Double Mountain Hop Lava

Brewed by Double Mountain Brewery and Taproom
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Hood River, Oregon USA

Clear light amber color/ white head. Mild pine, floral hop aromas. medium body. Medium bitter pine, fresh floral hop flavors with fresh grains, caramel malts. good ipa.

On tap at Naked City. I’m impressed with what I’ve had from these guys so far. This one poured super light - a mild honey-amber, with an off-white head. Very, very mild aroma. There’s a decent balance in here, but it seems like two 50-lb. sandbags on either side of a needle-thin fulcrum. There are some extremely bitter hops in here, thrown back to the middle by cereal grains and a slightly cardboardy note I’m not crazy about. Somehow it works, though, and this ends up being a really refreshing brew. Nice and smooth.

draft at uber very nice and mellow but not overly strong with flavor. Solid but not special.

Shaker pint draft at the Dray in Seattle, Washington. Pour is a hazed orange amber copper with a light off white head. Nice streaking lacing. Aroma is pretty faint, as it opens up a bit, there is light resin and some grainy toasty malt. Taste is the resin hops up front, along with some floral fruit sweet hops, then followed closely by an earthy flinty element which finishes out with the toasty malt. Decent transition of flavors, though just ok integration. Palate is medium bodied, lightish carbonation, and a residual dirty earthy after taste.

On tap at Collin’s pub in Seattle. Light and not very hoppy at all. Metallic aftertaste. Malty. Eh. I wonder if the keg was old, based on the comments in previous ratings. I was NOT impressed with this brew.

Very pilsnery nose. Unique for an ipa, not too much too my liking. Grass and light citrus and a shit ton of bread. Golden pour, no head but nice lace. The flavor is dry and bready, floral, grassy, and a hint of citrus. Light lingering bread, grass, and floral hops. Really bizarre ipa. Drinks nicely however.

Date: September 24, 2009
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewpub
Appearance: cloudy dark yellow with an orange hue, fine white head, solid lace
Aroma: light sweet citrus aroma
Flavor: sweet pale malt flavor, light citrus, balancing bitterness, long bitter finish
Aroma: 5/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 12/20
Rating: 3.1/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: ** /4

On-Tap @ Bailey’s Taproom poured into Shaker glass. Pours a clear medium orange and has a strong glowing quality with a slight off-white head that dissolves quickly into a wispy layer atop the glass. The aroma is citrus hop, grapefruit rind, and just overall resinous, sticky hops. The flavor is grapefruit, citrus forward with some toasted bread crust with a sweet bitter, slightly dry finish. Its light-medium bodied with mild carbonation. Highly sessionable overall and to me has become the quintessential PNW IPA.