Agent Provocateur
Brasserie Craig Allan

 

 

 

 

 

I consider this beer more a belgian pale than a belgian IPA, it's not that hoppy but it's quite estery. This is a yeast driven ale. Nothing really over the top

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had this beer on tap at Le Supercoin in Paris last summer. I found it absolutely amazing, one of the best Belgian IPAs I've had. I often find this style a bit disappointing, such as with Flying Dog's Raging Bitch and Stone's Cali-Belgique, but this beer, along with Adelbert's Gypsy, is a good version of the style.

The bartender told me that Craig Allan beer wasn't available in the US, but I hope that it will be soon.

 

Pours amber with a small white head.
Nose shows herbal and spicy hops, Belgian phenols, pear and soft clean malt.
Flavours are very Belgian, lots of spicy notes and soft pear. Some hoppy bitterness in the finish.
Body feels a bit watery unfortunately.

330ml brown bottle purchased from Slowbeer in Melbourne. Bottle conditioned, but reviewed without the sediment.

Pours a brilliantly clear neutral golden colour, with a reasonable head of frothy white, that settles down as the bubbles coalesce. Long simple streaks of lace. Body is relatively fine and slick. Carbonation looks relatively vibrant.

Nose is immediately sweet and pungent, with a pithy citric note laced with buoyant sweetness. Lemon candy and fairy floss, slight plasticky overtones with a hint of bubblegum. Some slightly organic tones come in as well, with a crushed sweating vegetation character noticeable. Overall, it's actually very pleasant.

Taste is similar. Sweet candy esters come through from start to finish, giving sweet aromatics but not requiring too much actual sweetness and thickness in the body. The body is mostly clean and clear with a slight prickle of hops towards the back that evokes that vegetative character present on the nose. Flavour profile is very clean throughout, but well integrated, hiding some layers of complexity. Very nice.

Feel is good. Clean and crisp, with a pleasant lightness and a touch of effervescence.

Overall, this is a fine beer. Plenty of pleasant characters, and a little interest to set it apart from the crowd. The flavours are well-integrated and the beer feels well structured and well thought-out. Very good stuff.

 

Bottle cap is dated: 16/08/14, meaning 8/16/14...silly Europeans.

Nice two-finger, thin white foamy head, lots of champagne bubbles too. Lacing is missing?? Brew is decently clear and orange with tints of ruby reds. Yum.

Nutty, bread-y, red apple, apricot, saucy, and wet aroma... No off flavors, but is missing a slight something; belgian.

Taste is great! Not at all like the aroma.. Also, not a typical US IPA, you can tell there's much different flavors, but they're strong, robust, well blended, complex, and most of all, enjoyable. Wet, nice medium carbonation, no bitterness and no sweetness; perfectly in the middle. At the very tail end of the flavor, there's just a bit of bitterness, nice. Apple, pine, pear, apricot, wood, leather, and charcoal all stand out in the flavor

A great surprise and should go sought after if you're in the area.ha. Refreshing and perfect for an afternoon with football. Thanks for the awesome present, Marcus.