THE WAKKER WEEKLY – Issue #1829
Issue #1829 – Posted on: 13 – February – 2026
The FROST CIRCUIT is back until February 21st and our special Bushwakker Frost beer feature is our WHITEOUT DOUBLE HONEY STOUT! Enjoy this rich, malty, roasty and powerful dark ale made with our 35th anniversary Double Honey Irish Red and our Pickard’s Oatmeal Cream Stout. A “whiteout” wintery pint to be sure!
BUSHWAKKER SEASONAL BEER STATUS Our seasonally available FROST CIRCUIT – WHITEOUT DOUBLE HONEY STOUT, PICKARD’S OATMEAL CREAM STOUT, MOTHER-IN-LAW ALE (a blend of stout and bitter), 35th ANNIVERSARY DOUBLE HONEY IRISH RED ALE, LIME GOSE and HARVEST LAGER are currently available. There is also a batch of BLOOD ORANGE BLONDE ALE working its way through the brewery!
This Saturday! NOTHING FOR VALENTINE’S DAY. Due to the overwhelming success of our Nothing For New Year’s non-event, get ready for our most stress-free Valentine’s Day ever! No tickets, no cover charge, no band, no dance, no cutesy appetizers for two, no shareable romantic platters, no pink bubbly, no sweet chocolate beers, no elevated prices and no hassle! Just come relax with your other half at the cozy Bushwakker. Full menu will be available, and don’t worry, we’ll have a couple fancy-ish dining options too! Two seatings available. Call 306-359-7276 to reserve your table.
Our VALENTINE’S WEEKEND SPECIAL DINING FEATURES for February 13th & 14th are classic CHICKEN CORDON BLEU and SURF & TURF. 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. Please note you can also have a pop, lemonade, sarsaparilla, ice tea or coffee instead of a pint of beer if you wish!
FEBRUARY WINE FEATURES: Our February Wine Features hail from Australia. The Red is RED KNOT CABERNET SAUVIGNON and the White is TAKE IT TO THE GRAVE PINOT GRIGIO. Both are $8.95 for a glass and $23.95 for a half litre.
A very impressive firkin tapping demonstrated by Jack Frost at last weekend’s edition of Frost First Firkin Friday! The Cragganmore single malt scotch and raisin infused Pickard’s Oatmeal Cream Stout firkin sold out quick! Our next firkin tapping will be on March 6th at 5:30 PM.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Feb. 13-14: FROST CIRCUIT. No need to visit all participating venues in just one weekend. Take your time over the entire duration of the Frost Festival or hop on the free Hop Circuit shuttles on the Friday and Saturday nights! Completed passport holders receive a free Frost Circuit toque and can enter the draw for a chance to win a $1000 brewery gift card bundle!
Feb. 14: NOTHING FOR VALENTINE’S DAY. You can spend the day alone or with your significant other at The Bushwakker for a stress-free experience. There will be no tickets, no cover charge, no band, no dance, no cutesy appetizers for two, no shareable romantic platters, no pink bubbly, no sweet chocolate beers, no elevated prices and no hassle! Just come relax at the cozy Bushwakker. Full menu will be available and we’ll have a couple fancy-ish dining options too! Two seatings available. Call 306-359-7276 to reserve your table.
Feb. 16: FAMILY DAY. Closed for the holiday. Be sure to enjoy some Bushwakker offsale by yourself…or with family!
Feb. 17 – 21: MARDI GRAS WEEK. Our popular weeklong dining celebration returns! Enjoy flavourful dishes and perhaps a classic Hurricane Cocktail too!
Feb. 18: Wednesday Folk Night. MR. HOLMES BAND. Adam Holmes of The Lincoln Loggers is back with his new eclectic rock folk trio! 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM.
Feb. 20 – 21: FROST CIRCUIT. Final weekend to take advantage of the free Hop Circuit shuttles this Friday and Saturday night! Visit all seven participating venues to complete your passport and perhaps win some new swag and a $1000 brewery gift card bundle!
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 appearance 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.
TIME OUT – Valentine’s Day Groaners
Why couldn’t the mineral water ever score a date? All his friendships were completely pla-tonic.
What’s the best part about Valentine’s Day? The day after when all the chocolate goes on sale.
What did one martini say to the other on Valentine’s Day? Olive you.
What does a chef give their spouse for Valentine’s Day? A hug and a quiche.
What should you say to your single friends on Valentine’s Day? Happy independence day!
What’s the difference between a $20 steak and a $55 steak? Feb. 14.
Don’t sweat it fellas! You can easily book a table at the Bushwakker for a hassle-free Valentine’s experience. Choose from a couple of our lovey-dovey dining features and desserts plus our full menu will be available. Call 306-369-7276 today!
