Founders Double Trouble
January 24th, 2010 beckelToday I have another delicious Imperial IPA from the fine brewers of Founders out of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Founders makes a variety of tasty ales, some strong, some subtle, but there is no question they love to play with hops. While not quite as big as their Devil Dance [review] which they call a “Tripple IPA” Double Trouble is still one impressive hop centric ale that any hop head should enjoy. Double Trouble is part of founders Seasonal line up and has been available for many years though I never got around to sampling it until the other week at Stub & Herbs. So after enjoying a number of pints there and seeing it on the shelves of The Four Firkins a few days ago when I was there for their insanely busy Unibroue tasting I saw no excuse not to grab a 4-pack and enjoy it some more. Pours a bright slightly translucent apricot hue. Three fingers of clean white head are produced that slowly open into larger bubbles settling after about 5 minutes or so leaving a small amount of lacing around the glass. Aroma is delicious. Nicely bitter, a variety of floral and fruity hop esters, orange, grapefruit and a very smooth and well rounded malty sweetness to contrast as well as a gentle does of alcohol. Tastes intensely of hops, gentle orange and more intense grapefruit are easily identified as well as other citrus esters followed by smooth clean malty sweetness and serious bitterness and additional hop esters in the finish. While unquestionably not a beer for those who aren’t a fan of hoppy ales the contrasting malt profile does a very nice job of creating a variety of flavors in this intense 86 IBU ale. The body is medium and the mouthfeel is very smooth with some nice sweetness on the tongue. Coming in at 9.4% ABV this is certainly a proper Imperial IPA though the bitterness and other hop esters do a very good job at hiding the solid ABV. If you are a fan of massive hops, particularly the citrus and bitter aspects you should dig this ale. As a lover of intensely hoppy brews this ale unquestionably gets a big thumbs up, keep up the good work Founders. Give it a shot and ride your bike.
