Review #12 - Founders Double Trouble

Posted by: Tyler Rippeteau

Apr. 13, 2011

Unlike most of the recent reviews here at 20 Beers in 20 Nights, the Founders Double Trouble does not have a big, long and complicated story behind it.  Founders is solidly distributed in the Chicago area and I have managed to get my hands on a few 4-packs of Double Trouble.

So, here are the specs for the FDT:

ABV: 9.4%

IBUs: 86

Brewery Location: Grand Rapids, Michigan

Style: American Double/Imperial India Pale Ale

Average Beer Advocate Rating: A-/4.17 – Excellent

My Beer Advocate Rating: A/4.4 – Outstanding

Current Number of Reviews/Rank in the Top 20 on Beer Advocate: 1,007/13th

Brewery Description: Founders Double Trouble

Bottled On: Tuesday, 12/28/2010 at 2:13 PM.

APPEARANCE:  (3.5 out of 5) I poured the Founders Double Trouble into my favorite pint glass, my Ska Brewing pint.  The cloudy, yellow straw color looked great behind the black and white logo.  A nice foamy head remained on top for several minutes after the initial pour and left behind a spotty film covering about 80% of the surface area.  Lacing initially looks like it is going to be fantastic and it isn’t bad, but a letdown given the strong ring of lace left after the first sip.  Below that top ring, the Double Trouble is yet another example of one of my Double IPAs having lacing on the left and right side of the glass, but not directly across on the opposite side.

On a separate, appearance-related note, I had previously never noticed that if you turn the bottle upside down, the face on the front goes from a straight-faced bald guy to a smiling guy with hair.  Cool optical illusion that I never saw before, gotta love Founders.

SMELL:  (4.5 out of 5) Very strong on the citrus aromas, particularly grapefruit.  It smells bitter and fantastic.  This is a powerful and impressive nose.  None of the sweetness/malt notes that are so common in some other DIPAs are present in this one.  It is a nice change of pace for the nose.

TASTE:  (4.5 out of 5) The nose on the Double Trouble does not lie.  It has lots of grapefruit with a very faint floral flavor lurking in the background.  There is a dash of malt to provide just enough balance to this one, but generally it reminds me of an ever so slightly toned down Stone Ruination, an absolute bitter, hop-bomb.  86 IBUs seems to be low, but when the care is taken to make sure that every last one of them is present, they go a long way. 

MOUTHFEEL:  (5 out of 5) When I reviewed Double Trouble last year, I said that the two words that describe its mouthfeel are light and flirty, and I stand by that assessment.  This beer is very well carbonated and feels like a soda going down, but it is so much tastier.  It sits light and is very dry as well.  Founders Double Trouble is a rare beer that gets a 5 in the mouthfeel department from me. 

OVERALL:  (4.5 out of 5) Great beer.  This one really does remind me of Ruination and it also reminds me why I love bitter, hoppy beer.  This is what hops are supposed to do, and while I love the big, sweet and malty DIPAs, sometimes I just want to taste the little green flower without much else getting in the way.  This beer has been climbing up on the The List from 20^th to 13^th just since we began the project here at 20 Beers in 20 Nights and I imagine it will continue to as it becomes more sought after.  The recent KBS fever may end up bringing it some residual purchases and of course, more reviews. 

SOUND: This was a no-brainer.  The Founders Double Trouble, is powerful and aggressive on the surface, but with an undercurrent of beauty and grace.  The Roots happen to have a song called “Double Trouble” which has all the same characteristics.  Check it out while you throw one of these outstanding brews down.  Or check out the live version.

Bell's Brewery Hopslam 2011 Release

Posted by: Stonecipher

Jan. 25, 2011

OK, so with the very first review I'm directly contradicting the name of this blog, oh well.  It's about 3:30 in the afternoon here in Chicago and I have been working on important stuff all day, plus I have this six-pack of fresh Bell's Hopslam in the fridge that is calling my name, so I think it is about that time - time for a Bell's Hopslam from Bell's Brewery.

First, some basic facts:
ABV: 10.0%
IBUs: Somewhere in the range of 69 - 136.  The debate rages on.
Brewery Location: Kalamazoo, MI
Style: Double IPA
Beer Advocate Average Rating: A/4.43 - Outstanding
My Beer Advocate Rating: A+/4.75 - Exceptional
Current Number of Reviews/Rank in the Top 20 on Beer Advocate: 2,034/3rd
Brewer's Description: Click on the Hopslam thumbnail.

Now, before I dive into this review, it is worth noting that I reviewed this beer last year as well on Beer Advocate and if you click here you'll see my BA review.  My palate was just beginning to become sophisticated enough to understand what I was drinking, but I was too stupid to know that the Hopslam was a DIPA and therefore, pretty high in the ABV department.  Anyhow, I wrote the following review before I re-read the old BA one and it is interesting to see compare the similarities and contradictions.  The one thing that stood out from the first review is the quote I used from a fellow bartender of mine "It's like they tried to fit two beers into that one bottle and somehow they fit."  Perfect description, even for the 2011 release.

Alright, without further ado, the review:

APPEARANCE:  Poured this into a snifter fairly aggressively and I was rewarded with a solid, foamy, quarter-inch thick head.  The bubbles are a mix of large and tiny with the bigger bubbles occupying the area towards the center of the glass.  The brilliant and almost completely clear golden color is reminiscent of the honey flavor that I know is waiting in this glass.  Interesting lacing, it appears to remain only on the left and right side of the glass instead of the opposite side I was drinking from and what remains are foamy pillars that stretch from the top to bottom.

SMELL:  The aroma hits the nose immediately with the Hopslam.  As soon as it is poured out of the bottle a sweet, piney, hoppy and honey smell fills the air.  As I move my nose closer to the glass the honey stands out as the dominating aroma.

TASTE:  Upon the first sip, the first thing that stands out is that this beer is more hoppy than it was last year.  True to its name, the hops slap your palate right up front, but as it sits on the tongue a sweet, honey flavor rises and falls before giving way to a bitter, but slightly piney aftertaste.  It is certainly a dryer beer than last year's release, and that, in my opinion is a good thing.  Bell's Brewery has managed to top near-perfection.

MOUTHFEEL:  Hopslam is very clearly a finely tuned, carefully crafted work of art, and while Bell's nailed the look, smell and taste of this beer, they did not forget about the feel.  My guess is that if this beer made any noise it would sound like Marvin Gaye singing "Inner City Blues".  Anyhow, back to the feel, generally, I like to feel a strong sparkle on my tongue, but the lighter sparkle, combined with an little bit of an oily feel make this beer go down extremely smooth.

OVERALL:  What else can I say about this beer?  I chose to review it first because A). it is in season and is fresh and B). it is one of my all-time favorites.  For 10% this is incredibly easy to drink.  The alcohol is certainly easy to detect, but it is so well balanced with the sweetness and hoppiness that it is easy to see how you can get into trouble with the Hopslam.  Maybe it's for the best that we only get to enjoy this delicious brew for a few months of the year.

DRAWBACKS:  There are not many flaws in this beer and you have to get very nitpicky to come up with any.  That said, the head retention and lacing could be a bit better, although that is not an easy proposition for a 10% DIPA, I understand that.  The only other thing I would change about this beer is that it could use a touch more bite on the mouthfeel.  Like I said, nitpicky.  But that's what you have to be when you're looking for drawbacks to an exceptional, near-perfect beer.

SOUND:  OK, I know beer doesn't produce a sound, but to add a little twist, I'm going to try to match up each beer to what I believe it would sound like if it could talk, sing or play some music.  To be fair, I think many of us have tried to talk to our beer at some point in the past, so hey, don't be too tough on me for this.  As I mentioned before, though, this beer is smooth, savory and sweet all at the same time and that is how I view Marvin Gaye's voice.  Given that Hopslam is one of my favorite beers it is only fitting that it would sound like one of my favorite songs "Inner City Blues".  In case you don't already have this gem in your music collection, here's a link to Marvin's "Gold" album on iTunes: 



Thanks for checking out the review.  Hope you enjoyed it and I hope you can get your hands on some Hopslam sometime soon.  It really is an exceptional beer.  Go ahead and leave a comment, tell me what you think of the blog, the beer or the review.  If you're too shy to do that, send me some Beer Mail on Beer Advocate, the user name is StoneTSR.  Cheers!