THE WAKKER WEEKLY – Issue #1861
Issue #1861 – Posted on: 25 – Sept. – 2026
Our annual OKTOBER-SCHNITZEL-PUMPKIN-FEST WEEK starts on Monday, September 28! Celebrate autumn with German-themed meal specials all week, including our incredibly popular schnitzel dinner! Enjoy big one-liter steins of famous Bushwakker beer too! Saturday will be the official release of our Great Pumpkin Spiced Brown Ale on tap as well as in big 650ml glass bottles! Brewed with cinnamon, nutmeg, fresh ginger, vanilla and cloves, our small batch autumn offering tastes just like pumpkin pie in a glass!
BUSHWAKKER SEASONAL BEER STATUS. Our seasonally available UPENDI PINEAPPLE PASSION FRUIT SOUR, CHINOOK E.S.B. and BARON BOCK are currently available. Bottles of our famous BLACKBERRY MEAD are still available in our offsale as part of our 2026 Summer Mead Release but they are almost gone! Batches of CARA CARA ORANGE ALE, GREAT PUMPKIN SPICED BROWN ALE and a firkin of CRANBERRY ORANGE VANILLA WHEAT (for the October 2nd edition of First Firkin Friday) are working their way through the brewery.
End of Summer Sour Power Sale! Hang onto those waning warm summer days a bit longer and enjoy our quenching Upendi Pineapple Passion Fruit Sour and save! Offsale two-litre jugs are now $6 off and pints are available at Happy Hour prices!
Our WEEKEND FEATURE for September 25th & 26th is a SAUSAGE MAC & CHEESE. 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!
Final week for delicious house- smoked cuisine! Our 800 litre converted beer tank smoker affectionately named, Smokey the Beer, has served us well all summer but we will give him a well deserved rest at the end of September! Last chance to enjoy our six smoky offerings including: Smoked Brisket on a Bun, Smoked Chicken Enchiladas, Smoked Philly CheeseDog, Smoked Pulled Pork & Pineapple Bun, a Weekly Smoked Appetizer Feature and a Smoked Caramel Mocha Brownie Ice Cream Cake too!
Our Arizona Room private banquet room is now once again available for private party rentals. The room seats up to 50 people and features plenty of Chicago style warehouse character with large windows, a pressed tin ceiling and plenty of plants too! Contact info@bushwakker.com to secure the room for your next gathering today! A little more work will be required to get our basement clubroom ready for event space rental following the massive summer city water line break which severely flooded our basement. We hope to have it operational for holiday season bookings. Stay tuned!
A full house was on hand for last week’s kickoff edition of the 14th Science Pub season! Fizzics and Fizziology was presented by Dr. Zisis Papandreou and Dr. Julia Totosy de Zepetnek from the University of Regina! Our next edition of Science Pub is on Thursday, October 15th at 7:00 PM. Plan to arrive early to get a seat as this will be one hotly contested topic! Alberta Decides: Will they stay or will they go? Featured speakers include: Murray Mandryk (retired journalist), Jim Farney (Queen’s), Brian McQuinn (U of R) and moderator, Tom McIntosh (U of R)
Alberta’s referendum on whether to have a referendum on whether to pursue separation from Canada (along with nine other questions) will take place on October 19th. The panel will discuss a wide range of topics concerning what has transpired in the lead up to the vote. How did the various campaigns for and against perform over the previous weeks? Is there evidence of foreign interference in the debate and has it had any impact? What are the likely outcomes and consequences in the weeks that follow? Which political actors (federal and provincial) are likely to emerge as winners or losers once the dust has settled? Finally, what are the consequences for the ‘other nine’ questions being asked?
SEPTEMBER WINE FEATURES: The Red is the PAUL MAS MERLOT from France and the White is the VILLA MARIA EARTH GARDEN SERIES SAUVIGNON BLANC from New Zealand. Both are $8.95 for a glass and $23.95 for a half-litre.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Sept. 28 – Oct. 3: OKTOBER-SCHNITZEL-PUMPKIN-FEST! Celebrate autumn with German-themed meal specials all week, including our incredibly popular schnitzel dinner! Enjoy big one-liter steins of famous Bushwakker beer too! 
Sept. 28: Monday Night Jazz & Blues. THE OPERATORS. A fusion of jazz, blues and rock featuring horns that will blow you away and a singing rhythm section to soothe your soul. 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM.
Sept. 30: Wednesday Folk Night. HOTDOG! BLUEGRASS. A high-energy performance that blends traditional influences with a modern, often humorous, twist—seasoned, chopped, blended and rendered then forced into a tube! 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM.
Oct. 2: FIRST FIRKIN FOOTBALL FRIDAY! Yes, another firkin tapping on a home Rider game day! 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 autumn/thanksgiving/Calgary Stampeder-inspired firkin offering is a CRANBERRY ORANGE VANILLA WHEAT! The suds-soaking spectacular takes place at 5:30 PM. Come “quaff” the competition!
Oct. 3: ANNUAL GREAT PUMPKIN SPICED BROWN ALE RELEASE. Although the “pumpkin craze” is not as powerful as it once was, there are still a number of die-hard pumpkin fans out there who love our autumn specialty brew. It will be on tap as well as in offsale bottles at 11:00 AM sharp! Brewed with cinnamon, nutmeg, fresh ginger, vanilla and cloves, our small batch seasonal offering tastes just like pumpkin pie in a glass!
Oct. 3: Bushwakker Writers Corner 9th Edition Reading. Presented by the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild and The Bushwakker Brewpub. Join us for this annual author’s reading in the Bushwakker Writers Corner, a space dedicated to celebrating recent works of Saskatchewan-published authors. Enjoy readings from a half dozen local authors including: Chelsea Coupal, Dr. Norma Dunning, Kat Guilks, Céleste Grimard, Lili Zwart, and host, Wanda Gronhovd. It has become very apparent that local authors love Bushwakker desserts so a special Saskatchewan Writer’s “Fabulous Fall Cheesecake” dessert feature will be available that afternoon. 3:00 PM.
OKTOBERFEST BEER MONOPOLY CHALLENGED
From: American Craft Beer
For generations, only six Munich breweries have been allowed to serve beer at Oktoberfest. Now that system is being challenged in court.
Munich’s Oktoberfest Beer Monopoly Faces Legal Challenge
One of the beer world’s oldest traditions is facing a modern legal challenge in Munich.
For generations, only six Munich breweries have been allowed to serve beer at Oktoberfest, while many of the festival’s massive beer tents have remained under the control of the same families for decades.
Now that system is being challenged in court.
Alexander Egger, CEO of Munich restaurant Münchner Stubn, sued the city after unsuccessfully bidding to move from operating a smaller 440-seat tent to one of Oktoberfest’s enormous beer tents, some of which can accommodate thousands of guests.
Egger argues that Munich’s selection process unfairly favors longtime operators and effectively prevents newcomers from competing for the festival’s most lucrative locations. According to WSJ, he wants the bidding process opened to applicants from across the European Union.
The lawsuit also raises questions about Oktoberfest’s famously restrictive beer policy.
Only beer brewed within Munich and meeting the festival’s requirements can be served at Oktoberfest, effectively limiting the event to six traditional breweries, including Paulaner, Spaten and Augustiner.
Even Prince Luitpold of Bavaria, whose ancestors helped launch the original Oktoberfest celebration surrounding the 1810 wedding of Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese, has been unable to serve his family’s König Ludwig beer at the festival.
Munich brewer Giesinger Bräu has also been pushing for greater access, including an effort to bring the issue before voters through a citizen referendum.
Traditional Oktoberfest operators warn that opening the festival to EU-wide competition could fundamentally change an event built around more than two centuries of Bavarian tradition.
Christian Schottenhamel, whose family has operated at Oktoberfest since the 19th century, has even warned of a potential “horror vision” in which traditional Munich lager gives way to Kölsch, pizza and döner kebabs.
A Bavarian court has already rejected an emergency attempt to halt construction of the 2026 Oktoberfest tents while the dispute plays out.
The larger legal challenge is scheduled to be heard September 11, just eight days before Oktoberfest opens in Munich.
TIME OUT – Burned at Oktoberfest
An American tourist sits down at a table in Munich and tries to flirt with a beautiful Bavarian woman. Hoping to impress her, he points at his massive, one-liter glass and says, “You know what they say about guys who can handle a big Maß of beer…”She smiles, looks him up and down, and replies, “Ja, they pee the bed.”
Big one-litre steins of any Bushwakker brew will be available all week long during our annual OKTOBER-SCHNITZEL-PUMPKIN-FEST! Sept. 28th – Oct. 3rd
