Every so often, I need to get back to my craft beer drinking roots. For me, those roots are an outlandishly big imperial IPA. Now, the big imperial IPA doesn't hold quite the sway over me that it once did. I've only looked at two in the last couple of months. I still love them, but my tastes have changed in the year and a half or so that I've been talking about beer on this blog. I've come to appreciate a subtle hand and a more delicate flavor profile. But there are still times when I want something big and bold. Enter today's 86 IBU, 9.4% ABV beast. Double Trouble from the always excellent Founders Brewing. To the beer!
Double Trouble pours three or four shades lighter than I was expecting. A finger of finely bubbled white head sits atop a yellowish bronze with almost a greenish tinge. I was expecting something much more amber in color, but what we do have here is quite pretty.
Pungent, juicy, aromatic fruity aromas are all over the place here. Notes or orange and grapefruit are joined by resinous and floral notes and a robust toffee malt. There's a bit of boozy heat on the nose as well. Quite complex.
Double Trouble is medium to full in body. A mild bitterness is present throughout the sip. It's quite pleasant though, especially considering the 86 IBUs. Bold hop flavors are here in excess. Plenty of sticky resinous flavors and quite a bit of citrusy fruit notes of lemon, grapefruit, tangerine, and white grape. The real star of this beer though is the balance. All of those massive, butter hop flavors and 86 IBUs and 9.4% ABV ought to make for a beer that's nigh undrinkable, but a robust, slightly sweet toffee maltiness counteracts all of that hoppiness.
Double Trouble is pretty great. Intensely flavorful yet crazy balanced and imminently drinkable. An ever elusive yet always winning combination. Double Trouble is certainly not the cheapest beer you can buy, but it's worth every penny.
HD
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