THE WAKKER WEEKLY – Issue #1840
Issue #1840 – Posted on: 01 – May – 2026
The May 1st edition of FIRST FIRKIN FRIDAY is a special Pre-Cinco de Mayo Week Kickoff! A new Bushwakker fruit beer will be infused with a never-before-used-in-our-brewpub 100% blue agave tequila! Should be very interesting! The firkin will be piped-in and tapped at 5:30 PM.
BUSHWAKKER SEASONAL BEER STATUS Our seasonally available BLACKBERRY GRAPEFRUIT ALE, CHINOOK E.S.B., BARON BOCK and 35th ANNIVERSARY DOUBLE HONEY IRISH RED ALE are currently available. There is also a batch of HONEY THISTLE WIT working its way through the brewery!
Our WEEKEND SPECIAL DINING FEATURE for May 1st & 2nd is a HOUSE-SMOKED BEEF DIP. 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!
MAY WINE FEATURES: Our May Wine Features hail from the EMILIANA ORGANIC VINEYARDS in Chile! The Red is their ADOBE CABERNET SAUVIGNON RESERVA and the White is their ADOBE SAUVIGNON BLANC RESERVA. Both are $8.95 for a glass and $23.95 for a half litre.
Last Saturday’s Annual Bushwakker Brewer’s Dinner was one for the history books! Over 100 enthusiastic smoked cuisine and beer fans gave our kitchen and brewery teams a standing ovation. Thank you for your longstanding enthusiasm and support. Can’t wait to do it again next year!
Tickets to our May 7th Cinco de Mayo Week PREMIUM TEQUILA & MEZCAL TASTING are darn near all gone. One left! $39.95 plus tax each. Three 100% blue agave tequilas and three unique mezcals will be evaluated. These special order bottles are tricky to find in Saskatchewan due to the very limited availability of these small batch, artisan, ultra-premium products. Attendees will learn about tequila and mescal history, production methods and family distillery heritage. This is the good stuff! Call 306-359-7276 to get your tickets today!
Hats off to the ALES Club for hosting another successful ALES Open national homebrewing competition! This weeklong event saw 245 entries being adjudicated by a group of 25 volunteer beer stewards and judges. The Best of Show entry was a German Weizenbock entered by Matt McNair of the Cowtown Yeast Wranglers Homebrewing Club in Calgary.
Our current Seasonal Menu has been humming right along for a few weeks now. We’ll be switching to a new summer seasonal menu in the coming weeks. So enjoy these delicious throwback delights while they are still available: Chef Mike Favourite Pizza, Classic Bushwakker Potato Skins, Baked Alaska, a traditional Bushwakker Clubhouse, Loaded Prime Rib Burger and our Cottage Pie too!
We are currently seeking evening line cooks for both our hot and cold side. We have a scratch kitchen with a brigade-style set up. Group benefits offered after six months. Positions are full time. Must have minimum two years line cooking experience. References requested and required. Drop off your resume or email it to Kelly@bushwakker.com today!
UPCOMING EVENTS
May 1: FIRST FIRKIN FRIDAY – PRE-CINCO DE MAYO WEEK 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’s “Cinco de Mayo Week Kickoff” firkin offering is a CAZADORES 100% BLUE AGAVE BLANCO TEQUILA – INFUSED BLACKBERRY GRAPFRUIT ALE! The fruity and refreshing Mexican suds-soaking spectacular takes place at 5:30 PM.
May 2: THE 9TH POETRY & A PINT PRESENTATION. We are delighted to have the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild as a partner in this event. Enjoy a Saturday afternoon of poetry readings from some of Regina and area established and up-and-coming writers. Perhaps enjoy a slice of our special poet-inspired WHITE CHOCOLATE PASSION FRUIT CHEESECAKE featured dessert created just for the occasion! 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM.
May 4: Monday Night Jazz & Blues. BACKSEAT DRIVER. Neo soul band that specializes in organic grooves and searing vocals! 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM.
May 4 – 9: MEXICAN/CINCO DE MAYO WEEK. More than just our award-winning nachos! Enjoy Mexican food specials all week long and a special Premium Tequila & Mezcal Tasting event on Thursday night too!
May 6: MONTHLY ALES HOMEBREWING CLUB MEETING. If you are interested in delving into the world of homebrewing or are just looking to brush up on your brewing skills then the ALES Club is for you! The May presentation topics are: CRUSHABLE BEERS and WATER CHEMISTY! Come to the Bushwakker basement clubroom at 7:00 PM and discover what the ALES Club can offer you. New members are always welcome!
The Best Beers in the World – Winners of the 2026 World Beer Cup
By Don Tse
By Don Tse
Description: Description: Representatives from Argentina celebrate a medal win at the 2026 World Beer Cup.
The World Beer Cup, colloquially referred to as the Olympics of Beer, awards medals to the best beers in the world.
Don Tse
As is tradition, the Brewers Association ended its annual Craft Brewers Conference by announcing the winners of the World Beer Cup. The Brewers Association is a trade association representing America’s small and independent breweries. While it is based in the United States, the Brewers Association opens entries to the World Beer Cup to breweries from around the world. This year, breweries from 50 countries entered.
The World Beer Cup is one of the largest beer competitions in the world. It is often referred to as “The Olympics of Beer Competitions.” The Great American Beer Festival, which restricts its entries to breweries in the United States, is also hosted by the Brewers Association and is another of the world’s largest beer competitions.
The 2026 World Beer Cup By The Numbers
The 2026 World Beer Cup saw 8,166 beers from 1,644 breweries judged across 113 beer and five cider categories. Including subcategories, medals were awarded in 186 styles. The beers were judged by 255 judges from 37 countries.
The 2025 edition of the World Beer Cup saw 8,375 beers entered from 1,761 breweries. Chris Williams, competition director at the Brewers Association, observed via email that 2026 entries were “relatively flat (down slightly by 2.5%). This is actually an improvement over the past few years and hints, just like reported in our annual production report, that the overall industry correction may be slowly starting to flatten out and bodes positively for the industry and the competition.” In 2024, the World Beer Cup received 9,300 entries.
What The World Beer Cup Says About Craft Beer
Entry statistics are often considered indicators of trends in the beer industry. While there are statistics for many countries’ beer industries, the World Beer Cup is a reflection of the craft beer industry at a global level.
The slight decrease in entries indicates that the decline in craft beer seen in America is a wider issue. But the statistics are also indicative of overall category and consumer trends.
The 2026 edition of the World Beer Cup saw West Coast-Style India Pale Ale (category 114) return to being the most-entered category, with 293 entries (300 entries in 2025 and 281 entries in 2024). In the 2025 and the 2024 editions of the awards, the most-entered category was Juicy or Hazy India Pale Ale (category 113, with 274 entries in 2026, 301 entries in 2025 and 326 entries in 2024). Juicy and hazy IPAs have also dominated beer sales in recent years, so the return of west coast-style IPA as the top category may indicate consumers returning to the more-bitter version of the style.
While IPAs of all sub-styles continue to be popular, the oft-reported rise of craft-brewed lager is supported by the number of entries in World Beer Cup lager categories. “The lager love continues,” said Williams. “You’ll notice this with the addition of a handful of lager subcategories and standalone categories (a few Czech lager categories, Mexican lager categories, Rice lager, etc.).” The fourth-most entered category was German-Style Pilsner (category 43 with 201 entries in 2026; 184 entries in 2025 and 221 entries in 2024) and the fifth-most entered category was Munich-Style Helles (category 45 with 156 entries; 149 entries in 2025 and 181 entries in 2024).
“On the other hand, sour beer styles have really seen a decline in terms of competition entry,” observed Williams. “We’ve also seen strong decline in traditional Imperial Stout categories as well (however, barrel aged specialty versions of these remain very strong).”
“Thirty years in, the World Beer Cup remains a powerful reflection of how far global brewing has come—and where it’s headed,” said Williams. “Even in a year that challenged beverage alcohol producers to evolve, this year’s winners demonstrated that innovation, precision, and passion for craft are stronger than ever.”
TIME OUT – More Bar Groaners
Boy: “I love you so much, I could never live without you.”
Girl: “Is that you or the beer talking?”
Boy: “It’s me talking to the beer.”
Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.
Mayan: Hey, wanna beer?
Other Mayan: I’m working on this calendar, but I guess if I don’t finish it won’t be the end of the world.
Beer doesn’t turn people into somebody they’re not. It just makes them forget to hide that part of themselves.
A duck walks in to a bar and says “Give me 200 beers”. The bartender says “How are you going to pay for that?” So the duck says, “Just put in on my bill!”
There once was a barmaid from Yale. Upon her chest tattooed were the prices of ale. And for the sake of the blind, upon her behind, was exactly the same thing in braille.
Now that we are into the month of May, spring must finally be here, right?
