Review: Section 6 The Artist: London Fog Cream Ale

A few months ago, on one of my usual visits to Section 6 Brewery in Brandon, I caught up with Sid, the co-owner and brewer. He was excitedly sharing his plans for a new seasonal beer he wanted to release that fall. Section 6's The Artist series pairs local artists from Western Manitoba with a style of beer to pair with the artwork. At the time he wasn't too sure what he wanted to do but had some ideas. Well, I recently received a nice selection of beers from Eric over at Atypical Brewing & Barrelworks in Minot, ND and wanted to sample some with his team and Brad over at Manitoba Beer Cast. I brought a can of Atypical's flagship ale, a London Fog Cream Ale. Once the beer was poured absolutely everyone was raving about the beer - how creamy it was, the smoothness, the subtle notes of Earl Grey tea and the sweetness of the vanilla. With that, Sid knew what his next seasonal beer was going to be immediately. I jokingly call this my beer whenever I go to the taproom or my local Liquor Mart - but it's 100% all thanks to Eric that it came to be.

Appearance: It looks like an Earl Grey tea to me! It's cloudy with a deep copper-orange colour to it. The body has a light amount of carbonation while the head has a decent amount of white head on top that diminishes after a moment or two, leaving behind a bit of lacing on the glass.

Aroma: The first thing I got when I first sampled this was a sweetness and spiced presence that was reminiscent of their Belgian Honey Ale (which is my go-to), but once it warms up a few degrees I fully see that this is a London Fog ale. There's a big whiff of vanilla that gives off a sweet, creamy, almost desserty vibe to it. The Earl Grey I'm not getting much of but there is a bit of an herbal yet leafy aroma at the very end. 

Taste: Very creamy, quite sweet and has quite a smooth mouthfeel to it. The vanilla shines in this beer giving me a bit of a Hershey Cookies & Crème chocolate bar vibe to it. There's a bit of a leafy/floral taste to it and lastly a slight sweet citrus presence at the end. The aftertaste is pretty much the vanilla lingering for a good moment or three.

Overall Thoughts: I stated back in August that if this beer turns out how I hope it would that it would be a three season beer. Is it a three season beer? 110%. It's smooth, it's sweet, there's a lot of vanilla for those wanting something a bit more "desserty", but also will likely pair well with a bonfire or a cold night in. There's a bit of herbal notes but I'd definitely like to see more of that but all in all, this is a kind of beer I've only seen a small handful of times, with one of the more recent ones being Beau's London Fog collab with David's Tea. 

The beer is a very limited run so you can get it at a number of Liquor Marts in Brandon, likely a couple beer vendors that cater to craft beer and I've heard that a couple craft beer vendors in Winnipeg will be getting it as well.