Hood River’s Double Mountain Brewery is one of the most reliably consistent breweries in the state, best known for its hoppy ales while handling other styles, and even cider, with ease. The brewery sent me several samples to review this summer—two beers and a cider—and while my review notes below might seem monotonously positive, these are all drinks worth seeking out.

Let’s get into it.

Basic Rights IPA

This IPA is an annual release each June supporting Pride Month, and Double Mountain collaborates with Basic Rights Oregon on it, proceeds from which also benefit the organization. It’s 6.5% ABV with 58 IBUs, and the description says:

Using a colorful array of specialty English malts alongside Amarillo and HBC 630 hops, we get a rainbow of sticky forest and ruby red grapefruit leading to a mellow fruited bitterness. A portion of the profits benefit Basic Rights Oregon.

The brewery sent me this year’s edition, and even though it’s no longer June I have still seen Basic Rights IPA available on store shelves so get out there and find it.

Appearance: Bright copper color with nice clarity. Finely bubbled off-white head.

Smell: Bright nose with fruity aromas of pomelo, lychee, pink citrus, forest floor, melon rind. Warm toasty malts.

Taste: Nice bitterness with savory notes of sage, perhaps rosemary, and oily grapefruit peel; good malt character of scone and some teething biscuit (graham cracker). Toasty and moreish, not too bitter but still scratches that itch, really well balanced flavors.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied, though a touch lighter than “medium” perhaps, with a good dry drinkability and finish.

Overall: Really good, well-handled balance of all elements.

Escape From Indiana

This is another collaboration brew, this time with Washington’s Everybody’s Brewing which is located on the other side of the Columbia River across from Double Mountain. You can read the story behind the beer here; an interesting angle on it is the use of Thiolized yeast, which theoretically “enhances the biotransformation and hop oil utilization, unlocking a myriad of previously inaccessible aromas and flavors.”

I’m not sure about that—I haven’t read up on the science behind it—but as far as stats go, this IPA is 6.6% ABV with 65 IBUs.

Appearance: Pale gold, bright, relatively clear, with a creamy white head.

Smell: Dank, sweaty, with resin and sweet citrus (tangerine, mandarin orange). Orange pith, sticky greens, sweet herbs. Fragrant!

Taste: Solid-but-light malt with a good herbal bitterness with pithy flavor that has some citrus oil spiciness, and a dank note, big hop resin, a touch of menthol/eucalyptus. Tasty and solid all the way through, with good balance of flavors.

Mouthfeel: Medium, almost medium-light body, a minty/menthol character, well-attenuated for a dry finish.

Overall: Another well-brewed IPA that’s easy to drink.

Irene Rosé Red Fleshed Cider

Double Mountain introduced a new line of reserve ciders this year (details are here), and the brewery sent me a bottle of the Irene Rosé to sample, a red fleshed cider (the apples themselves have a pink-red colored flesh). The description says:

Perceived sweetness rounds out the mouth feel of this lightly tart cider, with delicate aromas of grapefruit and strawberry. Red-fleshed Mountain Rose and Pink Pearl apples from Hood River Valley create an alluring pink hue.

It’s a fairly standard strength cider, with 5.9% ABV and it’s noted to have 0.3% residual sugar, which should be fairly dry.

Appearance: A delicate rosé pink, nicely clear. Poured a bit fizzy.

Smell: Apple essence—a clean and fresh fruitiness that smells like a freshly picked apple, albeit without the sweet juiciness, more dry. Some grape skin and wine-like tannin notes as well.

Taste: Dry and tannic with a light pop of malic acid—good structure that is wine-like with some minerality and earthy apple skin. There is a hint of residual sweetness that reminds me of applesauce, otherwise I get notes of gooseberry and apple blossoms.

Mouthfeel: Dry and crisp, super light tart finish.

Overall: It’s a well-made, dry rosé cider with good structure.