Old Prospector Pale
Three Creeks Brewing Co.

 

Clearish copper colour with a small creamy light tan head Poor head retention but good lacing.

Crisp grapefruit hop aroma with light crystal malts. Good.

Crisp piney hops with a grapefruity edge. Mild crystal malts. Nicely balanced.

Medium body with moderate carbonation. Good.

A solid, well balanced APA. Nice hop flavour with just enough malt to balance it out.

I don't know where the professed 48 IBU are, but they're certainly keeping a low profile in this British-influenced pale ale. Old Prospector is burnished copper-bronze, clear but unfiltered, and is delightfully sweet. It speaks with a British accent in the form of "UK 2-row floor malting" which adds a note of tobacco in the finish. This taste serves as something of an anchor, like the hook in a pop song. But it's only a contributing factor, not the defining one which is a profusion of malt sugars suggesting low attenuation.

The virtually absent carbonation is reasonably consistent with the English tradition, while a slim measure of lather confirms freshness. The aroma is tangy and estery.

Old Prospector is perhaps a bit too sweet for my tastes. But for what it is, it is quite successful.

A nice typical American Pale Ale. Had this ontap at their brewpub on their first night open to the public. It was my second favorite behind their IBA, but is a pretty typical and otherwise unremarkable APA.

Pour was a bit foamy, big beige head ontop of a slightly hazy amber with some orange glow.

A good fresh crisp hop presence in the aroma.

Not over the top hops, just a good sharp fresh hop and a malt presence that had a lot of wort/chewy qualities. Almost as if all the sugars hadn't been eaten away yet. It is their first batch, and I believe it was brewed offsite, as they were just opening. I can see it improving by the next time I wander up to Sisters.

A good APA, and when they iron out all the kinks of ramping up the brewing operation I can imagine it would easily give some of the local Bend breweries a tough competition.