Mean Old Tom - Maine Beer Company

ksimons

New York

4.16/5  rDev +5.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

A-dark brown, almost black, with no highlights seen in the light and two fingers worth of tan head

S-backbone of roasted malt with espresso, dark chocolate, and sweet vanilla

T-very nice, a strong roasted flavor comes out the most, roasted coffee, slight burnt flavor, and light vanilla sweetness

M-medium body, light to medium carbonation, left with a dry slightly burnt mouthfeel

Overall I like this one a lot, really great smell to it and a nice roasted body. Easy to drink and enjoy.

Serving type: bottle

01-27-2013 22:23:48 | More by ksimons

mrchrisray

New York

3.5/5  rDev -10.9%

06-18-2013 17:31:42 | More by mrchrisray

Dagsy

California

3.75/5  rDev -4.6%

06-18-2013 04:12:27 | More by Dagsy

JamesGWittel

New Jersey

4.25/5  rDev +8.1%

06-18-2013 00:28:07 | More by JamesGWittel

wesley14

Massachusetts

3.75/5  rDev -4.6%

06-17-2013 23:37:39 | More by wesley14

Shnanign

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +1.8%

06-17-2013 16:11:20 | More by Shnanign

TobiasG

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +1.8%

06-16-2013 23:38:45 | More by TobiasG

JandJMD

Maryland

3.75/5  rDev -4.6%

06-16-2013 21:27:30 | More by JandJMD

IrishKevin

Massachusetts

4.5/5  rDev +14.5%

06-16-2013 15:15:48 | More by IrishKevin

Orange

Massachusetts

4.25/5  rDev +8.1%

06-16-2013 07:15:35 | More by Orange

BubbleBobble

New York

3.5/5  rDev -10.9%

06-15-2013 06:21:28 | More by BubbleBobble

NormLobstah

Virginia

4.25/5  rDev +8.1%

06-15-2013 04:04:27 | More by NormLobstah

NYR_Rob

Pennsylvania

3.5/5  rDev -10.9%

06-15-2013 03:52:31 | More by NYR_Rob

monitorpop

Michigan

3.75/5  rDev -4.6%

06-14-2013 04:04:58 | More by monitorpop

TheBrewo

Michigan

4.11/5  rDev +4.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

We pour a brew of the deepest cola brown. It supports a hearty head of three fingers, composed of fluffy, mousse-like foam. Striped geographic lacing was left around the glass as it dissipated at a slower pace. The beer is really at no point ever completely devoid of bubbles. No haze is noted, but thick chunks of sediment made it in despite our best efforts. Carbonation appears to be moderate. The aroma gives chalky and roasty dark malts of black and coffee varietals, with angel food cake filler. Blending are tinny metallics, cooling vanilla bean, light grassy hops, medicinal phenols, frank banana breadiness, mustiness, gravel, smoke, and sea salt. With warmth comes richer toffee sweetness, pastel mints, and soft peppery booze. Our first impression is that this is just a plain old good stout, with the vanilla offering more subtle sourness until it washes through freshly and brightly in the aftertaste. As we sip, the flavoring opens with sea saltiness, richly roasty coffee malts, charcoal, grassy and lightly herbal hops, irony mineral, vanilla cake breadiness, creamy butters, soured chocolate malt, and lime rind. The peak comes with straw, grassy hops, mustiness, burnt ham meatiness, soured coffee char, and lavender florals. The finishing wash comes with cleaner brown, coffee, and chocolate malts, roasty barley, light caramels sweetness, vinyl plastics, herbal hop essence, yeasty dryness, soured vanilla bean, and milky lactics. The aftertaste breathes of chalks, coppery metallics, iced coffee, vegetal pepper skins, fresh vanilla bean, fusel booze, red apple sugars, salt water taffy, tannic teas, plastic foaminess, sweet cream, and continued lactics. The body is medium to full, and the carbonation is light to medium. Each sip affords nice froth, slurp, cream, smack, and pop. The mouth is initially cooled and coated, but drips into chalky and metallic astringency concentrating towards the front of the tongue. The abv is appropriate, and the beer drinks easily.

Overall, what we enjoyed most about this brew was its aroma. Here things were kept fresh, well balanced, inclusive, and cooling. The vanilla came out decently, with a great, simple, and heartily roasty stout base. This translated well through the flavoring, but some of the vanilla brightness did get a bit lost until the very end of the sip and aftertaste, where it gave sourness and eventual cleanliness respectively. The feel was silky smooth and creamy, aiding drinkability. The current trend is that people are loving all over Maine Beer Company’s more hoppy stock, but we think it is these sleepers that you need to watch out for.

Serving type: bottle

06-14-2013 01:32:53 | More by TheBrewo

twizzard

New York

4.5/5  rDev +14.5%

06-14-2013 01:31:27 | More by twizzard

doremite

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +1.8%

06-13-2013 21:02:46 | More by doremite

djre4orm

Virginia

4/5  rDev +1.8%

06-13-2013 18:34:21 | More by djre4orm

WesWes

New York

4.25/5  rDev +8.1%

06-13-2013 11:43:27 | More by WesWes

MStern23

Massachusetts

5/5  rDev +27.2%

06-13-2013 11:17:34 | More by MStern23

utopiajane

New York

3.63/5  rDev -7.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

Pours almost black & thick looking with a khaki head of tight foam that shrank slowly to a couple of big islands on top. Soapy lace. Nose is cocoa, sweet vanilla beans, roasted coffee, grass & earth. A hint of char, medicinal alcohol that kept coming forward as it warmed and way in back some faint floral. Taste is smooth, on the heavy side but velvety. Vanilla, burnt coffee, burnt toast, roasted grains, bitter chocolate. I didn’t taste a lot of char but some and I am tasting some oats and some alcohol. Finishes semi wet and a little ashy. The hops were in there I can tell by the underlying fruit sweetness and a bit of slick oil that lightly coats the tongue. Bitterness is very light considering all that roasted toasted and burnt. This is a hearty and favorable stout that is not too complex and has a lot to enjoy.

Serving type: bottle

06-12-2013 10:18:21 | More by utopiajane

EricDu

New Hampshire

4.25/5  rDev +8.1%

06-12-2013 05:32:43 | More by EricDu

TravisR

New Jersey

4.5/5  rDev +14.5%

06-12-2013 05:18:15 | More by TravisR

notchucknorris

California

4.2/5  rDev +6.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

A: Pours a medium bodied deep brown color with a nice one finger khaki colored head. Leaves some light tracks of lace down the glass.

S: Pretty subtle. I really had to work to get much out of this one, but I get some light roasted malt, dark roasted coffee, powdery cocoa, brownie, oats, a hint of char and some light vanilla. As it warms, I get some cocoa puffs and a sweeter, light coffee smell.

T: Opens on a nice coffee and roasted malt note. There's just a hint of acidity to the coffee but it's never so strong that it becomes unpleasant. Vanilla, burnt brownies, milk chocolate and some charred wood intermingle fantastically in the middle. Finish brings some light cola, smoke and dark chocolate. Nothing about this beer feels forced. The vanilla is very subtle, but adds a lot of depth to the flavor profile. Not the craziest stout out there, but this is a keeper.

Serving type: bottle

06-12-2013 04:56:18 | More by notchucknorris

agreenman19

Connecticut

4.25/5  rDev +8.1%

06-12-2013 01:09:39 | More by agreenman19