Pure Michigan Pints

Jeremy Kosmicki, the Brewmaster for Founders, answered some of my questions

There are beers, and then there are beers. Ones that scream nostalgia to you. One such beer—an OG of Michigan craft beer, especially in the realm of IPAs—has returned from hibernation. I deemed it extinct, but I’ve been wrong before and I’ll be wrong again …

Jeremy Kosmicki, the Brewmaster for Founders Brewing Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan, answered some of my questions regarding Double Trouble.

“I started working on it in the mid-2000’s and it was inspired by some West Coast IPAs that I had recently been exposed to. We had really only brewed malt-balanced IPAs to that point (Centennial, Reds, Devil Dancer), and I wanted to try to make something more dry and really pale in color that completely let the hops shine through.” — Jeremy Kosmicki

He has tried to make a batch of Double Trouble every few years to go in the taproom, but he believes the last time it was packaged was in 2018.

“Double Trouble was the first Imperial IPA we ever released, and that was almost 20 years ago,” Kosmicki added.

I first encountered Double Trouble in my earlier craft beer days. This was when I was only a newb in the realms of these beers; craft beer hadn’t come into full realization yet.

In the past, this beer was released on draft or in four-pack bottles. This time it’s available in six-packs of cans in the taproom and on draft. While this is the first time packaging this beer in cans, it still maintains the original artwork. (Very cool.) I’ve always been a fan of the label. (And believe me, it gets even weirder after having a couple of these.)

Kosmicki describes the label as a “fun design,” and said, “The label looks cool even upside down, which is how you might end up if you drink too many of them.”

I always assumed Double Trouble got its name from being too smooth of a double IPA—this one drinks smoother than Centennial or a Bell’s Two Hearted.

But it turns out the name has a different origin. Kosmicki brought his dad to join him on a brew day and Laura Houser—originally hired in the early 2000’s to package beer who currently brews and is one of Founder’s longest tenured employees—said that two Kosmickis in the brewhouse was indeed double trouble.

“The name stuck and I’m excited to have it available again. If you’ve never tried this beer before, prepare yourself for a classic west-coast style IPA with a healthy dose of hop bitterness and a 9.4% ABV.  Simcoe and Amarillo hops are the stars of this show and deliver fantastic aromas of grapefruit, pineapple, peach and pine.” — Jeremy Kosmicki

Double Trouble was the first double IPA I remember liking. It’s one of the best (if not the best) Founders beer I’ve ever had and was a longtime favorite of mine.

I’m not going to lie; I was apprehensive. What if Double Trouble didn’t live up to the memory I created of it? What if my palate wasn’t developed? Upon pouring myself a beer and smelling the aroma, I can say it smelled hoppy and identifiably like Founders always does. A little more citrusy in the aroma and first sip than I recall, but I doubt as a young 20-something punk I appreciated the nuances of IPAs of this nature. But it tastes good and goes down smooth. This part brought me back to my early 20s—and it’s amazing how a beer can transcend you into time, a previous life, previous experiences, and connect to the now.

Kosmicki said the only change made to Double Trouble over the years has been an increase in the dry-hop rate, but the hop varieties have stayed the same.

When asked about the thought process behind bringing Double Trouble back, Kosmicki gave me some insight.

“Innovation and ‘new beers’ have been the focus of our industry for a while now, but sometimes what’s old is new again and we have a pretty huge catalog of fun beers that we’ve made over the years. Our customers often request bringing back some of these old favorites and we thought small batch runs available only in our company store would be a good place to start, keeping it limited and special, like releases were back in the olden days. Double Trouble is a fan (and employee) favorite so that seemed like a good choice.” —Jeremy Kosmicki