“Agent Provocateur is a Belgian style golden ale brewed with floral and citrus aromatic American hops. The Amarillo and Cascade hops combined with a small amount of light crystal malt give an orange marmalade character that melds with the Belgian yeast spiciness to give a complex, aromatic beer”.
This is our first crack at this breweries range, and to be honest we’ve never even heard of it. This is a strange beer too, never have we come across a “Belgian IPA/golden ale hybrid”. Poured into a shaker glass the appearance displays a translucent gold with a small white head that dissipates to a fizzy rim of foam around the side of the glass. Aroma is quite subdued with buttery hints of hops, delicate citrus and soft malts. Mildly carbonated with a slightly watery mouth feel. Too thin. Upfront is a soft mix of grassy hops and citrus. The mid-palate is a mirror image of the fore flavour that leads to a mundane, bitter finish. 6.5% ABV is well hidden but to sum this beer up would be to say its boring and insipid. Unfortunately the golden ale element is much more dominating. The IPA element needs to be 10x stronger, really it’s just soft, dull and lacking any excitement. Disappointing beer.