THE WAKKER WEEKLY - Issue #1413 - Posted on: 26-Feb-2018

BUSHWAKKER NEWS

NEWS FROM OUR BREWERY. Head brewer, MICHAEL GAETZ, reports the big malty Scottish Ale, MACGREGOR’S WEE HEAVY, is back on tap and in our offsale as is our seasonally available SASKADIAN BLACK IPA and BUSHVAR CZECH PILS. His newest fruit beer offering, BLACKBERRY PORTER, has also just been released. A batch of PICKARD’S OATMEAL CREAM STOUT and ARCTIC DARK LAGER are also currently working their way through the brewery. Our guest tap is now pouring a keg of Azacca SMASH from the Pile O’ Bones Brewery.  Next up is Dumpster Dive Alive from Malty National Brewing followed by Mad Hopper IPA from Saskatoon’s Prairie Sun Brewery. Our premium romantic wines for the month of February are LA BELLE ANGELE wines from France. The red is a Cabernet Sauvignon and the white is a Sauvignon Blanc. Both are $7.50 for a glass and $18.95 for a half litre. Prairie Dog Magazine’s Best of Food and Drink 2018.  The nomination process has begun! Regina's dynamic local food & beverage scene is highlighted in this popular reader poll and contest. Last year Bushwakker took home quite a few awards and we look forward to more friendly food and drink fun with your continued enthusiastic support! Nominations begin February 1st at: http://www.prairiedogmag.com/best-of-food-2018/#//

BUSHWAKKER EVENTS

Feb. 26: Monday Night Jazz & Blues. MID-WINTER BLUES FESTIVAL EDITION presents JEFF MERTICK. This soulful veteran blues artist is a fine addition to the 2018 festival line-up. 8:00 PM. Feb. 28: Wednesday Night Folk. MID-WINTER BLUES FESTIVAL EDITION presents RESONANCE. Powerful duo featuring vocalist, Christie-Anne Blondeau and bassist, Fred Foerster. 8:00 PM. Mar. 2: FIRST FIRKIN FRIDAY. Enjoy the pomp and circumstance of this long standing Bushwakker monthly tradition. A piper from the Regina Police Services Pipes and Drums leads a keg of special brew in a procession throughout the brewpub. A guest volunteer is selected to wield the handmade wooden maul affectionately referred to as The Mighty Firkin Wakker, and attempt to tap the firkin in one mighty blow. This month’s offering will be a special “sneak peek” at our upcoming seasonally available Munich Dunkel, ARCTIC DARK LAGER. The delicious beer and suds-soaking experience takes place at 5:30 PM. Mar. 3: ANNUAL SATURDAY AFTERNOON BLUES SHOWCASE. Presented in conjunction with The Regina Delta Blues Association and the 24TH Mid-Winter Blues Festival Week, the free Saturday afternoon showcase is our biggest blues event of the year! Enjoy three local blues acts on the Bushwakker stage including: Shane & Levi Reoch, Billy Hughes & Jeff Storrey, and Son Howler. Hosted by Jeff “Redbeard” Corbett of 91.3 FM CJTR Regina Community Radio. Perhaps try a slice of his signature Redbeard’s Chocolate-Chocolate Cheesecake! 1:15 PM – 4:30 PM. Mar. 5: Monday Night Jazz & Blues. PERIPHERAL VISION. Juno-nominated jazz quartet from Toronto on a cross Canada tour! 8:00 PM. Mar. 7: Wednesday Night Folk. SUN ZOOM SPARX. Will be interesting! Funk, jazz fusion, psychedelia and mid-70’s ambience. 8:00 PM. Mar. 7: MONTHLY ALES MEETING. If you are looking to improve your skills as a homebrewer or just want to sit in a room filled with people with a passion for creating great beer in the basement, then the ALES Club is for you! This month’s topic of discussion is English Bitters. Meetings are held in the Bushwakker basement clubroom on the first Wednesday of each month at 8:00 PM.  New members are always welcome. Mar. 12: Monday Night Jazz & Blues. THE U OF R JAZZ BAND. They won’t be back until next fall. Don’t miss hearing Regina’s future jazz stars! 8:00 PM. Mar. 14: Wednesday Night Folk. THE RED WAGON GYPSIES. Acapella/acoustic harmonies from Angela Ell and Tamara Scrimbit. It doesn’t get more “folkier” than this! 8:00 PM. Mar. 15: SCIENCE PUB. An Imminent Post-Antibiotic Apocalypse? A look at non-conventional approaches to drug discovery. Our wildly popular Science Pub Series has returned for a sixth incredible season! Enjoy lectures on scientific topics of general interest in our Arizona Room (main floor banquet room) over beer and snacks. The room opens at 5:00 PM and quite often is full by 6:00 PM. Avoid disappointment and come down early for dinner and a pint before the presentation which begins at 7:00 PM. This month's lecture will be presented by Dr. John Stavrinides, Department of Biology, University of Regina. Mar. 17: ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARTY. The big annual Irish celebration falls on a Saturday this year! Enjoy Irish entertainment including a performance from The Prairie Gael School of Irish Dance, The Regina Police Services Pipes & Drums, and traditional reels from 20 piece acoustic Celtic act, Billarney. Delicious Irish food offerings include the return of the very popular All-Day Irish Breakfast featuring black and white pudding as well as Lamb Stew with soda bread, house-made Corned Beef & Cabbage, Colcannon Soup and Bailey’s Irish Cream Cheesecake with Jameson Irish whiskey chocolate sauce. Partake in our Battle of The Irish Stouts by enjoying a Guinness or an O’Hara’s Irish stout. Enjoy a Magner’s Irish Cider or even very rare dram of Teeling Brabazon Port Wood Finish Single Malt Irish Whiskey! Our Green Shamrock Ale will be flowing on tap too! Bushwakker head brewer, Michael Gaetz will create a delicious firkin of our very popular Irish Coffee Oatmeal Cream Stout which will be tapped at 5:30 PM to kick-off the big night! $5 cover charge begins at 4:30 PM.

Big Beer Corporations are Making 'Imposter Beers' that Masquerade as Artisanal Brews

By Ellis Jones and Daina Cheyenne Harvey A new seal began to appear on bottles and cans of American craft beer in 2017. It both certifies that the beer came from one of the nation's  independently owned and small-scale breweries and signals that  these upstarts are fighting back against the corporations trying to co-opt their authenticity and craftiness. The corporate juggernauts often called "Big Beer" clearly get the multifaceted appeal of independently brewed craft beer powered by a thirst for locally made products like beer made from traditional and unusual ingredients. That's why they're trying to beat back the competition by giving off the same vibe as the craft breweries that have eroded their edge - when they're not running Super Bowl commercials that deride people who drink craft beer. Like other researchers studying this trend, we see the growing taste for beer from small-scale artisanal breweries as a consumer-based social movement. We believe the new label will help craft brewers to hold their ground because many enthusiasts don't want to be fooled into drinking a fake version of a product that commands a premium due partly to its diversity and authenticity. Only two giant players remain in the domestic market after years of mergers: Anheuser-Busch InBev and MillerCoors. This duopoly is using three main strategies to quash its tiny competitors. It buys out craft breweries and launches its own "craft" brands, which do not fit the artisanal industry's own definition since they are mass-produced. It also derides craft beer drinkers. Masquerading as upstarts We call Anheuser-Busch's Shock Top, MillerCoors' Blue Moon and similar beverages "imposter beers" or "crafty beers." They tend to leave their big corporate parents off the label - which of course stresses local origins. Blue Moon's packaging, for instance, notes prominently that it is made in Fort Collins, Colorado. That geographic detail, the label's imagery and a prominent reference to the Blue Moon Brewing Company (with no reference to MillerCoors) suggest a source with modest means, not a  multibillion-dollar behemoth. Consumers who felt deceived when they discovered that Kirin beer was made in the US and not Japan - despite advertising that suggested it was imported - sued Anheuser-Busch in 2013 and won. So did plaintiffs in a similar lawsuit regarding Beck's, also brewed by Anheuser-Busch. But Big Beer has prevailed in court with litigation involving consumers who felt misled about what kind of company brewed their beer rather than its geographic origin. For example, an irked beer drinker sued MillerCoors for misrepresenting its Blue Moon label as a craft beer. MillerCoors responded that any definition of what makes a beer "craft beer" is meaningless. US District Judge Gonzalo Curiel agreed. Essentially ruling that beer is beer, no matter how big its brewer is, he dismissed the case - letting Goliath get away with posing as David. Snapping up competitors Big Beer also acquires small labels and even, in some cases, homebrewing supply companies. This infiltration almost always occurs on the sly. The labels and usually even the beer itself stays the same after ownership changes. Many craft beer enthusiasts lament the "loss" of well-loved craft brewers like Goose Island and Breckenridge, which now belong to Anheuser-Busch, and Lagunitas, a label Heineken now owns. Anheuser-Busch and its Big Beer peers like Constellation Brands, which imports and brews Corona and other premium beers, have bought out or acquired large stakes in at least 33 craft brewers in recent years. This spree is leaving craft brewers and customers trying to figure it out two things. First, does the ownership matter? Second, what is Big Beer up to? We interviewed nearly 20 New England brewers and brewery owners to see what they thought. Some surmise that Big Beer is capturing some labels to study the industry and culture. Others suspect nefarious ploys to control shelf space and taps - and protect the market share of the biggest and most cheaply produced beers from any additional craft beer encroachment. Similarly, Anheuser-Busch's  purchase of craft label Wicked Weed in 2017 prompted Jason and Todd Alström, brothers who run the popular Beer Advocate website, to complain about what they call "zombie beer brands." That is, beer that appears to be locally brewed by independent owners but what they called Big Beer's "soulless" competition for the real thing. Taunting craft beer drinkers When Big Beer isn't imitating its craft brewing competitors, it counters their appeal by belittling their customers. In a commercial that aired during the 2015 Super Bowl, Budweiser declared that it is "proudly a macro beer," not to be "fussed over" or "dissected" or imbibed by consumers of "pumpkin peach ale." The company doubled down on its big-is-better meme the next year. In a similar commercial, Budweiser sneered at the origin stories of many craft breweries - which often begin as homebrewing pastimes - that Budweiser is "not a hobby" and "not small." Budweiser also feminized male craft beer drinkers and implicitly questioned their sexuality. The 2016 commercial boasted that its beer is "not soft" and "not a fruit cup" to a thumping, masculine beat. Some craft brewers retaliated with parodies. Who is winning? All but US$23.5 billion of the $107.6 billion Americans spent on beer in 2016 flowed toward Big Beer. But the volume of beer sold has stagnated since 2013 as American  craft breweries, which now number more than 5,200, gained ground. In 2017, US-brewed beer fell by 4 million barrels to 170 million barrels. However, sales of imported and craft beer sold straight to consumers (versus at bars or restaurants) rose measured by dollars, as did domestic  super-premium brands like Michelob Ultra Light and Bud Light Lime, according to the market research firm IRI Worldwide. We expect independent craft brewers, which are gaining a bigger market share overall, to prevail. But we're not underestimating Big Beer, especially when Blue Moon Belgian White was the top-selling "craft" brand sold directly to consumers in 2017.

TIME OUT  - Lies Parents Tell Their Kids

- My mom's friend got tired of her kids eating her scallops when they went to restaurants, so she told them that scallops are "Dolphin Balls." - The rumble strips on the highway are for the blind drivers. It took me seven years to realize blind people don't drive! - My dad told me that oil spots on the street were little kids that got run over because they didn't hold anyone's hand while crossing the street. - "When you lie, your ears turn red." I covered my ears every time I lied. - My grandmother told my mother that the left boob is for regular milk and the right is for chocolate milk. Mom believed this until she was in high school and took sex ed. - If the ice cream truck is playing music, it means they have run out of ice cream. - My mother told me that when earthquake happens, our planet is fighting with another planet. I believed that until the second grade. - My dad used to tell me Santa was tired of milk and cookies. I'd get extra toys if I left Doritos and a beer. That went on for years. - Oh no, this isn't Cola it's black water and you wouldn't like it.

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Soup & Sandwich Special is $13.95.  All hot specials are $16.95, except where noted, & include a serving of soup du jour, house, or Caesar salad.

 

	Soup	Sandwich	Hot Special	Beer Pairing
Fri., Feb. 23	Hot & Sour Pork	Italian Trio	Korean Beef Rice Bowl	Saskadian Black IPA
Sat., Feb. 24	Bushwakker	Breakfast Special	Steak & a Pint. $19.95
Sun., Feb. 25	Bushwakker	Breakfast Special	Steak & a Pint. $19.95
Mon., Feb. 26	Cream of Cauliflower	Salmon Ciabatta	Creamy Chicken Linguini	Regina Pale Ale
Tues., Feb. 27	Chicken Tortilla	Beef Taco Pizza	Blackened Basa	Saskadian Black IPA
Wed., Feb. 28	Jalapeno Potato	Veggie Quesadilla	Beef Lasagna	Last Mountain Lager
Thur., Mar. 1	Beef Vegetable	Fried Chicken Sandwich	Pork Chops w/ Mushroom Risotto	Sodbuster Brown Ale
Fri., Mar. 2	Bean Fasolada	Shanewich	Chipotle Chili	Chico IPA
Sat., Mar. 3	Bushwakker	Breakfast Special	Steak & a Pint. $19.95
Sun., Mar. 4	Bushwakker	Breakfast Special	Steak & a Pint. $19.95

We strive to ensure all weekly specials and soups are made available. Product shortages or unforeseen circumstances may result in modification or even substitution of certain featured menu items.