Back in 2015 I started to create this recipe for the Bell’s annual Homebrew Competition.  I was already thinking of doing something different by using Citra hops, since I had recently had a couple of different beers that used Citra hops and I really enjoyed them. I started thinking of a unique way that I could use these hops in a beer with the citrusy, tropical fruity flavor that Citra hops have I felt it might be interesting to add vanilla to it to give it a little different flavor then what I had seen available.

With those 2 ingredients in mind I started looking at recipes that used the Citra hops and how best to incorporate the vanilla into it and try to put together a grain bill that would complement both.

Unfortunately the original recipe didn’t make it into the final rounds of the Bell’s competition but I felt strongly that this was a good recipe to pursue and I continued to work on and refine it and brewed it for the Michigan Homebrew Festival in August 2016. The feedback I got from everyone that tasted it told me this was a solid recipe and the fact that people kept coming back to get more of confirmed this.

After some encouragement from my fellow Sons of Liberty brewers and a little more tweaking I submitted it for the 2017 Arbor Brewing Co. Rat Fest and even though it didn’t take first place for best beer it did come in second out of 28 total beers that over 250 people voted on. Additionally I had a lot of comments and requests about how it was brewed and how the vanilla was added. So in response I have added the recipe here for all to enjoy, so cheers and if you end up brewing this recipe please let us know how it turned out.