THE WAKKER WEEKLY – Issue #1776
Issue #1776 – Posted on: 07 – Feb – 2025
BUSHWAKKER SEASONAL SUDS STATUS. Bushwakker head brewer, Michael Gaetz, reports our seasonally available SUPER SNOWPLOW WINTER ALE, PREMIUM PALE ALE, JUST CHERRY ALE, POWERHOUSE PORTER, TREPHINATION IMPERIAL IPA, CYCLONE BARLEYWINE and BREW & GOLD DORTMUNTER EXPORT LAGER are currently available. There are also batches of ENIGMA PALE ALE, PICKARD’S OATMEAL CREAM STOUT, KAI’S MUNICH HELLES and DOUBLE HONEY RED ALE currently working their way through the brewery.
Our BEV TRIBUTE WEEKEND SPECIAL DINING FEATURE for Feb. 7th & 8th is a PORTER BRAISED BEEF DINNER. Our Saturday CLASSIC STEAK & A PINT SPECIAL as well as our Monday and Wednesday WINGS & A PINT SPECIAL and Tuesday PIZZA & A PINT SPECIAL are also great value deals.
FEBRUARY PREMIUM WINE FEATURES: This month’s featured red is the ALAMOS MALBEC from Argentina and the white is NOBILO SAUVIGNON BLANC from New Zealand. Both are $8.95 for a glass and $23.95 for a half litre.
The Bushwakker LOCAL ARTS WALL February featured artist is GERRY RUECKER! Gerry is a self-taught Regina artist of over 30 years, working in mixed media construction. His current work, Un/Discard:Re/Form, explores the transformative potential of salvaged materials, utilizing a bricolage-based approach in sculpture, image and materials use. It references ideas of a sense of place, personal and impersonal histories (both real and imagined), and permanence/impermanence. The work consists of the fusion of cast-off, discarded items (such as old pieces of found wood and building materials, rusted metals etc) with highly contrasting ornate baroque-influenced picture frames, kitsch, and other miscellaneous related materials.
Ruecker’s primary creative influences include first and foremost, Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi, also American Sculptor Nick Cave, Italian Design group Memphis, French sculptor Jean Tingely, and Wabi-Sabi, the Japanese philosophy of imperfection and impermanence. Ruecker has exhibited frequently in Canada and Jamaica in solo and group shows, including the 2008 Jamaica Biennale, and his work can be found in numerous public and private collections, both nationally and abroad, including the City of Regina and the Saskatchewan Arts Board.
Enjoy Gerry’s eclectic works all this month!
Held Over! Last weekend’s inaugural FROST CIRCUIT was very well attended and exceeded the organizers expectations. Much thanks to all who visited and supported the six participating craft breweries including YOUR Bushwakker. Our Frost Festival SUPER SNOWPLOW received rave reviews so we will continue to offer this delicious blend of Laphroaig Single Malt Scotch – infused Robust Porter and English Barleywine while quantities last.
Congratulations to local celebrity artist, Wilf Perreault, who won our Frosty Finds Warehouse District Gift Basket Draw. Floor manager, Rayna, was happy to present this Saskatchewan Order of Merit recipient with some cozy goodies to stave off the winter chill!
UPCOMING EVENTS
Feb. 7: FIRST FIRKIN FRIDAY. A special firkin tapping to kick off our Tribute Weekend to late Bushwakker co-founder and president, Bev Robertson! A piper from The Regina Police Services Pipes & Drums leads a keg (the firkin) of special ale throughout the pub in a procession. A guest volunteer tapper is selected to wield the handmade wooden maul affectionately named, The Mighty Firkin Wakker, and attempts to tap the keg in one mighty blow! This month’s Bev Weekend Tribute firkin offering will be a VANILLA PORTER in celebration of his love for Apple Betty with vanilla ice cream and his national award-winning Palliser Porter – the beer that launched The Bushwakker! The suds-soaking spectacular takes place at 5:30 PM.
Feb. 7 – 8: BUSHWAKKER BEV DAY WEEKEND. Celebrate the birthday of the late Bushwakker co-founder and president, Bev Robertson, by enjoying two of his favourite loves; great beer and fine pub cuisine! These will be some of his featured favourites; Portered Beef Ribs, Pop’s Pizza, Montreal Smoked Reuben, Greek Salad with Grilled Chicken, Hot Wings with Bleu Cheese Sauce & Caesar Salad, Apple Betty Cheesecake, Palliser Porter and Bushwakker Extra Dry Burnt Martinis with a garlic stuffed jumbo olive. We’ll kick off the weekend with a special “Bev-inspired” edition of First Firkin Friday at 5:30 PM!
Feb. 10: Monday Night Jazz & Blues. THE RON SCOTT GROUP. Folky, jazzy, easy listening veteran artist back for another great performance. 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM.
Feb. 12: Wednesday Folk Night. SCHOOL OF ROCK. A full house is generally on hand to take in the energy, passion and talent demonstrated by this young group of student musicians. 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM.
Feb. 13: ANNUAL PRE-VALENTINE’S DAY DESSERT AUCTION & CONCERT. Presented by The Regina Jazz Society. This year’s performance features the ANDRE WHITE QUARTET. Tickets $20. Available at www.jazzregina.ca or at The Bushwakker. Rush seating only. Plan to arrive early to get a good seat and preview all the incredible Valentine’s desserts up for auction. Don’t miss this opportunity to win some decadent sweets for your sweetheart! 7:00 PM.
Feb. 14: VALENTINE’S DATE WITH SOUL DEEP. The big day falls on a Friday this year so we are pulling out all the stops and presenting a great evening of live R & B, funk and disco from Regina’s premier nine-piece powerhouse band, Soul Deep! Show tickets are $25 and reserve seating is available. Our full menu will be available as well as a few Valentine dining delights including: Surf & Turf, Marry Me Chicken, Seafood Bisque, Vanilla Crème Brulee and Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cheesecake. Show starts at 7:00 PM. Call the Bushwakker at 306-359-7276 or stop by to get your tickets today!
THIS IS NOT A STOUTS AND CHOCOLATE VALENTINE’S DAY POST
From Ben’s Beer Blog
It’s almost Valentine’s Day and whether you’re revelling in your choice to be single, lamenting your fate at being alone, or ironing your dancing pants and putting the finishing touches on your plans with that special someone, we beer lovers all have one thing in common this time of year: We’re being bombarded with clumsy and desperate attempts by marketers and beer writers alike to bring together the idea of beer and valentines in a transparent attempt to create some topical traffic and/or brand engagement. Because romance.
Some of these savvy communicators and influencers will recommend beers with red fruit in them since these beers have a red-tinged appearence appropriate to the heart-themed occasion (fun!) and some might do a round-up of local beers that have love in their name, hearts on their label, or involve a cheeky reference to sex (sexy!).
Of course, as is the case every year, far more of these fellow creative types are likely to produce a litany of phoned-in listicles explaining to us, once again, why this is a great time of year to pair some dark beer with some chocolate. Ugh.
Aside from the fact that this pairing is lazy and cliched, I have always found it problematic. Mostly because of the fact that dark beers and chocolates don’t actually pair all that well. Yes, I said it. And I’ll add that everyone who attempts to shoehorn “dark beer” into some catchall category as a fitting accompaniment to valentine’s chocolate is either devoid of tastebuds or falls in the aforementioned categories of people required to file a beer-related column this week or people who need to deliver on impressive impressions or click-through rates.
First, yes, I’ll admit, I largely find all “candy and beer” pairings a little gross (a fact I’ve alluded to elsewhere). It seems like an unnecessary attempt to put two things together simply because you like them both. And as a man who is still working on a hot dog Cinnabon prototype, I can tell you this is often an excerise in futility.
But I have a particular disdain for the choclate and stout or even porter marriage. Yes, obviousy rich, complex beers with chocolate notes can be amazing. But when you eat chocolate with them, you tend to knock the chocolatey sweetness out of the beer and an otherwise excellent and balanced beer becomes astringent or overly-bitter. For this reason, I tend to hate the assumption that “like” always pairs with “like.” I don’t eat guava when I’m drinking a guava sour, for god’s sake. So why do lazy people always assume dark, chocolaty beer pairs with chocolate?
So, if you feel the need to pair beer and chocolate this Valentine’s Day, my advice to you is simple: Don’t.
But, if for some fucked up reason you really feel that you must have both beer and choclate at the same god damned time, why not get creative, ignore the newspaper columns and press releases offering unsolicited stout and chocolate pairings and, instead, try to find some interesting contrasts that might highlight the beer and the chocolate rather than fuck up both of them?
Here are three options that will hopefully inspire you to get a little more creative and tame your chocolate and beer cravings next week, regardless of whether or not you have a valentine to share them with.
Fruit lambics and dark chocolate
Because chocolate typically knocks the sweetness out of a beer, why not opt for an exceptionally sweet beer and a subtly sweet, almost bitter chocolate? A kriek or framboise lambic and a chunk of good dark chocolate make a good pairing. It’s not always easy to come by in Ontario, but if you can get your hands on Lindemans Kriek it’ll do nicely. The chocolate won’t overwhelm the sweetness of the flavoured lambic and will highlight the complex acidity of the beer. It’s like chocolate cake with fruit sauce. But with alcohol. Like a page from your degenerate dream journal.
A crisp pilsner and salted caramel chocolates.
Cloyingly sweet chocolates tend to coat the palate and give you that sort of heavy tongue feeling. Why not wash down fistfuls of sweet caramel-y chocolate with a refreshing and palate cleansing pilsner like Vim & Vigor from Tooth and Nail Brewery? If you can find salted caramel chocolates, you’ll also get all the satisfying salty refreshment you usually get when you’re inhaling pretzels with a cold beer. You really don’t easy very well, by the way. Try a fucking vegetable, would you?
Milk chocolate and bright, citrusy IPAs A key to pairing food (and presumably also chocolate) with beer is to always try to match intensities. If the chocolate you’re eating is intense but the beer is mild, you won’t gain anything from the pairing as one element will dominate. So try matching and contrasting sweet milk chocolate with your favourite intense, aromatic, bitter IPA. Something like Sawdust City’s Twin Pines Imperial IPA would pair well with a bar of pure milk chocolate. The creamy chocolate will again coat your palate, but the biting hop bitterness of Twin Pine will cut the sweetness and you’ll find that, with the chocolate dialling back the subtle-sweet malt backbone, the beer’s grassy, citrusy notes get a chance to pop even more. Just resist the urge to dunk the chocolate bar in the beer. Have some restraint.
What are your suggested beer and chocolate pairing ideas?
TIME OUT
– Questionable Love Practice
A guy walks into a bar, sits at a table and orders a beer.
He then proceeds to pull out hundreds of pink Valentine’s Day cards, write inside them and stamp them with “Love” stamps. He then pulls out a bottle of expensive perfume and spritzes each envelope. The bartender finally can’t contain his curiosity and approaches the man. “You must have 500 or more cards there,” the bartender says. “I’ve got to admit I’m curious what you’re doing.” “Oh, every year at Valentine’s Day I send out 500 cards, each one signed ‘Guess Who?'” the guy says. “But why?” the bartender asks. “I’m a divorce lawyer,” the guy replies.
With two big Valentine’s events coming up this month, you have ample opportunity to woo your sweetheart with a live dessert auction and jazz band Pre-Valentine’s event on February 13th or a Soul, R & B and Disco experience on February 14th with popular band, Soul Deep!
