THE WAKKER WEEKLY – Issue #1796
Issue #1796 – Posted on: 27 – June – 2025
BUSHWAKKER SEASONAL SUDS STATUS. Bushwakker head brewer, Michael Gaetz, reports our seasonally available PONCE DE LEON BLACKBERRY RASPBERRY ALE, KAI’S MUNICH HELLES, ENIGMA PALE ALE and CYCLONE BARLEYWINE are currently available. There are also batches of TANGERINE DRAGON FRUIT ALE, BOMBAY IPA and DOUBLE HONEY RED ALE currently working their way through the brewery.
Our New Bushwakker SUMMER SMOKIN’ SEASONAL MENU is receiving rave reviews! Chef Mike has been putting our 60 year-old English beer aging tank which we have converted into a big 800-litre smoker to work! The Smoked Beef Brisket Sandwich is definitely one of the most popular items on the menu. Defy the “Dewdney Dig” and come try one today!
2025 HOP CIRCUIT! The most popular Regina Craft Brewery Event is in full swing for another Saskatchewan summer! Grab your free map and take a hike or your bike and visit all six participating Regina craft breweries. Collect a stamp on your map at all six locations and receive a free 2025 Hop Circuit commemorative glass. This year’s glass is bigger and better than ever! 
We are starting to see some real progress with the two year, 32 million dollar Dewdney Avenue Revitalization Project! The intersection of Broad and Dewdney is looking quite sharp! The area in front of YOUR Bushwakker…not so much! No problem though. Just visit us via 8th and Cornwall and park in our new little parking lot and head in through the back entrance. Easy peasy Lemon Radler squeezie! #defythedig #
Last weekend’s inaugural SATURDAY AFTERNOON FREE JAZZ SHOWCASE was a fine success. Much thanks to The Chané Boisvert Quintet, The Smooth Operators and powerhouse mini big band, 8’s Enuff for entertaining the crowd. We’ll do it again next year!
Our FOOTBALL WEEKEND SPECIAL DINING FEATURE for June 27th & 28th is CHEF MIKE’S LION BURGER & A PINT. 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.
JUNE PREMIUM WINE FEATURES: The Red is the SILK & SPICE – SPICE ROAD INTENSE RED BLEND (Alicante Bouschet/Shiraz/Touriga Nacional) from Portugal and the White is the LYV (Sauvignon Blanc) from France. Both are $8.95 for a glass and $23.95 for a half litre.
UPCOMING EVENTS
June 28: RIDERS HOST THE LIONS. Chef Mike’s favourite team is in town for an early Saturday night football showdown! Kickoff is at 5:00 PM. The Green & White plays host to the BC Lions. Be sure park in either of the free parking lots nearby and then take the free 8th Avenue shuttle to and from the game. And be sure to stop by and enjoy our Chef Mike’s kicked-up LION BURGER & A PINT special before, during or after the game.
June 30: CLOSED MONDAY BECAUSE WE KNOW YOU ARE ALL TAKING AN EXTRA LONG WEEKEND! Seeing as Tuesday is Canada Day, we know you will be scheduling a Monday holiday and the city will be empty. If you can’t beat ‘em – join ‘em. See you on Wednesday, July 2nd!
July 1: CLOSED FOR THE HOLIDAY. Happy “Elbows Up” Day, eh? Be sure you’re stocked up on a nice assortment of Bushwakker bomber bottles for your extended weekend deck sipping plans. Did we mention we will also be closed on Monday, June 30th so we can have an extra-long weekend too? Prepare thy beer cooler! 
July 2: Wednesday Folk Night. BLUE LIGHT VALLEY. This continually expanding folk act continues to expand in vocal harmony power and talent. 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM.
July 4: FIRST FIRKIN FRIDAY – SENSATIONAL SOUR EDITION! Don’t miss this decades-old Bushwakker monthly tradition. 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 we will be delving into the world of SOURS for the very first time! Brewer Michael found a way to get our 35 year old brewery compatible with these puckering pints! Get ready to experience our pilot project…TANGERINE DRAGON FRUIT SOUR! The super special, sour, suds-soaking spectacular takes place at 5:30 PM.
July 5: A SUMMER KICKOFF CEILIDH. We are celebrating the arrival of another sensational Saskatchewan summer Celtic-style! Enjoy Celtic dancing, pipes & drums, a special Celtic firkin tapping and The Tilted Kilts return after a five-year hiatus to deliver some very danceable Celtic music! The event kicks off at 4:00 PM. Tickets $10. Call 306-359-7276 to get yours!
Sour beer, I wish I knew how to love you
By Meg from the Palate Practice Blog
I pride myself on my ability to adapt. To be able to appreciate everything, even when it comes to beer.
I’ve trained my palate to enjoy wine, olives, coffee, even super-hoppy IPAs. But I just can’t get my palate to like sours! And believe me, I’ve tried. I’m like Charlie Brown and the freaking football with sour beers, only sour beers are Lucy and my enjoyment is the elusive ball.
So, while other cool kids are diving right into this latest beer trend, I sit sadly on the sidelines, waiting for another fad to come along. Sigh.
What makes beers sour
The name of the game in the world of sour beer is WILD.
Wild yeasts and bacteria are what make a beer sour. As opposed to the yeasts used in other beers, which are often cultivated in labs, the wild yeasts and bacteria occur naturally where the beer is brewed. Some of these yeasts have become more popular and the main ones each offer a slightly different kind of sourness to beer.
The most popular sour-making yeast is brettanomyces, or brett for short. Brett is often said to give beers an earthy, barnyard character. Sounds weird, right? But people love it.
(Hot tip: brett shows up in wine too!)
What a sour beer tastes like
Here’s where things start to go off the rails for me. I love brett in wine and am eternally optimistic that my taste buds will like it in beer too. After all, I learned to love IPAs! I just keep drinking them and eventually my palate started to enjoy the face-punch that is a hoppy beer.
So why wouldn’t it work with sours?
Because every time I taste a sour I go through this process:
- Ooh, a sour! Maybe this will be the one I like!
- Ok, it smells funky, but maybe it’ll still have some depth on the palate
- Hmmm, bright and acidic up front, definitely has that sour thing going on
- Wait, what’s happening? Where is the bready, beery finish? Why is my mouth still smacking from sourness?
- Ok, ew. That was unpleasant.
- Maybe if I keep drinking it I’ll get used to it. Let’s give it another go.
- EW EW EW WHY DO I KEEP DOING THIS
It’s usually at this point that I give up and put the glass down once and for all. Usually I’m going through this process with my friend Jasmine around. She is a self-professed sour-lover, so I often push my glass over to her when I’ve given up.
Here’s what Jasmine said when I asked her why she loves sours:
Sour beers combine the “sit on the patio and chill” vibe of beer without the the heaviness that most fuller flavour beer. They’re not cloyingly sweet like mix drinks or overwhelmingly bitter like so many beers. I find their tartness refreshing, and they do wonders paired with greasy or spicy food. And they’re far more flavorful than light beer but just as easy drinking.
The thing I find most amusing about this is that it sounds like the parts I hate most about sour beers are the parts Jasmine likes best. Go figure!
The many types of sour
You’d think there would be only one kind of beer for me to avoid. But no! You’d be wrong. There are so many kind of beer out there, all sour and gross-tasting and making me keep my wits about me when shopping for a new brew.
But maybe your palate is different. Maybe you’ll like them! Here are some kinds of sours that you might want to give a whirl.
- Lambic – A Belgian-style beer that often uses aged hops in addition to brettanomyces, giving it a more sharply acidic flavour.
- Gose – A German-style beer that has a lemony kind of sourness along with an herbal quality. Goses are often the mildest kind of sour beer (and often the deepest into the world of sours as I can go).
- Berliner Weisse – A German-style wheat beer (obvs), usually low in alcohol and with a yogurt-y kind of sourness.
- Sour Ale – Sometimes the beer maker is kind and puts the word ‘sour’ right on the label. These beers are usually brewed in an American style, and are usually quite sour. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
Sigh. I wish I could love sour beers. I’m missing out on so many good ones.
Have you tried a sour beer? What did you think?
TIME OUT – Celtic Pride
A young highland lad had a mother who always told him, “Don’t be ashamed of your kilt, Laddie! Be proud of it! If you ever have to go to the big city, where your dress kilt and wear it with pride!”
Eventually, she died, and he had to go to London for the estate paperwork. He remembered what his auld mother always told him, and wore his dress kilt. He was on a bus in London when the driver looked back in his rear view mirror and shouted, “You there! You’ll have to put the animal off! Animals aren’t allowed on the bus!”
The Highlander said, “Who? Me? I have no animal.”
The driver said, “The animal in your lap, son!”
The Highlander said, “That’s no animal – that’s me sporran!”
The lady sitting next to him fainted. She had been petting it for five minutes.
