Back in March I wrote an article for The Bulletin on Frontier Justice Coffee Stout from Three Creeks Brewing, and in the course of interviewing head brewer Jeff Cornett, he provided me with samples across the current lineup. Included with those beers was Immortal Justice rum barrel aged coffee stout (which I reviewed along with the article on Frontier Justice) and Hazy Falls Pale Ale, which just appeared in last week’s Bulletin article. Oh and last year, I wrote about Suttle Haze IPA and Imperial IPA also; with these already covered, that still leaves several beers (and two hard seltzers) to write about here.

Let’s do some reviews!

Knotty Blonde Ale

Knotty Blonde is almost as old as the brewery itself, an easy-drinking light ale with a simple recipe that has garnered a few awards over the years, for good reason. It’s crisp and drinks like a lager, so it could almost qualify as a cream ale at 4.4% ABV and 18 IBUs. The brewery says:

A light bodied, sassy blonde ale, brewed with a kiss of Sterling hops and the finest Canadian two-row barley. Simple, yet beautiful.

Appearance: Golden yellow with a slight chill haze; good white head.

Smell: Toasted graininess (warm bread) with subtle, gently spicy noble hops. Clean, simple, and appealing; no esters or off notes.

Taste: Crisp and clean, it drinks lager-ish, with light biscuit maltiness and a balancing hop bitterness with just a touch of tobacco spice. Refreshing and each sip prompts for another. There’s a light hint of fruity esters and pears.

Mouthfeel: Light-bodied, crisp, with a clean and dry finish.

Overall: Pretty much exactly as the style should be. Tasty.

Tres Arroyos Mexican Lager

Knotty Blonde drinks somewhat like a lager, but Tres Arroyos is the real deal—a Mexican lager in the lighter (Corona or Pacifico) sense, it’s one of the region’s underrated lagers. The description says:

This easy-drinking Mexican Cerveza transports you south of the border. Pilsner malt and Saaz hops create a clean, crisp and refreshing lager, while traditional flaked maize adds just a touch of sweetness. Lagered for for up to two months, Tres Arroyos is sure to please the most discerning palate. Salud!

It’s a moderate 4.5% ABV, with 15 IBUs.

Appearance: Pale gold with pretty good clarity, good and active carbonation, with a dense and thick white head that resembles soft-whipped egg whites.

Smell: Clean, light lager character with hints of DMS—a light corny note. Gentle zing of hops with a hint of herbal cedar spice, also lightly grassy with sweet hay.

Taste: Crisp, lightly grainy bite with a touch of sweet corn evident. Otherwise it’s super clean with a light earthy hop flavor at the back of the tongue. Nice malt character that’s bracing for what’s there, and dry.

Mouthfeel: Light-bodied, with a crisp and dry palate finish. Refreshing.

Overall: Superb, corny light lager; I don’t know if it’s “Mexican” since it drinks more like a Corona than (what I’d think of as a Mexican lager like) a Vienna lager, but it’s tasty.

Crowd Pleaser IPA

This is Three Creeks’ flagship IPA, which has won multiple awards, available year-round (of course). It’s a solid beer that went through a series of recipe tweaks and revisions years ago (you can see entries on Untappd going up through version 8.0) to land on the current version, which is 7.3% ABV, with 75 IBUs.

The brewery’s description reads:

A West Coast IPA with a simple malt bill that showcases sought after hop varieties such as Amarillo, Mosaic and Simcoe. Expect bold notes of resinous pine and citrus flavors. It’s like a majestic, citrus forest!

Appearance: Clear, bright golden-copper color, it’s an attractive beer. Good white head with decent lacing.

Smell: Sweetly fruity with melon, citrus, fruit preserves, and of course some Mosaic hop garlic greens. Some honey biscuit malt comes out as it warms up.

Taste: Solidly bitter with a clean herbal resin hop flavor that complements really nice, toasty malts that evoke scones and bread crust. Stone fruit, light spiciness like mustard or radish greens, pine. Satisfying and very much spot on for classic west coast IPA flavors.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied with lightly spicy hop flavors in the finish, peppery-crisp and overall well attenuated.

Overall: It’s a great example of the style, and I wonder as always why I’m not drinking more of this.

Imperial IPA

I know, I said I’d written about Imperial IPA a year ago—but I had also picked some up several months ago and did a more recent run on it with review notes. Three Creeks has crafted a classic double IPA with modern tropical hop fruitiness that shouldn’t be overlooked. It’s also old school with it’s IBUs—all 95 of them, supporting an alcohol strength of 8.3% by volume.

The brewery says:

This magnificently-hoppy, Imperial IPA Features glorious amounts of Northwest-grown hops balanced by a smooth, amber-hued body. Featuring Simcoe, Citra, Sultana, Chinook, Centennial and Amarillo hops – creating big notes of resinous pine, refreshing citrus, earthy undertones and a touch of tropical fruit.

Appearance: Golden copper color, decent clarity, good carbonation with a lacy and finely-structured white head.

Smell: Blend of piney, earthy (woodsy) hops, with some tropical notes of mango, orange marmalade, cotton candy, and honey.

Taste: Nicely sweet hop candy bitter note, with some forest floor and spicy pepper. Toasted whole wheat bread in a satisfying malt base. A touch of alcohol and spicy greens.

Mouthfeel: Medium-full body with a satisfyingly chewy bite, and lingering hop spice in a resiny note.

Overall: It’s a really nice version of the style, tasty and satisfying.

Blackberry Lime Hard Seltzer

Three Creeks is brewing these seltzers under the “Sisters Hard Seltzer” brand, with two flavors currently available. There’s not much info about them available, but a short descriptive bit was included here:

We crafted these pure and simple to fit your active and healthy lifestyles. A creative mixture of water, corn sugar and cane sugar are fermented with a special distillers yeast, creating a clear, crisp, clean, thirst-quenching hard seltzer. They both feature a delicious twist of unsweetened, natural fruit essence – avoiding any extra sugars and calories.

Each of the flavors is 5% alcohol by volume, with 94 calories and 1.6 grams of carbs per 9.6 ounce serving (or about 118 calories and 2 g carbs per 12 ounces).

Note: With seltzers, my reviews tend to be short freeform notes rather than the usual sensory ones I take for beer; I’m judging for more overall taste and drinkability (though at some point it would be interesting/amusing to see seltzer judging guidelines developed).

So for Blackberry Lime:

This pours crystal clear with pale yellow tinge to it; there’s subtle sweet berry aroma, otherwise a clean smell with perhaps a touch of mineral water. The flavor is light, crisp, slightly tart with subtle berry-fruity character, but nothing overt. It’s pretty mild and easy drinking, there’s a hint of yeastiness but it’s pretty clean overall.

Mango Hard Seltzer

This one is slightly darker yellow in color than Blackberry Lime—at least, more noticeably so—with a faint cloudiness present. The aroma is bright and fragrant with fresh mango and a squeeze of citrus. The flavor definitely emphasizes mango, with lots of fruit character and more tart/sour citrus-like flavor—lime, hints of pineapple. It’s the more characterful of the two seltzers.