Jack’s Abby

To escape the caving ceiling in my apartment last week, I hopped on the Bolt Bus for a weekend trip to Boston. My dad has been raving about Jack’s Abby for a while now – so we decided to drop by the beer hall in Framingham, MA.

Side Note: Daughters – if you want a stronger relationship with your sports-loving, beer drinking father – try taking Dad to a brewery. This tends to work best when you at 21+ 😉

Jack’s Abby is known for their craft lagers – including India Pale Lagers (IPL), and the beer hall has a selection of appetizers, pizzas, and desserts to pair with them. I recommend the chicken wings and Margherita Pizza.

While I tend to prefer porters & stouts to lighter varieties – I am always willing to try something different. (If you ever find yourself checking out my Untappd account – I am a bit compulsive about never logging the same beer twice.)

Anyway – to my surprise – Jack’s Abby also has a new Barrel Room called Springdale right next door that offers a variety of IPAs, sours and barrel-aged varieties if lagers aren’t your thing.

My parents and I showed up Saturday to a very packed brewhouse with tall ceilings and open picnic table seating – or “warehouse-style” as my mother refers to it. There were more babies strapped to their young parent’s chests than any brewery I’ve ever been to – but the new parent’s determination to go out drinking was admirable and gave the place a family friendly vibe.

We walked through the gift shop and growler fills, conveniently located at the front, and found a good area of the bar to sit. Pours run $5-7 and samples for $1.50-$2.75 each. To start, I chose 4 samples from the “Brewery Exclusives” list:

• Brewery Maker – Uber Dopplesticke 15% ABV
• Berliner Lager – Berliner Style 5% ABV
• 3X Dry Hopped Hoponius Union – IPL (Indian Pale Lager) 6.5% ABV
• Blood Orange Leisure Time – Wheat Lager with Citrus 4.8% ABV

The Brewery Maker was the obvious winner of the bunch. At 15% ABV – the notes of liquor were hard to ignore – but even my mother enjoyed it. Only 15 minutes earlier she had whispered in my ear – which one would be the closest to Bud Light. She went on to enjoy the Saxony Lager. 

I also enjoyed the 3X Dry Hopped IPL – but the beers I had selected overall were a bit lighter and less flavorful than my preference.

Another thing to note – the menu lists the prices of each beer by size: sample, half pour and full pour – but does not write the ounces per pour for each individual beer. Not the end of the world – most of us can assume you will be getting a smaller pour of the 15% ABV than the 5% – but I always appreciate when the menu has it listed. (A picture of the beer list provided at the end of this post.)

I proceeded my flight with a Framinghammer – Baltic Porter 10% ABV – while also sampling my father’s Smoke & Dagger – Black Lager 5.8% ABV
Both beers were flavorful and rather light in body. The Smoke & Dagger was very smoky as expected by the name, and the Framinghammer a bit bolder and darker. They did not have the Bourbon Barrel-Aged Framinghammer on tap that day – but I will definitely go back to try it.

I found Jack’s Abby to be a good place to go to with friends or your parents. The samples were fair priced and we found beers moms, dads, and millennials would enjoy. The bar space was very roomy and we had no problems while sitting at there for almost 3 hours. Thumbs up! 👍

Thoughts, comments or suggestions? Leave a comment or send me a message 🙂 I’d love to hear from you!