John Harvard’s by the Atomic Café in Salem, MA.

Cascade

Hops

13.3 Original

Gravity

Pale, Black, Chocolate & Dark Crystal

Malt

5.7% Alcohol By

Volume

Oktoberfest Lager

Gold Medal
World Beer Championships (2010)
A medium-bodied copper-colored lager that is very light on hops, in the tradition of brews served at The Munich Oktoberfest in September.

13.0 Original

Gravity

5.2% Alcohol By

Volume

Pilsner, Munich, Pale & Caramel

Malt

Hersbruck Hallertau,
U.S. Saaz

Hops

Strawberry Wheat

Silver Medal
World Beer Championship (2010)
An unfiltered American wheat ale, hazy in Appearance and brewed with strawberries for a sweet fruity finish.

Cascade

Hops

10.4 Original

Gravity

Pale, Wheat

Malt

4.3% Alcohol By

Volume

Dunkel Weizen

This unfiltered, German style wheat beer has a Deep brown color and medium body with the Signature clove & banana flavor and aroma that Comes from traditional Weizen yeast.

Liberty

Hops

13.4 Original

Gravity

Dark Wheat, Pale, Munich

Malt

5.7% Alcohol By

Volume

Weizen Bock

Bronze Medal
World Beer Championships (2010)
A dark and full-bodied German style Weizen ale brewed to bock strength with very spicy aromas and flavors.

17.7 Original

Gravity

7.2% Alcohol By

Volume

Wheat, Pale, Pils, Crystal, Roasted Barley

Malt

Liberty, Hersbruck Hallertau

Hops