Being one of the only "beer media" people in all of Brandon aside from Brad over at Manitoba Beer Cast, I should probably be showcasing products from my own neighbourhood more.. and I will! I've lived in Brandon, Manitoba for far longer than I ever wanted to (over twenty years) and dreamt of a craft brewery for almost the same amount of time - I never thought we'd ever see one but two breweries in the city and likely a third opening up next year along the Trans Canada Highway. I've been a big fan of Section 6 Brewing since the very beginning to the point that I was following them from the initial conception of the brewing all the way to this very day. It also helped that I lived 3/4 of a block down the back alley from Section 6, but of course a lot of my budget disappeared to both Brandon breweries almost immediately! Now days, I live far outside of downtown Brandon so I'm close enough to still visit often but not enough to randomly pop up at a minute's notice.
Section 6's Belgian Honey Ale has been one of their core beers since the very beginning but it's gone through a lot of changes. Initially the "Honey" was a Belgian Single/Blonde Beer that had a honey-like sweetness from the malt but in recent brews they've added honey to make it an true "Honey" ale. The current batch (as of June 2025) contains honey sourced from the top of Brandon University sourced through their Bee-U project, by the time you read this in the future it could be sourced somewhere else from apiaries and interesting places all over Western Manitoba.
Appearance: Mildly cloudy with a very bright golden/honey appearance to it. There's a good amount of foam on top, a good finger and a half's worth of head that diminishes pretty gradually. The body has a light amount of carbonation.
Aroma: Quite sweet-forward with notes of honey, clove, a smidgen of coriander, Belgian yeast, a hint of pepper, and a slight leafiness from the hop at the end. The honey sweetness is probably the main thing I get.
Taste: The first thing I get is a bit of spice/clove/coriander to give it « l'expérience Belge » (the Belgian experience) but the honey is the star of the show as it's giving off a really welcoming sweetness that's not candy-like, nor syrupy - it's just complimenting the grains and yeast 100%. Moderately floral hops, decently dry.
Overall Thoughts: Anyone who ever sees me over at Section 6 will likely see me with a glass of Honey - Does this beer need honey? No, their previous batches without honey were able to replicate some honey-like notes just from the malt alone but with the addition of honey it has a bit more complexity to it. This is by far the beer the one beer I get at Section 6 or restaurants more than any other at this point - it's a solid Belgian Blonde Ale - I'd wish for a Tripel (or Saison) but this is a nice approachable ale that a fan of Belgian ales should appreciate, especially on the patio (with lots of pups around)!
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