John Harvards Brew House Monroeville (OUT OF BUSINESS)

January 11, 2008
(Visited 08/2006): This brewpub is located off the William Penn highway in Monroeville. It is a standalone building near a strip mall, and there is a decent-sized parking lot. The brewpub is not much to look at from the outside, it is reminiscent of a chain-type restaurant like Bennigan’s. However, on the inside it is much better. The bar is on the left side and is comfortable with a lot of dark wood and brick. The rest of the establishment is restaurant seating but the brewpub bleeds into it with fermentation tanks and growlers on the tables. The beer selection here is very extensive. Everything from Golden Ale, Hefe, Altbier to a cask Dry Stout. Most of the beers are decent, and where they excel is in the unique Highland Heather Scotch ale. Experimenting is definitely something they should continue to pursue. The beers are all available in a sampler. They run growler specials for around $8 and have special edition beers occasionally. Service here is good. All of the bartenders were interested to hear feedback on the various beers and asked about experiences at other area brewpubs. We didn’t try any food. Overall this place is worth a look despite being a chain with a rather boring exterior.

July 7, 2007 [ Updated July 22, 2008 ]
Difficult to find this place, it’s located back in some shopping maze . Reminds me too much of the Robinson shopping complex. However, once you find it the place is nice, clean, good atmosphere and friendly staff. They must have taught the staff a thing or two since zebracakes visit, they were very knowledgeable about the beers and always wanted to give you more info than you care for. Nice sampler, though pretty expensive for samples when compared to other brewpubs in the area. The brew tanks in this place are very easy to view and they are within arms reach. About ten of them, some bubbling and hissing, with signs on them as to what beer was being brewed inside, pretty cool to look at. Good variation of beer styles but many of them had the same background flavors and were difficult to tell apart. OK in general and if you are new to tasting beer styles, give this place a shot. Didn’t have any food this time.

May 17, 2007
I had been meaning to get to this place to see if it was any good. Well, I found out that it is not worth the drive from PGH to Monroeville. The beer is not very good. The best beer there rates a 3.0 in my opinion. In the large sampler that I shared, I couldn’t imagine having to drink a whole pint of most of them. I would avoid this place if you were planning on going to a decent chain brew pub. Rock Bottom at the Waterfront is much better. Oh yeah, and the service was slow and the worst part was that our waitress at John’s new f**k-all about beer. Pretty lame.

August 13, 2006
Food is good. Beer is dodgey. 11 beers on tap, so the selection of dodgey beers is good. Clean. Service is good.

July 3, 2006
Had to make trip to western PA over the weekend and stopped here with my family. Outstanding selection of beers, and I especially enjoyed the Firemen’s Red Ale. Food was good, service was fine. Great place, looking forward to trying the 2 JH locations that are closer to me in eastern PA.

February 5, 2006
This is a very nice brewpub for a chain. The atmosphere is nice. The waitstaff is very good and the bartenders knowledgeable and chatty. The food is a bit too chain like for my taste. The beer is all well crafted. They generally have 10-12 beers on at any time with some very interesting selections from time to time. They tend to have a few too many beers geared for the BMC crowd for my taste but that is really my only complaint about the beer. I make a point of going there whenever I am in the area.

June 14, 2005
Went there for lunch one day on a whim. Very nicely layed out establishment. Good sandwiches and a lot of good beers to choose from. I went with the big beer sampler. I can’t remember how many it was, but it was well worth the money. It even comes with a little chart and a suggested order of drinking them to fully appreciate them all. I’d go back a few more times.

March 9, 2005
Had lunch here. Typical ambiance - a busy suburban brewpub. Nice to be able to see the brewing operation and smell the spent mash when you walk in. Service was friendly and prompt, and when the brewer (Andrew Maxwell) saw me writing down beer info from the chalkboard, he came over to chat. Had a good asian-style chicken salad, along with a 5-beer sampler. Would definitely go back.

February 13, 2005
Nice look and feel about the place, but nothing special. The service at the bar is hit or miss. Sometimes they are really pleasing, but last visit the bartender was a bit snobby. The food is pretty good and the beers are drinkable.

February 2, 2005
My home away from home - a great place to just hang out and drink for a few hours. Dark and cozy inside, but clean and not dingy. A few TVs in the bar area and a bigscreen. Always have about ten of their own brews on tap. A couple of good pale ales and a Scottish Ale are staples. Usually has some fruity lighter beer as well as a Stout and Porter or Black Lager. Food is good and service is very good.