Maine Beer Week: Maine Beer Co. Mean Old Tom Round 2

Mean Old Tom on cask at Sebago

I reviewed this beer back in March, 2010, but feel compelled to share it, again, with readers, as we are celebrating the First Annual Maine Beer Week, November 10-17, 2011, and Mean Old Tom just hit the shelves, again, in Portland. Actually, the husband brought home four bottles, tonight, all bottled on 11.10.11. Awesome! Can't wait to pour one over the next couple of days.  But, since I couldn't wait for these bottles, I went into Portland last night and sampled a Mean Old Tom on cask at Sebago Brewing Company. Wow, talk about delicious.  Okay, back to review, here it is but this time with pictures:

Mean Old Tom

The tenth beer to get reviewed goes by the name Mean Old Tom and is a stout aged on natural vanilla bean.  I was tipped off to this beer by a local mom friend who spotted it at Whole Foods Market in Portland.  It didn't take me long to remember all the necessities I needed to get from WF and off I went with Little J in tow, after Big Sister was happily playing at her Portland nursery school.  May I digress momentarily and say that shopping with a sleeping baby is so much easier than shopping with a three year old, although I did miss the constant background question of, "Mom, can I get a cookie now?"
Anyway, this beer is made locally by the Maine Beer Company, who I'm a HUGE fan of as they produce an ale called the Peeper and another ale, an amber, called the Zoe, which is delicious! So, I was thrilled to hear that they released a stout, since I thoroughly enjoy stouts and the added vanilla bean is the perfect complement!  Moreover, the bottle that I selected is Batch #1 which means I was tasting some brand new-to-the-world brew--exciting stuff!  Not only was I excited, but it tasted fantastic and the story behind the name of the beer added to the fun of drinking it, as I have a very close friend named Tom who I thought maybe this was named after---just joking TP!


Taste:  light vanilla bursts onto the palate with mild mocha hints in the background


Color:  a deep almost chestnut brown


Thickness:  light to moderate; very smooth almost silky with minimal head and a few bubbles


Will it help me sleep better?  The perfect number of 6.5% ABV means I could do fine with just one but two would mean bedtime!


Mom Factoid:  As mentioned earlier, I have a close friend named Tom which made me think of him while I was enjoying this brew.  Isn't it funny how names transform us to places and memories of people who have those names?  Speaking of, picking names is quite the adventure, between family ties, popularity rankings, meanings etc, you can have a blast or a headache leading up the the big day!

Mean Old Tom bottles