THE WAKKER WEEKLY

Issue #1687 – Posted on: 29-May-2023

BREWERY “HOPP”ENINGS! Bushwakker Head brewer, Michael Gaetz, reports that our seasonally available BARON BOCK, SASKADIAN BLACK IPA, MARRY BERRY BLONDE ALE and CHOCOLATE MILK STOUT are currently available. There are still some bottles of the amazing THREE-DOWN BOHEMIAN PILSNER in our offsale cooler. Lots of Bushwakker seasonal brews are on the horizon! Batches of FLEK’S CZECH DARK LAGER, BOMBAY IPA, and GRANNY’S BITTER are currently working their way through the brewery.

Our Seasonals are back! So nice to have so much variety in addition to our large core lineup. Enjoy our Bock, Milk Stout, Chocolate Milk Stout, Marry Berry Fruit Ale, Black IPA and Mexican Lime Lager while quantities last. More seasonals are a comin’! Stop by our offsale at the end of the bar and grab a bomber bottle or build your own mixed six-pack today!

This Weekend’s Special Dining Feature for May 26^th & 27^th is a BC BURGER & a PINT for $23.95. 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.

Our SASK CRAFT GUEST TAP is currently pouring a MANGO APPLE CIDER from Saskatoon’s Crossmount Cidery. Next up is the HALLO HEFEWEIZEN from Malty National Brewing. This will be followed by a POMEGRANATE PALE ALE from Saskatoon’s High Key Brewing.

MAY PREMIUM WINE FEATURES: Our May wine features hail from Argentina. The red wine is MYTHIC MOUNTAIN MALBEC. $8.95 for a glass and $23.95 for a half litre. the white wine is CUMA ORGANIC TORRONTES. $7.95 for a glass and $21.95 for a half litre.

CURRENT HOURS OF OPERATION AND RESERVATIONS NOTES

We are open Monday – Thursday from 11:00 AM – 10:00 PM. The kitchen closes at 9:00 PM and last call is at 9:15 PM. Fridays and Saturdays we are open from 11:00 AM until midnight. The kitchen is open until 11:00 PM and last call is at 11:15 PM. Closed Sundays.

Reservations are accepted and encouraged. We accept a limited number of reservations as late as 6:00 PM every day except Fridays. Fridays we accept reservations as late as 3:00 PM. Call us at 306-359-7276 to secure your table. Our two banquet rooms are also available for private party rentals. Call Kelly at 306-359-7276 to book either our main floor Arizona Room or basement Clubroom.

History is Reborn at Wacker Brewing

by Steph Heffner

Wacker Brewing Company
417 W Grant St | Lancaster, PA 17603
(717) 617-2711
wackerbrewing.com

Wacker Brewing Company was established in 1853, brewing beer in the heart of Lancaster City, PA until 1956. After 58 years, the brewery has reopened by Bryan Kepner (owner and great grandson of a Wacker Brewing Company employee) and brewmaster Michael Spychalski, re-establishing the historic brand.

In 1868, Lancaster City was known as the “Munich of the United States.” Breweries were opening up all over Lancaster from Cabbage Hill to the 7th Ward. The quality beer was highly sought after from as far away as Baltimore and Boston, including Wacker Brewing Company’s Little Dutch and Old Bohemian.

Joseph Wacker purchased the Eagle Brewery in 1870, which was established in 1853 by the Sprenger family. The brewery was located at the corner of Water and West Walnut Streets in Lancaster City. Today, Rachel’s Cafe & Creperie is located where the original Wacker Brewing Company saloon was located. Some of the brewery’s buildings are still standing, but most were knocked down or destroyed by fire.

The original Wacker Brewing Company would eventually become one of the four biggest breweries in Lancaster County. In 1912, the big four city brewers (Wacker, Rieker, Sprenger, and Haefner) combined to make 200,000 barrels of beer per year! It was only seven years later in 1919 that the Prohibition Era began in Lancaster.

The Wacker family sold the brewery in 1938, but brewing continued under the name Old Lancaster Brewing Company until 1941. John Duschl bought Wacker Brewing Company in 1941, but they closed in 1956 due to economic troubles.

Many breweries were no longer able to compete with the large breweries in St. Louis and Milwaukee. Wacker was the last Lancaster County brewery before Stoudt’s Brewing Company opened in Adamstown more than thirty years later.

Today, Wacker Brewing Company brews German-style ales as an homage to Lancaster’s brewing history. They currently offer two beers:

• Wacker Kölsch(a style native to Cologne, Germany) is a 5% ABV smooth and crisp brew with low hop aroma and bitterness with slightly fruity and sweet malt flavors.
• Little Dutch Dunkelis a 5% ABV dunkelweizen (or “dark wheat”) that combines the yeast and wheat character of a Hefeweizen with the maltiness of a Munich Dunkel.

The year-round offerings are brewed in the 10 barrel brew system with 300 gallon fermenters. They also have a single barrel system and 20 gallon fermenter for test batches of future brews and small batch beers to be on tap at the brewery.

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TIME OUT

My wife was hinting about what she wanted for our upcoming anniversary.

She said, “I want something shiny that goes from 0 to 150 in about 3 seconds.”

I bought her a bathroom scale.

…and that’s how the fight started.