Three Creeks Brewing Company celebrates its 10th anniversary on Saturday with a party at its production brewery in Sisters. The brewery promises a family-friendly, carnival-like atmosphere with games, live music and, of course, beer, highlighted by its recently released 10th Anniversary Imperial IPA.

The company describes this beer as one that “embodies everything Three Creeks represents: passion, persistence and dedication in the pursuit of crafting great beers.” It’s notable that the company chose an imperial IPA to showcase its decade of experience, rather than something trendy or exotic; among other styles, Three Creeks has built a stable of solid, popular IPAs with a deft balance of hops.

“The craft brewing industry today is definitely hop crazy — especially here in the Pacific Northwest,” said head brewer Jeff Cornett via email. “Maybe because many of the latest and greatest varieties are developed right here in the Willamette Valley and the Yakima Valley. We have so many to choose from, so we wanted to feature the best of the best.”

Cornett and pub brewer Pat Shea developed the recipe on the brewery’s 10-barrel pub system. “We created a classic Northwest imperial malt profile and decided to pair it with many of the new Northwest varietals of hops — big, juicy, fruity and piney,” Cornett said. “Most of the hops we used didn’t exist 10 years ago when we first opened the brewpub; some didn’t even exist two or three years ago.”

The hop bill consists of eight hop varieties: Nugget, Chinook, Simcoe, Mosaic, Lemondrop, Denali, Calypso, and Strata. Three Creeks lists the beer with 98 IBUs.

I enjoyed a pint of the 10th Anniversary on draft at the pub several weeks ago, when it was first put on tap.

To my taste, it was an excellent example of a classic Northwest imperial IPA, with a solid hop bitterness offsetting a toothy malt body.

Yet there is some modern hopping fused in with the classic styling.

Aromatically, it offers up a fruity punch of hop juice with pineapple and catty tomato vine-like notes, which speak to those newer, popular American hop varieties.

They continue in the taste with savory, green herbal flavors lingering after the initial bitterness. There is a bit of alcohol heat in the back, and the underlying malt body is soft with a luscious grainy bite. Even though the beer is 8.6 percent alcohol by volume, it’s easy to drink, finishing pleasantly sweet and hoppy.

In addition to the anniversary IPA, the brewery has been releasing beers under the 10th anniversary Throwback Series label, representing “our favorites throughout the years.” Several of these are based on the original recipes dated to the brewpub opening 10 years ago, including 8 Second IBA, Anvil Amber and Old Prospector Pale Ale.

8 Second IBA (short for India Black Ale) deserves a mention as it was one of the first local examples of the style now commonly known as black IPA. The recipe was developed by Three Creeks’ first brewer, Dave Fleming, and this re-creation stays true to it.

The dark malts are soft and rich, avoiding any astringent roastiness, and meld well with the piney bitterness and herbal aroma from the hops. The hop bill of Nugget, Centennial, Columbus, and Cluster represent classic American varieties known for citrus, resiny and floral characteristics.

Cornett is fond of the Old Prospector Pale. “It was always one of my favorites at Three Creeks back in the day,” he said. “I still think it holds up pretty well. Nice flavor and aroma, easy to drink. Kinda like a Session IPA — way before that was a thing.”

Billed as an English-style pale ale with what the brewery describes as a “hammering” of Northwest hops, the beer is rich and nutty and hop-forward. Expect resiny bitterness with citrus and grapefruit notes highlighting this drinkable summertime pale ale.

If you don’t have the opportunity to try the 10th Anniversary Imperial IPA on draft, Three Creeks bottled the beer in a limited run. Either way, don’t miss out; it’s a chance to taste a decade of brewing history from the Sisters brewery in a modern classic IPA.

— Jon Abernathy is a Bend beer blogger and brew aficionado. His column runs in GO! every other week.