Double Mountain Brewery Releases Hop Lion IPA & Pale Ale In 12 ounce Refillable Bottles

Back in 2012, Double Mountain Brewery & Taproom became one of the first modern day breweries to package its beer in refillable 16.9 ounce bottles. Now the Hood River based brewer has added 6-packs of refillable 12 ounce bottles with its Hop Lion IPA and a new beer in its lineup, Pale Ale.

Prior to the craft beer revolution many regional and large breweries offered its beer in refillable bottles. It was a convenient and ecological way of packaging beer that saw many life cycles of its glass bottles, not to mention the beer was usually priced a bit more competitively.

“I’ve been brewing for over 25 years and I grew up in an area of the country that still used refillable bottles when I was in college,” said Matt Swihart, Brewmaster/Owner of Double Mountain.

After being a pioneer for the past six years, Swihart is excited to join the recently launched Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative (OBRC). This new program sets up a statewide recycling infrastructure that allows the purchase of heavy duty, glass bottles locally from Owens-Illinois in Northeast Portland. Then the used glass is collected for the purpose of having it cleaned and refilled. Currently this refillable glass is being cleaned in Missoula, Montana at Bayern Brewing, a brewer that has the infrastructure to do so. The goal of the OBRC is to have glass bottle cleaning facility within the state of Oregon in another year.

Oregon breweries are extremely well positioned to take advantage of the new refillable bottle program. With the new program we can purchase glass locally, bottles get collected and separated, cleaned and brought back to the brewery ready to be refilled. Double Mountain and the OBRC would like to set a new standard and model that other states can emulate. Since proving the concept in Oregon, we have now set up collection sites in the Seattle area and beyond, getting the glass back to Oregon and ultimately expand our efforts. Almost every nation has been proving refillable containers work and will continue to work for the sustainable future of our planet since refillable bottles can be cleaned and reused 20-30 times before replacement. – Double Mountain Brewery

“As a brewery with a sustainable mindset, we recognize that packaging is one of the ways we can reduce the impact we have on our environment and lessen the carbon footprint of our beer,” said Swihart. “We are so incredibly excited to be the first to introduce Oregon’s refillable bottle, now in 6-packs across the state of Oregon and throughout the Northwest. Oregon is leading the nation with the most sustainable way to package beer.”

Here are descriptions of both Hop Lion and Pale Ale provided by Double Mountain Brewery.

Hop Lion Description:
Tropic resin, tangerine, evergreen, and the earthy scent of Northwest petrichor leap from the nose of this proud IPA.  Tangelo and fresh bread stalk closely behind, finishing with orange and dank pine. 6.7% ABV, 65 BU

Pale Ale Description:
When the rain drenches the forest, ripe citrus and earthy melon come out to play.  This Pale has tangerine and kind forest resin up front, finishing light, dewy, and highly quenching. 5.4% ABV, 46 BU

Look for both Hop Lion and Pale Ale in 6-pack, refillable 12 ounce bottles throughout Double Mountain Brewery’s distribution in the Pacific Northwest.