This Week On Tap: 18th Street’s Hunter Orange

I don’t get people that aren’t on Twitter. I just don’t. Maybe I’m addicted to social media, or filling a need for attention left unfulfilled by my parents. Either way, Twitter is a great tool for keeping up on…well…anything. You get to craft your feed to what you want to see.

Care about the NBA? Follow the crew from NBA TV’s The Starters. Music? Every artist you care about is there to keep you updated on tour dates, new releases, and shenanigans on the road. Sweatpants and bad early-2000s hip hop? @OhHolyButt has you covered.

Twitter has the ability to tell stories, share up to date information, and even break news.

Like my local shop did the other week when they tweeted they’d received a shipment of the orange variant of 18th Street’s Hunter Vertical Series. I dipped out of work as fast as possible (probably a little too fast) to try and get my hands on a share. After snagging not one but TWO bottles (one to be traded for the cherry variant soon), I felt like I had finally accomplished something with my life.

18th Street’s Hunter Vertical Series is one of Indiana’s “white whales” of the craft beer scene, and for good reason. This double milk stout is in a class of its own. It’s boozy at around 10%, and is packed with all the best stout flavors: bread, chocolate, vanilla, espresso, etc. And it doesn’t sit too heavy on the palate or stomach, a common fear of drinkers who may be tentative to come over to the dark side.

The kicker to Hunter is that it comes in eight different variants, including a barrel aged version, and versions infused with cherries and vanilla, as well as coconut. With each variant different from the last, that’s eight different beers you have to be on the look out for. And trust me: you HAVE to have this beer.

Hunter Orange tastes like a high quality dark chocolate bar with added orange zest that grows more and more pronounced as the beer warms (which you naturally do with a stout). The added orange complements the coffee and chocolate, and is never too sweet as to take away from all the excellent stouty things happening here. I recommend buying every bottle you can of Hunter Orange or any other variant you’re able to find, and to keep in touch with the brewery and your local shop on Twitter. You don’t want to miss another chance at the White Whale do you?