#Mashtag 2014 Day 3: Hops!

Day 2 is over, and the winner of the malt round by an overwhelming margin is...

9% ABV Imperial Red!

The voting rates were even higher, with 7000 of you taking part, presumably while listening to the Imperial March. The breakdown was:

4% Session - 7.2%

6% Amber - 5.4%

9% Imperial - 87.4%

For those of you just joining us, here's how #Mashtag works:

Every day this week we'll post a blog at 10am. Each post will present you with three options; it's up to you to decide which one we go with. To make the decision, you can cast your vote here on the blog, on twitter, or on facebook. Here's how the week will pan out:

Monday: Beer style - red ale

Tuesday: Malt bill - 9% imperial red with copious speciality malts and black malt

Wednesday: Hops & IBU

Thursday: Special Twist (Infused with berries? Wine barrel aged? Matured aboard an X-Wing?)

Friday: Label

Voting is open from 10am - 8pm each day, with the exception of Friday (more details will be revealed, but there's no harm in getting your artistic hats on early). Simcoe and his little helpers will tally up the votes each evening and each day we'll include the results from the day before in the blog. As we go we'll explain the ingredients and methods involved in each option, to give you the chance to make an informed opinion and give you an insight into how we come up with some of the ideas for our beer.

Day 3: Hops & IBU

Based on the imperial red base, we have designed 3 hop profiles, with different levels of bitterness, which will be able to balance such a punchy malt bill. Your choices for the next stage are:

Global Hops - 65 IBU

Amarillo (US), Motueka (NZ), Mittelfruh (Ger) 

A blend of hops which will just balance the sweetness from the speciality malts and present a light, floral and citrus character. The bitterness level will prevent the sweetness giving a cloying mouthfeel.

UK Hops - 90 IBU

Challenger, Fuggles, Bramling X

A blend of English hops which will give a spicy aroma; dark and complex, and with a higher bitterness level. This combination will combine to give a medium length, interesting hop flavour, balanced with the malt sweetness.

US Hops - 120 IBU

Simcoe, Chinook, Columbus

This is a huge, resinous blend of hops that will give a long and drawn out finish. A lot of the hop bitterness will balance the malt base, but the flavour will still be resinous and hop forward.

We're not sure we need to explain here why we love hops so much, but in case you're new to BrewDog, suffice it to say that hops impart bitterness, flavour and aroma in beer. The IBU level is a measurement of the converted alpha acids in the beer, which cause the bitter taste, but be sure to consider both the flavour of the hops and the IBU level when making your choice!

Don't forget to get your votes in before 8pm, and check back here at 10am tomorrow to see which hops we'll use in your beer!