THE WAKKER WEEKLY

Issue #1493 – Posted on: 09-Sep-2019

BUSHWAKKER NEWS

NEWS FROM THE BREWERY! Head brewer, Michael Gaetz, reports our seasonally available RASPBERRY WHEAT, GRANNY’S BITTER, CHICO LIGHT SESSION IPA, BUSHVAR CZECH PILS and MOTHERWELL BARNSTORMER RED FIFE WITBIER are currently on tap. There are also batches of JOE’S FIRKIN SQUIRREL ALE, KAI’S MUNICH HELLES, BREW & GOLD DORTMUNDER, HARVEST OKTOBERFEST LAGER and GREAT PUMPKIN SPICED BROWN ALE working their way through the brewery.

Our September Premium White Wine Feature is Whitehaven Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. The Premium Red Wine Feature is Traminer Pinot Noir from France. Both are $8.95 for a glass and $23.95 for a half litre.

THE BUSHWAKKER GOODNESS IS SPREADING!  ALL SIX REGINA SLGA stores are now offering a varied selection of Bushwakker beers in 650ml bottles. The Quance street SLGA store is also offering growler fills of our number one selling DUNGARVON IRISH RED ALE. Regina’s Urban Cellars east location and Metro Liquor also offer a selection of our bottled beers.

BUSHWAKKER EVENTS

Sept. 6: FIRST FIRKIN FRIDAY SPECIAL EDITION. We pay tribute to the late JOE FAFARD with the release of a special commemorative brew and limited edition bottle release created in his honour. Joe was a renowned Canadian visual artist, Order of Canada recipient and designer of the Bushwakker/Fafard logo which adorns our t-shirts, beer labels, glassware and is also found on the outside of the building near our front door. After much consultation with Joe’s immediate family, we identified some symbolic ingredients found on his family’s farm which were incorporated into this English Pale Ale.
Honey from his wife’s bee hives and hand-picked dandelion leaves near his creek all play a role in this most unusual, yet very balanced and approachable ale. The pomp and circumstance of this longstanding Bushwakker monthly tradition will be altered somewhat this month as an accordion player will pay tribute to Joe’s French Canadian roots and will lead a small keg (the firkin) of JOE’S FIRKIN SQUIRREL ALE throughout the pub in a procession. A guest volunteer tapper has been selected to wield the handmade wooden maul affectionately named, The Mighty Firkin Wakker, and attempt to tap the keg in one swift blow! The suds-soaking spectacular takes place at 5:30 PM. The limited edition bottles will be made available after the firkin is tapped.

Sept. 9: Monday Night Jazz & Blues. ‘ROUND MIDNIGHT.  Great jazz standards and adult contemporary tunes from this veteran Regina band. 8:00 PM.

Sept. 11: Wednesday Night Folk. THE ACCOMPLICE. Innovative one-man band delivers Grammy recognizable rock songs. 8:00 PM.

Sept. 14: SASK VS MONTREAL. Kickoff is at 5:00 PM. Enjoy our gourmet MONTREAL BURGER & A PINT game day special for only $19.95. Come “devour” the competition!

Sept. 16: Monday Night Jazz & Blues. THE JAZZ BAND-ITS. Enjoy big band, jazz and swing from the largest band to ever grace the Bushwakker stage. 8:00 PM.

Sept. 18: Wednesday Night Folk. JITENSHA. Upbeat indie folk rock duo from Montreal makes their Bushwakker debut. 8:00 PM.

Sept. 19: NEWLY EXPANDED!!! HEALTH SCIENCE PUB – Why We Fall for Fake News (and other B.S.) Presented by the Integrated Health Research Cluster. Our wildly popular Science Pub Series has returned for an eighth incredible season! To meet the growing demand we have doubled our viewing capacity by including our basement clubroom as a satellite room to view the lecture with the aid of a very large TV, Skype and a dedicated WiFi line. Enjoy lectures on scientific topics of general interest in both our Arizona Room (main floor banquet room) and basement clubroom over fine craft beer and award-winning pub cuisine. The main floor room opens at 5:00 PM and once it reaches capacity the basement clubroom will then open. 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. Gordon Pennycook, Business Administration, University of Regina.

Sept. 23 – Sept. 28: BUSHWAKKER OKTOBERFEST WEEK. The official Oktoberfest celebration in Munich will be just underway as the Bushwakker weeklong Oktoberfest celebration begins. Enjoy a unique German-themed meal special every day of the week as well as a pint of our Bushwakker brewed Oktoberfest lager, Harvest Lager. A selection of fine German bottled beers and a draught will also be available. Prosit!

Sept. 23: Monday Night Jazz & Blues. TDC INC.. Stands for “Too Damn Cool.” Up-tempo jazz, rock and funk. 8:00 PM.

Sept. 25: Wednesday Night Folk. SASKMUSIC & THE REGINA SINGER/SONGWRITER’S ASSOCIATION presents; Adrienne Gagnon, Marny Duncan-Cary and Wanda Gronhovd. 8:00 PM.

Sept. 28: Annual Great Pumpkin Spiced Brown Ale Release. Our autumn specialty brew returns! Cinnamon, nutmeg, fresh ginger, vanilla and cloves makes for a delicious Brown Ale that tastes just like pumpkin pie! The bottles go on sale at 11:00 AM sharp!

Sept. 30: Monday Night Jazz & Blues. THE MINISTRY OF GROOVE. Great 1970’s jazz funk and beyond with a fine horn section. 8:00 PM.

---

ALL ABOUT SOURS

By Jason Foster

My most recent CBC column took a long look at the world of sour beer. Sours are very popular these days – in particular various versions of Kettle Sours. This is all very cool and I am intrigued that beer consumers are embracing the very unusual flavours of sour beer. But I have noticed there is still quite a bit of confusion around what sour beer is and, in particular, a lack of awareness of the traditional sour styles.

So I thought I would rectify that lack of awareness by focusing on sour beer for an entire column. You can hear it here.

I anchor the piece around the two different ways to sour a beer. I make the decision to classify them as Quick Sour and Slow Sour, even though I know they are not recognized terms. I did it to try to highlight the core difference concisely.

Most readers will know when I refer to quick sour, I am talking about Kettle Sour, and slow sour are the family of traditional sours produced by barrel aging or, in the case of Berliner Weisse, the fermentation process itself. I did this column in large part because I feel that family of traditional sours are being overlooked, despite the fact that in many ways they offer a broader range of flavours than kettle sours.

The column attempts to explain (in an admittedly over-simplified fashion) the process of producing a sour beer and the qualities that
arise. The anchor of the piece is a side-by-side comparison of the two types of sour beer.

We taste Blindman’s Kettle Sour #12 and the classic Duchesse de Bourgogne to give a sense of just how different the two types are. And you really wouldn’t know they are in the same extended family.

Kettle sours are clearly here to stay. And no one will ever erase classic beer like Flanders Ale, Lambic and Berliner Weisse from the world of beer. So pucker up and get ready to drink some sour beer, kids. It ain’t going anywhere.

TIME OUT

A young cowboy from Texas goes off to college. Halfway through the semester, he has foolishly squandered all his money.
He calls home. “Dad,” he says, “You won’t believe what modern education is developing! They actually have a program here in College Station that will teach our dog, Ol’ Blue how to talk!”
“That’s amazing,” his Dad says. “How do we get Ol’ Blue in that program?”
“Just send him down here with $1,000” the young cowboy says. “I’ll get him in the course.”
So, his father sends the dog and $1,000. About two-thirds of the way through the semester, the money again runs out. The boy calls home.
“So how’s Ol’ Blue doing son?” his father asks.”
Awesome, Dad, he’s talking up a storm,” he says, “but you just won’t believe this – they’ve had such good results they have started to teach the animals how to read!”
“Read!?” says his father, “No kidding! How do we get Blue into that program?” “Just send $2,500, I’ll get him in the class.”
The money promptly arrives. But our hero has a problem. At the end of the year, his father will find out the dog can neither talk, nor read… so he shoots the dog.
When he arrives home at the end of the year, his father is all excited. “Where’s Ol’ Blue? I just can’t wait to see him read something and talk!”
“Dad,” the boy says, “I have some grim news. Yesterday morning, just before we left to drive home, Ol’ Blue was in the living room, kicked back in the recliner, reading the Wall Street Journal, like he usually does. Then he turned to me and asked, “So, is your daddy still messing’ around with that young lady who lives in town?”
The father exclaimed, “I hope you shot that son of a bitch before he talks to your Mother!”
“I sure did, Dad!”
“That’s my boy!”
The kid went on to be a successful lawyer and then went into politics.

---