Mean Old Tom
Maine Beer Company

arizcards from North Carolina

4.01/5  rDev +0.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Picked up a 500 ml bottle from the Blue Door Bottleshop in Hendersonville on 5.14.2021 for $8.50. Bottled on 22Dec20; consumed 5.16.2020.

Beer poured black with a very nice tan head with the original pour.

Nose is roasted malts forward with a hint of vanilla.

Taste is a heavy roasted malt base infused with a subtle touch of vanilla balancing the malt base.

Mouthfeel is medium to full bodied and very smooth and satisfying.

Overall a really nice export strength stout that I am glad I got to try!

May 16, 2021

mushroomcloud from Texas

4.29/5  rDev +7.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

16.9oz bottled 16Feb21. Opened 4-17-21.
3 finger sand colored head that has excellent retention...no give at all, impressive.
Black with some dark brown at the edges. Full, thick lacing.
Roasted malts, bakers cocoa powder, coffee, subtle vanilla. Maybe even a grassy hop undertone? Real nice overall.
Dark roasted flavors, bittersweet coffee, licorice, and vanilla.
Medium body, somewhat silky mouthfeel. Roasty and dry finish with some length. Tasty and smooth.
Solidly somewhere between Very Good and Outstanding.

Apr 18, 2021

lastmango from Pennsylvania

4.13/5  rDev +3.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Poured opaque black with a one finger tan head that dissipated to a lasting film. Medium lacing. Light nose of coffee and dark chocolate. Taste is more pronounced than the nose . . . coffee, dark chocolate and vanilla, the latter of which is noticeable after toward the finish and then some coffee bitterness kicks in. Moderate-full body and the finish is a bit dry. This is a very good stout and I would buy it again.

Mar 25, 2021

Peach63 from New York

4.28/5  rDev +7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Pours black with a 2 inch tan head, which lasts. Heavy lacing to the end.

Aroma of coffee, wood, toffee.

Taste is coffee, roast malt, vanilla, cocoa, tobacco.

Full bodied, light carbonation. Dry, astringent finish.

Another great stout from Maine Beer Co.

Mar 25, 2021

EMV from Pennsylvania

4.25/5  rDev +6.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Poured from a tall bottle into a Dogfish Head tulip

L: Nearly black pour with massive foamy mocha colored head. Big time retention and lacing.

S: Coffee, vanilla, roast, and more coffee.

T.F: Semi-sweet roast... burned sugars, espresso, dark cocoa, and vanilla. Rich and smooth... creamy mouthfeel. Well carbonated. More roasted coffee and malts to finish.

O: An outstanding stout. Great flavors... and super drinkable with the low-ish ABV. Worthy.

Mar 12, 2021

ANIMOUL from Vermont

4.25/5  rDev +6.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Poured from a 16ish oz bottle; dated 12/20/2020. Rich dark color with a decent amount of foam (initially) that rapidly recedes. Roasted malt and coffee taste with subtle sweetness and vanilla. Great beer... not boozy like similar beers of the style.

Feb 14, 2021

JacobusFavier23 from Texas

3.98/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

L- This beer pours jet black with a two finger headed porous top.
S- Malty dark chocolate, roasted coffee, toffee and vanilla bean. Toned down but well pronounced at the same time.
T- Nice dark chocolate and vanilla notes with a solid bitter roasted coffee finish. I wouldn't say there is much sweetness in the flavor. It is minimal but the distinct flavors are well pronounced.
F- Upper medium-bodied mouthfeel with decent carbonation.
O- Another quality beer from Maine Beer Company. This beer is solid through and through. Minimal in flavor, but pronounced in a way that you know it's masterfully crafted.

Feb 14, 2021

Reef from South Carolina

4.01/5  rDev +0.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Bottle dated 12/20

Opaque brown, nearly black with two fingers of varying tan head. Full long lasting cap and lacing.
Roasted malt, coffee, discernible vanilla scents.
Coffee, char, vanilla, light nutty and hop spice flavors.
Medium body, good carbonation, smooth feel. The Maine Beer bottles are a good size for this one.

Feb 07, 2021

champ103 from Texas

3.66/5  rDev -8.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

A: Pours a dark black, not exactly opaque as a bit of ruby red is around the edges. A one finger tan head rises with good retention and plenty of lace left behind.
S: Roasted malt, char, coffee, vanilla. All the typical stout characteristics are there. If not particularly unique and pretty by the books.
T: That roast and char is up front. Vanilla beans for sure, and coffee that boarders on more of a latte like flavor. Lingering roasted bitterness.
M/O: A medium to full body. Good carbonation, and becomes ultra smooth as this breaths. After a while the lingering bitterness becomes a little acrid, and I'm sipping on this a bit slower than I normally would for a stout of this strength and body.

An enjoyable stout for the most part. The vanilla is certainly apparent, but never becomes over done. Maine is always about balance, so that doesn't surprise me at all. This is a good, though not great example of a stout. Glad I tried it, like everything from Maine, but there are other stouts/porters that are local and regional that I will pick up more often.

Jan 23, 2021

ilikebeer03 from Texas

4.14/5  rDev +3.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25

Pour is black with a huge, thick, fluffy, medium deep khaki head
Nose is vanilla, chocolate, roasted malts, latte.
Taste is Dark chocolate upfront followed by a huge wave of vanilla that lingers through to the finish. Latte, fresh roasted coffee, nutty. Roasted malt mild palate.

Jan 17, 2021

imnodoctorbut from Texas

4/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

deep coffee brown body pours with a lively finger high foam tanned head that has moderate retention and leaves copious amounts of sticky thin foamed lacing as it settles to a thin ring.

aroma is floral, more sweet than bittersweet, low notes of roasted malt, and the dark stone fruit aromas that so often accompany dark chocolate. vanilla bean is faint, on the wings.

taste leans in on the dark chocolate. it is thick and bittersweet. vanilla bean is more noticeable but still in the background. roasted coffee bean and roasted malt backbone throughout.

moderate carbonation and medium body go fairly smooth with a few carbo prickles here and there, and finishes dry.

overall:
a four-on-the-floor decent, if not average, stout. the choice to advertise the vanilla bean, which is muted, if anything, is an odd one to me, but either way, if the intent was to put forward a vanilla bean-forward stout, they failed here. it is 100% a coffee tasting stout that pours in the dark chocolate. in fact, I'm not sure I've had a better representation of dark chocolate in a beer before. that all being said, this stout is remarkably average. it isn't complex, though it isn't quite a one trick pony either. but in no way could I justify slapping down another $7 on a single pint again.
i'll still love this brewery forever for making my favorite pale ale, however.

Jan 11, 2021

Bluerabbitbell from Pennsylvania

4.49/5  rDev +12.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Wow! Intense vanilla nose! Leah says different right off the first taste. Sharp in the mouth. Coffee, vanilla and lavender. 11/2/2020 at Marilyn's in Morgantown. Glad to have tried this one!

Nov 02, 2020

NeroFiddled from Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Maine Beer Co. "Mean Old Tom"
16.9 fl. oz. brown glass bottle coded "123 08:58 05/19/20". Sampled on 08/06/2020.
$7.99 @ Total Wine & More, Cherry hill, NJ

Notes via stream of consciousness: A rough pour brings up a massive head of tan foam atop a brown-black body that gives up barely a glimmer of mahogany brown at the base of glass when held to the light. The aroma is roasty and grainy. It's not quite like coffee but it's close, and it does have a chocolate side to it. The label reads "stout aged on natural vanilla beans" but I'm not finding vanilla. On to the taste... well, it tastes pretty much exactly as it smells except that there is some vanilla to it. That helps to liven it and round it out because it's not as rich as you might expect given the aroma. There's some dark malt acidity to it, which I'm not personally fond of, but it's not too much and it does help to dry it in the end. I'm going to guess the bitterness is around 40-45 IBUs. It's pretty much roastiness, bittersweet chocolate, milk chocolate, and coffee straight through with the vanilla rising at the mid point (maybe creating the milk chocolate out of the bittersweet chocolate?) and then lingering into the finish where it's the most visible. I'm looking for fruitiness from the yeast but it's not really coming forward. That's not to say it's not there because it is, but I can't point out that it's more like apple, or has a pear note to it, etcetera, I just can't tell - you know it's not a lager though! I'm not really finding a lot of hops either, although that's to be expected, but there is a touch of a floral & leafy thing going on. In the mouth it's medium bodied and gently crisp. The head held up fairly well and it's left some lacing behind but it's no better than a 4 out of 5. Conclusion? It's a decent enough stout. The vanilla isn't that strong, and given what it probably adds to the cost (vanilla beans are expensive!!!) I'd question whether or not it was worth it except that it helps to balance the dark malt acidity. It is what it is.
Review #7,046

Aug 06, 2020

JamFuel from Sweden

4.24/5  rDev +6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Pours black with soft, tan head.

Smell is roasty with notes of coffee, coffee grounds, vanilla and a hint of golden syrup.

Taste is soft and roasty with big coffee notes and backing by chocolate, vanilla, a soft bitterness and a hint of leather.

Mouthfeel is medium soft and well carbonated.

Overall, a very nice stout, well made with some depth.

Jun 30, 2020

Frank73545 from New Jersey

4.13/5  rDev +3.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Poured at the Pine Room, 12oz snifter.

Partial to nitros, this has a nice feel to it with pleasant notes of vanilla. Nice change of pace....I enjoyed for desert.

May 10, 2020

Profundobaso from New York

4/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Look - poured into an imperial pint glass. Pitch black, not transparent, and a small frothy head that dissipates quickly.
Smell - sweet vanilla and coffee, with roasted malts. Smell is quite appealing.
Taste - strong roasted malt flavor, accompanied by subtle vanilla flavor in the background. Beer is actually much lighter on mouthfeel than expected. In fact, hop bitterness comes near the end, giving the beer a slight kick and clean finish.
Feel - medium bodied, high carbonation, and moderate for the style at 6.5% ABV.
Overall - this is solid, refreshing stout that has a lot of complexity without feeling overly heavy. A nice tasty brew

Mar 08, 2020

Act25 from New Jersey

4.22/5  rDev +5.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Everything I look for in a Stout, made in Maine craft.
A) Brown-black body sports a tan rocky head that laces only a bit.
s) Roasty, with hop, chocolate and vanilla bean.
t) Roast vs chocolate shake, but never too sweet and the vanilla and hops playing equal background parts.
f) Amply creamy, finishes clean and dry.
o) sum greater than the parts.

Feb 11, 2020

AyatollahGold from Indiana

4.26/5  rDev +6.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Streams of dark brown to form a black color in the glass. Pinky worth of thick, caramel colored crown rests on top.

The nose brings very clean roasted malts. Brings a lot of coffee out even without coffee being added. Dark, unsweetened chocolate.

The taste brings in those roasted malts and unsweetened chocolate again and then meld into softer, light notes of vanilla. Slight resin from the hops, that it seems a lot of New England darker beers have. Oats are present.

Silky, pretty hugely roasty, fair carbonation that leaves you burping at least every other drink. A tad thin, but it’s a 6.5% stout, so I will rate it like it.

Overall, I would like a little more vanilla to come through but not much because I love the classic, roasted malts showcase of this beer.

Jan 02, 2020

maddogruss from New Jersey

3.85/5  rDev -3.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Based on a review from 2013. Had this in a bottle.
A: pours dark black color with dark brown head with excellent retention and lacing.
S: sweet, roasted smell with some sweet, vanilla notes
T: sweet roasted taste with some sweet, vanilla notes with some sweet, milk stout roasted notes
M: medium bodied and pretty smooth
D: ok M&T combo; pretty good beer

Dec 21, 2019

BeerAndGasMasks from Virginia

3.84/5  rDev -4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

From the bottle, it pours a very dark hazy brown with a light brown head that diminishes as you watch. In the nose, it is Roasty malt with vanilla, in the mouth, the same.

Nov 16, 2019

MikeWard from Pennsylvania

3.94/5  rDev -1.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

1 pint bottle into a pint glass. Bottled 1/29/19, so 8 months old.

Black body with a small coffee with cream head leaving a little lacing.

Some dried fruit and apple core comes to the nose

Pretty roasted flavor in this one, but it's not harsh or bitter, which I appreciate. Perhaps it's the vanilla bean softening the roast, but I don't get any vanilla flavor. Just an honest straightforward Stout.

Mouth between medium and full, finish roasty.

Overall, a smooth but roasted malt taste to this one. No additional flavors come through, but it's still a well crafted honest Stout.

Oct 06, 2019

LarryV from Massachusetts

3.96/5  rDev -1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Pours inky black with a smidgen of red around the edges of the glass. 1/2 inch fluffy tan head is quick to dissipate, leaves no lacing. Dark chocolate, coffee, dark fruits dominate the flavor. Mouthfeel is fairly light, on the creamier side. I didn't pick up a lot of vanilla overtones, but despite that this was still an enjoyable stout. I'm glad I tried it and would have it again, but probably wouldn't go seeking it out.

Sep 22, 2019

mntlover from Tennessee

3.84/5  rDev -4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Pours a dark brown/black not light showing through, small thumb sized dark tan head from an aggressive pour not much in the way of lace.

Aroma is nice roasted malts, light chocolate and vanilla notes, pretty straight forward smells good, smooth and simple.

Taste is like the nose roasted/toasted malts on the lighter side really some light chocolate and vanilla with light coffee hints. Pretty straight forward stout, simple but good.

Mouthfeel is medium with pretty smooth carbonation.

Overall not a bad stout pretty simple but its good nothing to really knock it for. Not quite as great as some of the other from this brewery, not sure its worth the price but an ok stout.

Sep 19, 2019

Ozzylizard from Pennsylvania

3.79/5  rDev -5.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.75

$ 7.60 (Including tax and deposit)/500 mL bottle ($ 0.450/oz) at Alkies, Massena, NY. Reviewed 8/22/19.
Born on “04/16/19” stamped onside of label. Stored on shelf in store. Stored at 42 degrees and served at 45 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter.
Appearance – 4.
First pour – Dark brown, clear.
Body – Dark brown/black, opaque. When held to the light, brown at the rim but otherwise still opaque. Bottle conditioned.
Head – Large (Maximum seven cm, aggressive center pour), khaki, medium density with a top layer of rocks, short retention, retracting to a three to four mm crown and a complete rocky cap.
Lacing – None.
Aroma – 3.75 – Moderate chocolate malt.
Flavor – 4 - Begins moderately bitter and chocolatey. Ends the same. No vanilla. No alcohol taste or aroma (6.5 % ABV), no diacetyl, no dimethylsulfide.
Palate – 3 – Medium, watery, soft carbonation.
Impression and interpretation – 3.75 – Another decent stout, one I would not be adverse to drinking again but also not one I’ll seek.

Aug 22, 2019

HoppingMadMonk from New Jersey

4.23/5  rDev +5.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Medium light carbonation with an above average body
Lots of roasted malt,alcohol, coffee,dark and milk chocolate
Just mild sweetness with a little black coffee bitterness.

Jul 30, 2019