Thomas Creek Up the Creek Extreme IPA

Brewed by Thomas Creek Brewery
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Greenville, South Carolina USA

Poured a pint from a keg of this beautifully red, brown golden colored beer in to a Sam Adams glass. With a heavy hops smell of citrus and flowery pine, this so called DIPA sits on that thin line nestled between a DIPA and an American Barley Wine. What a great place to be! First sip is overpowered by heavy malts followed by the strong hops. The 12.5% ABV is the best hidden of any beer I have tried to date. You think it is about 8 or 10% - certainly not 12.5%. What gives it away is the punch you feel after just 2 glasses. Is this the strongest beer ever legally brewed in South Carolina? It may also be the best! <P> Sierra Nevada is forcing Thomas Creek to change the name. The new name will be, "Up The Creek". I Love This Beer! Serving type: on-tap

Tap from ATLBeerDog. Hazy reddish/copper color. Sticky sweet, cotton candy, citrus hop aroma. Balanced flavor. Malt character, hop bitterness. Very enjoyable.

Appearance: Very dark. Looks like a strong ale. Aroma is sweet and hoppy. The malt really dominates between the two. Big taste! But very well balanced. This is a sweet beer, but is well balanced by ample hops. Is this really a 12.5% abv? Finishes like a 7 or 8% abv. Dangerously good. This is really a good beer and I’m happy to see a Carolina brewery finally bringing a huge IPA to the region!

Bottle at Septemberfest. Clear, dark reddish-brown with a lasting spit of head. Nose of chocolate, vanilla, caramel, toasted nut and whiskey. Flavor is Baby Ruth dunked in a little too much whiskey. Heavy sticky body is smooth. This is really nice as is, but could use some aging as it really is almost more of a BW.

Poured into snifter. Alcohol smell present at a sniff. Malty, but smooth. Low, almost non-existent carbonation after pour. For such high ABV, extremely drinkable. Very warming brew. Hops present but are not overpowering, don’t linger. Easy, subtle aftertaste.

The pour is a deep brown with little head to speak of. The nose is caramel and piney citrus. The palate is more caramel with a beautiful balance of hops and sweetness. This is Thomas Creek’s best effort in a long time.

~8/24/09~ok, bottled this time & is NOW called Up the Creek. I KNOW when I rated it the last time (two plus years ago now) it was called something different, something celebratory, something to do w/ being past the old awful law... but I digress, it is STILL AN AMAZING BEER! Dark, cola, looking ale w/ whitish head. Nose: hops. Taste is sweet, no lie, but then followed by strong hops (could be stronger) & a very dominate alcohol linger... but it all works out, i swear. Proud of this one to be from SC. I heard there’s a triple dry hopped oaked version out there... ~6/25/07~ draft Brewed to celebrate South Carolina "Popping the Cap" on it’s former ABV limit! Dark amber ale w/ creamy off-white/ tan head. Hop nose w/ pine. Taste is huge, oily hop resin & alcohol. Syrupy mouth feel; a little lacing. The malts are there but can’t numb the hop bombardment. Great, but very hard to throw back; truly a DOUBLE IPA ... they should age this one on oak. On tap @ CW’s Taproom in Columbia.

Appearance: Pours a hazy, dark amber body with a small, beige head. Smell: All in all, a modest aroma, but you get a sense of the malt and grapefruit awaiting you in the flavor. Taste: Sweet, candyish toffee maltiness. Juicy ruby red grapefruit with a bright, earthy hop bitterness that grows as it warms a bit. Sure, you can tell the alcohol is in there, but it blends in very well with the other components of the beer. Bittersweet, warming finish. Mouthfeel: A bit beyond medium-bodied. Medium carbonation. Drinkability: Quite good, Thomas Creek, I gotta tell ya. Drinks very easy, very smooth for being over 12%. Won’t you be so good as to bottle this, TC?