Mean Old Tom
Maine Beer Company

Pours deep, deep brown with a very thin, roux-colored head. On the nose, notes of vanilla, caramel, cocoa nibs, malt, and usually, a little mint. Flavor is well balanced with chocolate coming in prominently followed by toasted malt, hazelnut, vanilla, & tobacco. The finish is very smooth & not resinous at all - mouthfeel is very supple & not cloying. There is a slight bite from the alcohol which you should not detect at this low ABV, but overall this is my kind of stout. Can understand why purists might score it a bit lower, but this is definitely something I'd go back to more regularly than some of the higher-ABV stouts out there.

 

Enjoyed on nitro at Central Station Taps in Beaverton, OR. 12-ounce pour served in a snifter.

Look:
Strong backlighting shows this beer is dark reddish-brown with amber highlights. The dense head of tan foam shows terrific retention and leaves decent lacing.

Smell:
The nose is full of dark roasted malt with touches of chocolate syrup and a little coffee. It has to warm up a bit for the vanilla to come out.

Taste:
Flavor leads with roasted malt and a splash of black coffee. It opens up nicely in the middle, softening the roastiness with dark chocolate, waffle cone, vanilla pudding, and a dot of dulce de leche. Not too sweet! The finish is roasty and drying.

Feel:
Medium-bodied with a light, creamy texture and fine carbonation. No sharp corners or rough edges to be found.

Overall:
The only "mean" thing about this beer is the name. This is a good, roasty, mid-strength stout with a superb mouthfeel and well-balanced flavors. I dig that this beer doesn't have to beat you over the head with vanilla character.

 

Bundle Day 2025 at growler stop

On draught.
A Stout with tasty dark roasted and caramelized malt, abundant chocolate, molasses and vanilla flavors. Subtle dark roasted coffee, pleasant hops bitterness on the back side, and a smooth medium bodied mouthfeel.
Well done!

 

Pours a slightly inky dark brown with true khaki head. Lots of roasty notes on the nose. Those roasted flavors carry through on the palate. The vanilla here is quite subtle. Not in a bad way. It provides some nice roundedness to it. But the dark chocolate, french roast coffee, toasted hazelnut, fresh granola flavors along with an assertive bitterness from the hops provide the central character here. Enjoyed this one.

 

Opens nicely aroma and head. Drinks with a watalike texture for a stout. Leaves coffee on the palate. Gets a scoop of vanilla with this.

RB transfer

Dark brown. Medium-sized, beige head. Chocolate, roasted malt, and light vanilla notes in the aroma. Medium body. Smooth with moderate roasted bitterness. Loved this one.

 

Maine is one of those micros I'd like to like more. But brewing mostly AIPAs, APSs, and even some world-class stouts, MBC does not brew in my palate's wheelhouse. (I'm a Belgo-phile.)

That said, I'd still like to like MBC more because they are Good Guys doing all the Right Stuff to Maine, the planet and their employees.

As for Mean Old Tom, he's an Odd Fellow. Kind of a standard American Stout on the surface, but the vanilla really becomes strong in the finish; so he may be more suitable as a dessert substitute than drinking on a cold afternoon. Any time, Tom is well-constructed... just not as much a model as MBC.

 

 

Nitro pour at the brewery. Wonderful dark malts bring flavors of chocolate fudge with a hint of vanilla. Very balanced between sweet and bitter finish. A wonderful beer.

Very tasty. Not too sweet. Not too bitter. Great stout.

16.9oz bottle purchased from the fridge for $7.49. Bottled on 11APR23, so this is 19 1/2 months old.

Look: Very dark, it basically appears pitch black in the glass (until you get down to a small volume and it actually appears more brownish). Nice cafe-au-lait colored head with fine bubbles that is holding strong at a quarter of a finger tall. It looks like it has an appropriate level of carbonation, but of course that is hard to tell because it's so dark.

Smell: There's a nice creamy note up front that reminds me of vanilla ice cream and then it's tons of dark roasted malts, coffee, dark chocolate, and a nice vanilla sweetness that returns on the finish. This sounds weird, but this is what I want a Guinness Draught Irish Dry Stout to smell like. If only it did smell like this! There's a subtle, underlying earthiness (probably due to hops) and bitterness. It works. This beer has interesting and complex aromas even though it is only 6.5% ABV, and it smells really nice.

Taste: It's really tasty and very drinkable. The flavor profile follows the nose quite well. Up front, it has that nice subtle vanilla sweetness and creaminess. Then the beer goes full-on roasty with rich dark malts and the finish is moderately bitter, dry, and a bit astringent. It leaves you wanting more - another sip and another. The finish is also earthy and has a strong minerality like a copper coin tonality. It's also interesting how my palate becomes acclimated to the vanilla flavor and after half a glass, I almost forget that I'm drinking a beer with a vanilla adjunct and I am just enjoying a delicious American Stout. I'm curious how this compares with a fresh version; I think that the vanilla flavor is still quite potent here, and the aging may have helped to reduce the hoppiness and balance out all of the flavors together.

Feel: It is medium plus bodied and the beer does show a bit of creaminess even though it is overall a bit thin. It's appropriately carbonated with a bit of creaminess and a soft body.

Overall: As far as an American Stout aged on natural vanilla beans, this is really good. Compared to their Fall, which is a coffee stout coming in at 5.6% ABV, I prefer this one because I found the hoppiness in Fall to be too much for me in comparison with what I was expecting. No surprises here, it's another really well-brewed beer from the classy folks at Maine Beer Company.

From the website:
Brewed in honor of the Kleban brothers’ uncle, his magnificent beer can collection, and his spirit for fast cars, tough motorcycles, and mean smiles.

Flavor profile: Aromas of vanilla, coffee, and roasted cereal with notes of dark chocolate.
Hops: Centennial
Malt: Maris Otter Pale, Chocolate, Caramel 40L, Roasted Barley, Midnight Wheat, Caramel 80L, Flaked Oats