It’s not often that SAB launches a new beer. The last one that springs to mind is Castle Double Malt, which was released in 2021 and has seen plenty of success, both with drinkers and competition judges. Other beers, like Carvers Weiss and Castle Milk Stout Chocolate quietly drifted away (I still get hits on my CMS chocolate post a decade on – it was clearly very popular and they probably should have continued that one).
And now SAB have launched a new beer – or at least a new version of an old favourite. Carling Gold Label just quietly appeared on liquor store shelves over the past week and I’m not entirely sure when it launched (shout out to Brian Leopold from Tops at Spar Radiokop for the heads up on this new beer – follow him on Instagram for regular beer reviews). Carling Gold Label is of course a sister beer to South Africa’s beloved Black Label (which of course is actually a Canadian beer) but with a couple of fairly subtle differences. First of all, it’s 6% ABV rather than 5.5%. And according to the packaging – a slender 410ml can apparently designed to “feel like a trophy in your hand” – the beer is made with “golden malt for a rich aroma”. (Sidenote: it’s not a 100% malt beer – the ingredients still include maize extract.
We decided to put it to the test in a blind tasting challenge. I was joined by Afro Caribbean’s head brewer Jake Sandenbergh and Starke Brews’ owner and brewer Rob Starke for a blind taste-off between Carling Gold Label and the classic Black Label. It was not a close race. All three of us preferred anonymous sample two in both aroma and flavour, finding it a little crisper, with a bit more hop aroma and a cleaner finish.
At the time I hadn’t read the blurb on the website, which says Gold Label is “brewed at a higher fermentation temperature with enhanced carbonation” and that “it features distinctive sweet ethers”. (Pretty sure that’s meant to say esters, which give fruity aromas to beer). If I had read it I might have assumed, despite it’s slightly darker, more golden colour, that sample two was Black Label since it was the less fruity of the two. But in fact the beer we all picked as our favourite was Gold Label, which we all found to be less estery (and more drinkable) than the original.
I will acknowledge that it wasn’t a fully fair test, since the Black Label was poured from a bottle and the Gold Label from a can, and the Gold Label was a newer, fresher beer. But I’ll go out on a limb and say that Carling Gold Label is a tastier beer than Black Label. If you’d like to see the full tasting, keep an eye on Afro Caribbean Brewing’s YouTube channel for the vid, coming soon. (Channel hasn’t launched yet, but follow them on Instagram for updates).
It’s always good to see SAB launching new things because, while it is another adjunct lager, it does get the general public excited about beer, trying something (slightly) different and talking about our beloved beverage on social media. I’ll call that a win. Give the Gold Label a try and let me know what you think in the comments section. It’s a limited edition release, so grab it while you can.
