THE WAKKER WEEKLY – Issue #1853
The August Long Weekend is here and our brewery has been working hard to successfully replenish our offsale cooler for your summer deck sipping needs! No easy task seeing as our brewery is not yet fully operational following the damage caused by the massive June 17th city water line break! Come prep your cooler with a mixed-pack of beautiful Bushwakker brews!
BUSHWAKKER SEASONAL BEER STATUS Our seasonally available UPENDI PINEAPPLE PASSION FRUIT SOUR, HONEY THISTLE WIT, CHINOOK E.S.B., BARON BOCK and a few offsale bottles 35th ANNIVERSARY DOUBLE HONEY IRISH RED ALE are currently available. Bottles of our famous BLACKBERRY MEAD are also available in our offsale as part of our 2026 Summer Mead Release. A firkin of MELONHEAD LAGER is also working its way through the brewery for its August 7th Rider Home Game/First Firkin Friday release!
Our WEEKEND SPECIAL DINING FEATURE for July 31st & August 1st is GRILLED BEEF KABOBS WITH COUSCOUS SALAD! 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!
We’ve seen some real progress this week in the clean-up following the June 17th massive city water line break. Four more trailer loads of damaged materials from our basement and brewery were hauled away. Our brewery still requires quite a bit of repair before we can resume brewing. We’ll have lots of beer on tap and in our offsale cooler this summer. But this autumn will be interesting as beer does require aging time before it is ready to serve. One step at a time. We’ll get there!
Our new Summer Seasonal BBQ Menu was released last month! One of the six sumptuous dishes is a BRISKET ON A BUN. The most popular item from last year’s summer seasonal menu is back! Slow smoked beef brisket glazed with chipotle honey BBQ sauce on a sesame brioche bun. Topped with smoked gouda, pickled red onions and creamy apple coleslaw. Served with your choice of tossed salad, our award-winning fries or a bowl of our soup du jour.
Bushwakker FloodWakker T-Shirts are now here! One-time limited edition commemorative “FloodWakker” t-shirts are in stock but are moving fast! Get your piece of Bushwakker history! Let’s turn that “city water line break” frown upside down and have a little fun with the biggest disaster to hit our building since the great fire of 1926! Charcoal grey colour. Available in S, M, L and XL.
The summer Hop Circuit is in full swing and some “athletic” types like bartender Max have even completed their circuit TWICE! Those limited edition 2026 Hop Circuit glasses are really starting to move! Pick up your free passport map and take a hike or ride your bike and visit all six participating Regina craft breweries this summer! Collect a stamp at all six locations and receive your free 2026 Hop Circuit commemorative glass! Get out there and enjoy another beautiful Queen City summer with some sensational Saskatchewan suds!
UPCOMING EVENTS
Aug. 3: CLOSED FOR THE HOLIDAY. Happy Saskatchewan Day! Fill up your favourite Sask mug with your favourite Sask beer!
Aug. 5: Wednesday Folk Night. OOOO LA LA STRINGS. Acoustic folk rock duo returns as a trio. 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM.
Aug. 7: FIRST FIRKIN FOOTBALL FRIDAY! A home Rider game with a 7:00 PM kickoff AND First Firkin Friday on the same day? This is going to be so much fun for Wakkerville! Don’t miss our 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 “Watermelon lovin’ Rider prider” firkin offering is a MELONHEAD LAGER! The Green & White suds-soaking spectacular takes place at 5:30 PM.
Aug. 7: RIDERS HOST THE OTTAWA REDBLACKS. A First Firkin Friday Rider game day! Kickoff is at 7:00 PM. Be sure park in the huge free parking across the street and then take the free shuttle to and from the game. Enjoy Chef Mike’s kicked-up REDBLACK BURGER & A PINT special before the game! Come “devour” the competition!
Aug. 8: SECOND ANNUAL FOLKWAKKER! A tribute to the now absent Regina Folk Festival Weekend. Enjoy a Free Saturday Afternoon Folk Music Event showcasing three talented Saskatchewan folk acts! Plan to arrive early in order to get a good seat! 1:00 PM.
Booze makers welcome interprovincial agreement
Brewers and distillers say trade deal in response to tariffs is long overdueBy FLORENCE HWANG – Regina Leader Post
Liam Mckercher, managing director at Crossmount Cider Company, hopes the new interprovincial MOU on alcohol sales will encourage consumers across Canada to take a look at what’s available domestically more often.
Some Saskatchewan distilleries and breweries are toasting the news that Canadians can now order alcoholic beverages across provincial borders from most of the country’s licensed producers.
This is thanks to a new Direct-to-consumer sales agreement through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the premiers of nine provinces: Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador.
The MOU was signed in response to the latest tariff threats against Canada by U.S. President Donald Trump.
John Cote — COO and co-founder of Black Fox Farm and Distillery based in the Saskatoon area was excited to hear the news. His company ships products around the world, which Cote noted has been easier than shipping between provinces.
The announcement will be noticed for online orders, he predicted.
“Now we can actually partake in that economy, which is just so important for small companies like ours,” said Cote, whose business is a “bespoke” Type 1 distillery that produces less than 20,000 litres per year.
Liam Mckercher, managing director of Crossmount Cider Company near Saskatoon, agrees with Cote but adds there is a down side.
“It would be nice … if there were more cost-effective shipping options,” said Mckercher, who owns one of the largest cideries in the province.
Distilleries and breweries contacted by the Leader-post say this MOU should have been done a long time ago.
Last Mountain Distillery co-founder Meredith Schmidt, a member of the Canadian Craft Distillers Alliance, says she’s been anticipating the MOU for more than a year after the original U.S. tariff threats emerged.
“They just hadn’t figured out how to do it … it’s a long time coming,” said Schmidt.
Bushwakker Brewpub manager Grant Frew says his brewpub, which includes Bushwakker and Saskatchewan-made off-sale products, won’t be directly impacted by the MOU.
“But I think it’s going to be more beneficial for the Saskatchewan distilleries, wineries and even the cideries,” he said.
Mark Heise, CEO and founder of Rebellion Brewing in Regina, also agrees the direct-to-consumer interprovincial agreement is a step in the right direction.
However, he doesn’t think those benefits will trickle down substantially to beer consumers at this point.
“The bulk of beer is not sold directly to consumers in other provinces. Most of the beer is sold within your own province,” said Heise, who noted beer has a shorter shelf life than spirits and wine, making it more challenging to ship in a timely manner.
Some distilleries think the threat of American tariffs on Canadian imports may have united the country in terms of trade.
“It’s a shame that it’s had to come to this — that somebody else (Trump) is pushing us around in order to get these things to be worked with,” Cote said. Mckercher agreed.
“It might incentivize people to shop more Canadian,” he said, “and look at what’s in your backyard rather than going to companies south of the border.”
TIME OUT – More Wildlife in Bars
A man walks into a bar and asks the bartender, “If I show you a really good trick, will you give me a free drink?” The bartender considers it, and then agrees. The man reaches into his pocket and pulls out a tiny rat. He reaches into his other pocket and pulls out a tiny piano. The rat stretches, cracks his knuckles, and proceeds to play the blues. After the man finished his drink, he asked the bartender, “If I show you an even better trick, will you give me free drinks for the rest of the evening?” The bartender agrees, thinking that no trick could possibly be better than the first. The man reaches into another pocket and pulls out a small bullfrog, which begins to sing along with the rat’s music. While the man is enjoying his free drinks, a stranger confronts him and offers him $400 for the bullfrog. “Sorry,” the man replies, “he’s not for sale.” The stranger increases the offer to $500 cash up front. “No,” he insists, “he’s not for sale.” The stranger again increases the offer, this time to $700 cash. The man finally agrees, and turns the frog over to the stranger in exchange for the money. “Are you insane?” the bartender demanded. “That frog could have been worth millions to you, and you let him go for a mere $700” “Don’t worry about it.” the man answered. “The frog was really nothing special. You see, the rat’s a ventriloquist.”
The 2026 Regina Hop Circuit is on now! Hop to it before this year’s supply of glasses runs out!
