GIVEN the dark evenings and cold winter air, I've been hitting the dark, strong stuff quite a bit these last few weeks. When a crate of Founders Brewery's Double Trouble – a summer seasonal double IPA arrived in store – I saw an opportunity to kick my new habit into touch.

Feisty and hop-forward, I was sure this would make me forget the encroaching darkness, even if only for a while, or at the very least keep me warm late at night, given its sky-high ABV.

Pouring bright gold with a ragged white head, this looks like an American IPA through and through. The aroma is dense and highly concentrated, with lemon pith and pink grapefruit leeching from the glass with a hint of marzipan and a reassuring shortbread background.

The flavour is immensely hoppy. Moderate to light bodied, a gentle tangerine and biscuit base provide the foundation for a mass of verdant coniferous hops to pummel the palate with lemon and orange peel.

A rising, dominant bitterness pushes forwards before revealing a mountain of caramelised biscuits before returning once more with a mouth-puckering grapefruit finish.

Definitely one for the hop-heads, and a welcome distraction from the rising tide of Christmas ales that abound at this time of year.

Recommended by Michael Bates, Trembling Madness, Stongegate, York