THE WAKKER WEEKLY - Issue #1348 - Posted on: 28-Nov-2016
BUSHWAKKER NEWS
Our premium wines for November are from the Durbanville Hills Winery in South Africa. The red is a Shiraz and the white is a Sauvignon Blanc; both are $7.95 for a glass and $21.95 for a half litre. Our guest tap is currently pouring the Black Bridge Smoked Porter. Next up is the Galaxy SMaSH (Single Malt and Single Hop) IPA from Nokomis Craft Ales. Following that we will pour the Sundog Belgian Whit from the Churchill Brewing Company in Saskatoon. The Bushwakker is now OPEN ON SUNDAYS from Noon to Nine. Enjoy our Sunday Steak & a Pint feature. 2016 Bushwakker Blackberry Mead King/Queen Bee Contest – Eat & Drink Like Royalty, 25th Anniversary Limited Edition Mead and Friends with Mead are Friends Indeed! A true Saskatchewan phenomenon! Last year our entire Blackberry Mead offsale inventory of over 6000 bottles sold out in less than two hours. A new record was set when the devoted mead enthusiasts braved a Saskatchewan winter night and began forming a line 15 HOURS before it went on sale – yes, 7:00 PM on the Friday night! The line-up stretched half a city block by 9:00 AM. It was just like a tailgate party! Experienced mead lovers came prepared with ice fishing huts and propane heaters. We will be serving hot chocolate to all those waiting in line as well as conducting a mead trivia contest with prizes to be won. The first 80 people in line will have the opportunity to purchase our limited edition Bushwakker 25th Anniversary Commemorative Blackberry Mead. We have been brewing our Blackberry Mead all year long preparing for our annual kick off to the holiday season. 400 pounds of Lumsden Valley honey and 84 pounds of blackberries are in every batch. View the days remaining to Bushwakker Mead Day (#MEADDAY2016) on our countdown clock over our brewhouse door. Limited edition 2016 commemorative Bushwakker “A Friend With Mead is a Friend Indeed” t-shirts designed by local artist, Gavin de Lint, will also be available. Enter our “Why I Love Blackberry Mead” poetry contest at https://www.bushwakker.com/mead2016 for a chance to be King or Queen Bee for a day and sit upon a huge throne on our stage wearing a royal purple crown and robe whilst being wined and dined for free!
BUSHWAKKER EVENTS
Distilling the Beast: Fort McMurray captures wildfire in a bottle
By Wallis Snowdon, CBC News By bottling the black smoke which blanketed a wildfire-ravaged Fort McMurray, a northern Alberta brewery is distilling disaster into something delicious. The Wood Buffalo Brewing Company will create a new double-smoked whisky, using grain permeated with the fiery haze. Their new blend will be aptly named the Beast. Head brewer Spike Baker hopes the new whisky will embody some of the resilient spirit of Fort McMurray. "This is was a heavily peated grain that's going to be mixed with this smoke flavour," Baker said in an interview with CBC Edmonton's Radio Active. "So it will be a combination of the sweet peat flavour and campfire flavour and it will produce a once in a lifetime kind of bottle. We'll never be able to reproduce it." After the flames forced the entire city to flee for their lives, Baker spent his first days back in Fort McMurray dumping fire-tainted beer down the drain. While most of the beer survived, hundreds of litres had to be discarded. While they were scrubbing the business clean of ash and smoke damage, they discovered a single pallet of peated malt which had been abandoned outside for weeks. They thought it was destined for the landfill, but when testing showed it was safe to use, Baker knew they had something special. They're now preparing to heap the double-smoked barley into their copper still. "This grain we had was sitting out on our patio for the entire fire. And obviously the town was incredibly smoky at that time, so that grain has absorbed some of that extra flavour. "It depends on each person's individual palates, but some of the predominant flavours (for whisky) are always peat and smoke, and this one should have both."The Beast in a bottle
But those keen to catch a taste of the Beast in a bottle will have to wait. The brewery will auction off 10 of the bottles at an official launch party when distilling begins this Friday, but the aging process won't be complete for years. "They will receive a labelled bottle with a scroll certificate inside of it, stating that they have purchased this numbered bottle of this specific whisky. "And we will be aging it in bottles in the brewery and come five years, we will give them an additional bottle with the whisky inside." From the whisky's name, branding and official launch, Baker says they've been working with local firefighters every step of the way. A large portion of the proceeds will be funnelled back into the community through the Friends of Fort McMurray Firefighters Charities Fund. Wood Buffalo Brewing will also provide 10 bottles per year for auction at initiatives supporting victims of the wildfire. "It's an opportunity to celebrate how far we've come as a community," Baker said. "In honour of the firefighters saving the city and making this whisky possible, we want to move that legacy forward. That's where the give back comes in."
Our Weekend Prime Rib & Giant Yorkie Special Returns. 8 oz - $20.95 & 10 oz - $25.95
Soup & Sandwich Special is $11.95. All hot specials are $15.95, except where noted, & include a serving of soup du jour, house, or Caesar salad.
Soup | Sandwich | Hot Special | Beer Pairing | |
Fri., Nov. 25 | Split Pea & Ham | Dagwood Club | Lamb Irish Stew w/ Soda Bread | Last Mountain Lager |
Sat., Nov. 26 & Sun. Nov. 27 | Bushwakker | Cheese Denver | Steak & a Pint. $18.95 | |
Mon., Nov. 28 | Cajun Sweet Corn Chowder | Prime Rib Sandwich | Chicken & Duck Pascale | Stubblejumper Pilsner |
Tues., Nov. 29 | Mexican Black Bean | Lamb Burger Pizza. $13.95 | Crispy Coconut Shrimp Tacos | Belgian Golden Strong |
Wed., Nov. 30 | Creamy Tuscan Chicken | Pulled Pork Sloppy Joe | Mustard Crusted Beef Tenderloin | Palliser Porter |
Thur., Dec. 1 | Broccoli Cheddar | Samosa Quesadilla | Cuban Black Bean & Pork Stew | Last Mountain Lager |
Fri., Dec. 2 | Beef & Bell Pepper | Chinese Chicken Wrap | Braised Lamb Shank. $17.95 | Sodbuster Brown Ale |
Sat. Dec. 3 & Sun. Dec. 4 | Bushwakker | Breakfast Scramble | Steak & a Pint. $18.95 |