Carling Black Label Beer (South Africa)

Brewed by South African Breweries (SABMiller)
Style: Pale Lager
Sandton, South Africa

Serve in Dimpled mug, English pint, Lager glass, Shaker

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Can, courtesy SoLan. Pours a clear golden color with a small, fizzy, off-white head. Minimal, spotty lacing noted. The aroma shows typical pale corn malt sweetness with mild cereal grains and faint hints of floral hop notes. Flavors follow suit, mostly corn malt and mild grains, with a hint of pils-like creaminess being the saving grace. The mouthfeel is thin and fizzy, with a light creaminess offering just enough substance to make it palatable. As pale lagers go, this is one of the better examples. Drinkable.

(Canned) Pours yellow. Light bready aroma. The flavour is light sourish and a bit malty with a note of green apple. The mouthfeel is watery with a medium carbonation. Light bodied.

Very cheap beer and if your are really desperate to get drunk.Its also very bitter and has no aroma

Bottle. Clear golden colour with a beige to white head. An aroma of malt and cereals. Tha taste is lightly sweet with a bitter finish. Medium body and carbonation.

Good frothy head clear gold pour aromas yeast hoppy fruit maltiness flavour soapy mild bitter sweet lager bit resinous finish sweet fruit has a flatness

Why is Black Label getting such a bad rap? Must be due to most people here being used to a European variant and flavour of beer. We dont like ales and beers with fruity flavours, all natural. I see Windhoek Lager has got just as bad a rating. I cant believe this. I think the beer needs to be rated more objectively, perhaps a bonus point for being a macro brewery?

Lounge beer, OR Tambo, Jo’burg South Africa. 330 ml Limited Edition Varsity Cup can. Pale yellow, scant head and lacing. Aroma is barely present. Taste isn’t much more prominent.

Bottle at The Springbok, Stellenbosch. Pale yellow. Aromas of cardboard and grain. Weak flavor with notes of honey and grain.

Can and bottle. Clear straw colored body with white fluffy head. Flavor is malty and bittersweet with sugary notes. One of the better lagers around, and by far the best from any of the larger breweries in SA. although it becomes cloying in the long run.

Ah, the national drink of Benoni. A overcarbonated weakly flavoured lager. I had a few bottles over the month, and noticed no skunking. Quite flavourless.

Aroma smells like skunk and hops, some sugar too. I’m Not entirely sure on the appearance as I drank two of these straight from the can, and I doubt many people poor them into a glass anyways - it’s hard to do from a tailgate, or in a dark African bar! Tastes like water and hops with some animal smells and corn. Not at all appealing, even for a low end beer.... and even though it’s won plenty of "awards" over its lifetime! This is a poor brew at all levels and you can do much better at this price range. Basically, it’s crap. Not the worst crap, but still crap.