How to class a Vanilla IPA for judging?

[ANewrBrewr]

Well the title says it all.....I brewed an Imperial Vanilla IPA, but I'm not sure whether it is an Imperial IPA or if the vanilla will change the category into a spice/fruit beer or something. Need to get this bad boy entered by the 14th so hopefully my fellow brewers can help me out.

Cheers.

 

[CadillacAndy]

How would you describe the intensity of the vanilla on a scale of 1-10? If it's detectable, and not a flavor you'd get from hops, I'd push it toward S/H/V for sure.

 

[ANewrBrewr]

You can definitely tell it's in there, but it blends so nicely with the citrus hop profile that it really blends together. It's almost like I used a hop with vanilla characteristics....if that makes sense. What are vanilla porters classified as?

 

[CA_Mouse]

Any of my beers that have vanilla in them are always entered as S/H/V beers. Since you are adding a spice (vanilla), you don't want to loose points for entering it as an IIPA. In this case you would classify it as S/H/V for scoring, making sure that you put Vanilla as the reason that it is in the category. Type would be IPA, so you would have the base beer as being an IIPA (dependent on which style IPA your's is based on - IE: American IPA; English IPA).

 

[ANewrBrewr]

UPDATE- So I entered it once as a S/H/V beer and it scored low saying it should have been entered as an IPA because the vanilla was not prominent. Next comp. I entered it as an IPA and got a 36pt gold medal!

 

[CadillacAndy]

Congrats! Every competition is different and every judge is different glad you got it in a category that worked.