So there I am, strolling through the aisles of my local
liquor superstore to see exactly what’s new and exciting, and to decide what
beers I want to have make a return engagement in my beer fridges. You’re
probably a lot like me if you’re a beer enthusiast, and you probably
frequently find yourself doing something similar to what I was doing on this
particular day: scanning the shelves for beers to try.
One of the beers that grabbed my attention was Spanish Peaks Black Dog Ale.
This is an award-winning English style amber ale that has won numerous
awards at the World Beer Championships, an ongoing and never-ending
series of beer tastings conducted by the Beverage Testing Institute (BTI), a
company operating out of Chicago that rates beers that brewers pay to have
entered into the competition
I’m not a huge fan of beer competitions to begin with, since I’ve too often
seen two beers entered in a category with one winning one year only to have
the other win the next. Their recipes didn’t change, so why is one beer
superior to the other one year and inferior the next? At any rate, BTI is in
my mind one of the least credible of all the major competitions, since they
hand out medals at the drop of the hat, misplace beers in the wrong styles,
and frequently judge beers against each other hedonistically rather than
stylistically. While a hedonistic scale is most useful on a personal level,
it can’t be a serious measure in the competition of any two beers on an
absolute scale, which by definition can only compare beers according to
stylistic parameters.
I think Black Dog ale is an OK beer personally, but that it has won the
medals it has at the World Beer Championships only reinforces my suspicions
of the BTI.
Spanish Peaks Black Dog Ale pours to an orange-amber color with a generous
foamy head formation and a light malty nose. The palate is rather thin and
there isn’t really a lot going on here to speak of. There’s a touch of fruit
and a little malt but the real star of this beer is the bitter hop finish.
It’s assertive, lingering, and though by no means overpowering, it is
definitely more pronounced than in many pale ales on the market. Frankly,
I’m a bit puzzled at the combination of such hoppiness with an otherwise
unexciting beer. It just doesn’t work well with the main body of the beer.
Still, it was an ok starter beer for a hot summer night, and served to wash
down a simple dinner of roast chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy with
peas and carrots quite nicely.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For
reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft