Hunter Vanilla
18th Street Brewery - Gary Taproom

Hunter VanillaHunter Vanilla
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From:
18th Street Brewery - Gary Taproom
 
Indiana, United States
Style:
Sweet / Milk Stout
Ranked #65
ABV:
8.5%
Score:
95
Ranked #1,589
Avg:
4.28 | pDev: 7.48%
Reviews:
65
Ratings:
450
Status:
Active
Rated:
Jul 10, 2022
Added:
Sep 21, 2014
Wants:
  130
Gots:
  101
The second in our Hunter Vertical Series - Vanilla Hunter. Vanilla Hunter starts with our base of Hunter Milk Stout with which we then added whole Vanilla beans to compliment Hunter's roastiness with an elegant rounded out flavor.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Peaches13:
Photo of Peaches13
Rated by Peaches13 from Pennsylvania

4.39/5  rDev +2.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Mar 03, 2017
More User Ratings:
Photo of NCSapiens
Reviewed by NCSapiens from Indiana

4.24/5  rDev -0.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.25
Poured on tap black with an attractive mocha colored head. Aroma is subtle roasted malt and vanilla. Taste is roasted malt stout and real vanilla beans. By far my favorite aspect of this beer is the pillowy, creamy mouth feel. Overall quite nice.
Jul 10, 2022
 
Rated: 4.12 by Nunya from Ohio

Apr 23, 2022
 
Rated: 4.17 by SierraFlight from Virginia

Feb 13, 2022
 
Rated: 3.98 by rolltide from Pennsylvania

Jan 08, 2022
 
Rated: 3.7 by TMoney2591 from Illinois

Dec 02, 2021
 
Rated: 4.12 by Dope from Massachusetts

Jul 05, 2020
 
Rated: 4 by fossage78 from Massachusetts

Feb 24, 2020
 
Rated: 3.69 by mdaschaf from Indiana

Jan 27, 2020
Photo of woodychandler
Reviewed by woodychandler from Pennsylvania

4.25/5  rDev -0.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Welcome back to New Beer(s) from @jkblr Sunday (Week 776), MKII, Part 2! He is my only current shipping trader with @tone77 as a local, in-person trader & he was CANcerned that perhaps I was giving his beers short shrift. Perish the thought! I was saving them for an NBS, but then other NBSs spiraled outta CANtrol & I kept pushing his to the back burner. Well, here we go!

From the CAN: "Stout brewed with Lactose Sugar and Cocoa Nibs"; "Double Milk Stout with Vanilla added"; "Vertical Series 02/08"; "Drink fresh. Unfiltered. Sediment may occur."; "Hunter, our creamy Double Milk Stout with Cocoa Nibs and Lactose is a beer so sumptuous it demands respect. In part to of our Hunter Vertical Series, we added whole Vanilla Beans to compliment its roastiness with an elegant rounded flavor. "

Vanilla to vanilla, in case you questioned my series of progression today. This beCAN to sound better & better as I CANsidered it so I Crack!ed open the vent to see what lay inside. The CAN's verbiage suggested that I employ a slow, gentle C-Line Glug so as not to rouse the lees. Fine by me. I watched in rapt fascination as a pseudo-cascade led to the formation of two-plus fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, deep-brown head with decent retention, slowly falling away to wisps. Color was obsidian Black/Opaque (SRM = 44) & not only was it not allowing any light penetration, it seemed to be sucking the light in the room towards it! Ahhh! I'm afraid! Nose was more like it - if you advertise "Vanilla", then bring vanilla! This smelled like vanilla ice cream dumped into a cuppa joe to cool it down. Yum. It was definitely roasty & slightly smoky with a coffee-like quality, but the vanilla was holding its own. Mouthfeel was big, full & creamy, either a testament to the brewer's art or the result of the addition of lactose or perhaps a CANbination of the two. Either way, it was really big in my mouth & on my tongue. Speaking of big, this was REALLY BIG in the vanilla department! It was unabating & I might not have enjoyed it if they had sprung it on me as a surprise. Instead, they were totes up front about it as an adjunct & I was ready as a result. Even then, it was not really all that sweet, given its style. Granted, I was not going to mistake it for a Dry Stout, but given its adjuncts, it could have been much sweeter. I am now intrigued to try the others in the series as a result. Finish was semi-sweet & as long as I CAN keep sweet beers at bay, I am gonna take @jkblr up on his challenge. YMMV.
Jan 05, 2020
Photo of BigGold
Reviewed by BigGold from Mississippi

4.21/5  rDev -1.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Had poured from pint can, stamped on bottom (apparently) canned on “9/27/19,” into nonic pint.

The vanilla adds sweetness but also brings out the hop bite from the original beer, which is a nice balance of lactose, cocoa nibs and roast malts, and this beer is all the better for it.
Nov 26, 2019
Photo of jkblr
Reviewed by jkblr from Indiana

4.25/5  rDev -0.7%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
16oz can stamped 9/27/19 (one month ago) poured into a tulip pint glass at fridge temp, no ABV listed on can. The beer pours very dense black with no light penetration and sticky mocha colored head. The head recedes to a thin cap and leaves some lacing. The aroma offers baker's chocolate, coffee, vanilla and some vague sweetness. The taste is super rich chocolate, vanilla and coffee laced milk stout with just a hint of tangyness and roasty bitterness on the finish. The mouthfeel is creamy & full bodied with just less than medium carbonation and a semi dry finish. Not cloying, no obvious ethanol. Overall, very good to excellent. Pours like motor oil and really packs the flavor. Recommended.
Oct 23, 2019
 
Rated: 4.26 by beerjerk666 from Florida

Jul 27, 2019
 
Rated: 3.8 by eppie82 from Illinois

Apr 05, 2019
 
Rated: 4.21 by Grinky from Illinois

Mar 19, 2019
 
Rated: 4.06 by RickyBfromCT from Connecticut

Feb 13, 2019
 
Rated: 4.25 by Dark_Scarecrow from Virginia

Jan 24, 2019
 
Rated: 4.5 by Nurt20 from Illinois

Jan 21, 2019
 
Rated: 4 by cp45 from New Jersey

Dec 25, 2018
 
Rated: 4.33 by Curt3 from Ohio

Nov 22, 2018
Hunter Vanilla from 18th Street Brewery - Gary Taproom
Beer rating: 95 out of 100 with 450 ratings