THE WAKKER WEEKLY

Issue #1510 – Posted on: 06-Jan-2020

BUSHWAKKER NEWS

From the Bushwakker management and staff we wish to thank you for your continued enthusiastic and incredible support this year. We wish you good health, happiness and prosperity in 2020!

NEWS FROM THE BREWERY! Head brewer, Michael Gaetz, reports our seasonally available BLACKBERRY MEAD, “MISSILE”TOW CHRISTMAS ALE, KAI’S MUNICH HELLES, CRANBERRY BLONDE ALE and PICKARD’S OATMEAL CREAM STOUT are currently on tap. There are also batches of TWO SON’S MILK STOUT, ARCTIC DARK MUNICH DUNKEL and SASKADIAN BLACK IPA working their way through the brewery.

Our January Premium Wine Features are from the SPIER WINERY in South Africa. The red is their Merlot and the white is their Chenin Blanc. Both are $7.95 for a glass and $21.95 for a half litre.

Our GUEST TAP is currently pouring the LONDON FOG PORTER from Saskatoon’s High Key Brewing. This will be followed by a RASPBERRY WHEAT from Regina’s Pile O’ Bones Brewing and then a DRY HOPPED CHINOOK SOUR.

THE BUSHWAKKER GOODNESS IS SPREADING!  ALL SIX REGINA SLGA stores are now offering a varied selection of Bushwakker beers in 650 ml 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

Jan. 3: FIRST FIRKIN FRIDAY. Kick off your new year with a “bang!” Enjoy the pomp and circumstance of this long-standing Bushwakker monthly tradition. A keg of special beer is paraded throughout the brewpub in a procession led by a piper from The Regina Police Service Pipes & Drums. A volunteer is selected to wield the handmade wooden maul affectionately called The Mighty Firkin Wakker and attempt to tap the firkin in one mighty blow. This month’s firkin will be a brand new offering – a SPICY CHOCOLATE STOUT. 5:30 PM.

Jan. 6: Monday Night Jazz & Blues. ARTIE BALKWILL & ALBERT “STRANGE MAN”. Double bill featuring jazz/roots and finger picking/steel guitar. 8:00 PM.

Jan. 8: ALES CLUB MONTHLY MEETING. So you received a shiny new home brewing kit for Christmas but want to make sure you produce some top quality suds? Be sure to sit in on a meeting with some of the most enthusiastic homebrewers in the city and learn a thing or two on how to take your homebrewing skills to the next level. New members are always welcome. This month’s presentation topic will be Saison/Grisette – Farmhouse. Meetings are held in the Bushwakker basement clubroom on the first Wednesday of the month at 8:00 PM.

Jan. 8: Wednesday Night Folk. LADIES OF THE PRAIRIE & THE MALE ORDER BAND. Female harmonies, guitar, banjo, steel guitar, mandolin and more! 8:00 PM.

Jan. 13: Monday Night Jazz & Blues. THE JAZZ BAND-ITS. Very large act plays big band, jazz and swing. 8:00 PM.

Jan. 15: Wednesday Night Folk. HUMMINGBIRD CROSSING. Acoustic group plays traditional and modern bluegrass, gospel and folk. 8:00 PM.

Jan 16: SCIENCE PUB – “The consensus is in: Evidence supporting human induced climate change.” Our wildly popular Science Pub Series has returned for an eighth incredible season! 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. Britt Hall, Department of Biology, University of Regina. Dr. Britt Hall will present three lines of evidence supporting the scientific consensus that our global climate is changing in response to increased greenhouse gas emissions released by human activities.  The overarching goal of her Pubs talk, which is also part of the Academics for Climate Community Speaking Series, is to provide concerned citizens with information that will help them to be confident participating in actions supporting our climate.

Jan. 20: Monday Night Jazz & Blues. HENDRICKSEN N’ SON. Father and son deliver Broadway show tunes and great jazz standards. 8:00 PM.

Jan. 22: Wednesday Night Folk. WINSOME KIND. Husband and wife duo make their Bushwakker debut and deliver original folk tunes. 8:00 PM.

Jan. 25: BEER BACON BANDS. This popular winter celebration is now a one night affair. Be sure to stop by the Bushwakker booth. We’ll have something for hopheads, fruit beer fans and those who like to keep it light! 7:00 PM.

Jan 25: BUSHWAKKER 29th/ROBERT BURNS 261st BIRTHDAY BASH. Join us as we celebrate almost three decades of award-winning beer and pub cuisine as well as Scotland’s favourite son, Robbie Burns! Live rollicking reels with Squeeze of Scotch and The Regina Police Services Pipes & Drums, highland dancing, FREE HAGGIS, NEEPS and BIRTHDAY CAKE, the tapping of the “Scottish” birthday firkin, plus the Address To a Haggis from Dana Nairn. A great way to shake those January blahs. The dance floor will be open! $5 cover charge in effect. 6:00 PM.

Jan 26: BUSHWAKKER MONTHLY SUNDAY BOOK SIGNING SERIES. Celebrating Saskatchewan Authors. Join us for a brief presentation by our featured authors and an opportunity to buy an autographed copy! The January edition will feature two local published writers, Gord Hunter and Judith Silverthorne. 3:00 PM.

Jan. 27: Monday Night Jazz & Blues. KEITH BOMPHRAY & FRIENDS. Great jazz standards with a few fun twists. 8:00 PM.

Jan. 29: Wednesday Night Folk. RON LOOS. Talented guitar plucker with razor-sharp wit. 8:00 PM.

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An Introduction to Mead

BY:  Owen Ogletree

Craft mead ranks as a hot new trend in the alcohol industry, but few imbibers truly understand and appreciate the complexities and defining characteristics of this historic, legendary beverage. How does mead differ from wine, cider and beer? What goes into mead fermentation and production, and how are the varied styles of mead defined?

Wine is fermented from grape or fruit juices. Beer starts with converting the starch of barley grains into fermentable sugars using a hot water infusion, then boiling the sweet liquid with hops to balance the sweetness. Cider basically arises from fermented apple juice. With mead, honey makes up most of the fermentable sugar, and the final alcohol-by-volume (ABV) content can range from around 3 percent to over 20 percent, depending on the style.

Robin Kosoris of Georgia’s Viking Alchemist Meadery believes that mead innovation is only limited by the imagination of the mead maker. “Like wine, mead has terroir,” she says. “Wildflower honey is the ‘bees’ choice’ of local flowers and has a distinctiveness based on location as well as time of year. Like beer, mead has a wide variety of styles and lends itself well to creativity.”

Millennia ago, water soaked into a damaged beehive, or maybe rain, diluted a container of honey that was left out in the elements. The watery honey fermented from microbes found in the environment, and some calorie-deprived soul drank the resulting liquid and found it to be delicious and delightfully intoxicating. Early mead production was going on almost 10,000 years ago, based on residue found in ancient Chinese pottery, and for thousands of years, this “nectar of the gods” was probably the favorite alcoholic drink in the world.

Honey, water and yeast are essential in the creation of mead, and the final product can fall on a carbonation spectrum from zero carbon dioxide (still) to lively and sparkling like champagne. Depending on the amount of residual sugar at packaging, meads are available in versions that can be described as dry, semi-sweet or sweet. Dry meads make for splendid aperitifs, while sweet meads pair well with desserts.

Bees collect nectar and pollen from surrounding flowers and convert this mixture into honey in the hive. Mead’s major flavors come from the type of honey that is used, and different flowers give rise to honeys with a surprising array of aroma and flavor characteristics. Most standard, mixed blossom honeys produce meads with appealing, neutral flavors. Orange blossom honey contributes a pleasing hint of citrus. Tupelo honey can produce meads with somewhat earthy undertones, while an unusual honey type such as eucalyptus offers notes of pungent menthol.

In general, all meads aspire to be brilliantly clear, with colors that range from almost colorless to dark brown, based on the color of the honey. Most meads fall in the straw to golden spectrum. Aromas are indicative of the base honey type, with some fruity esters and spice-like compounds arising from the fermentation process.
Higher ABV meads offer a greater depth of honey flavor than lighter session versions, and sweeter meads provide a more viscous, full-bodied mouthfeel.

The Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) mead guidelines explain, “Dry meads will have no residual sugar, sweet meads will have noticeable to prominent sweetness, and semi-sweet meads will have a balanced sweetness. In no case should the residual sweetness be syrupy, cloying or seem like unfermented honey.”

Looking through the BJCP style descriptions makes it immediately apparent that mead is no simple beverage. An impressive range of mead varieties can be created from additions of fruit, spices, herbs, hops, vegetables and malt. “Honey is the defining element of a mead,” notes Jeff Herbert, owner of Superstition Meadery in Arizona. “While honey makes a delicious mead on its own, it has the amazing ability to elevate the profile of special ingredients.”

As mentioned earlier, classic, traditional meads – made with only honey, water and yeast – are built to showcase the type of honey. Mead producers shoot for an enjoyable, appealing, balanced combination of honey, alcohol, acidity and fermentation complexity, all based on the body and sweetness level that are appropriate for the particular style. Dry meads can be reminiscent of a Sauvignon Blanc, while sweeter examples may taste like Sauternes or Riesling dessert wines.

Fruit additions create meads known generally as “Melomels.” These exquisite meads can be dry to sweet, with the type of fruit being apparent and well-balanced with the underlying canvas of honey. Creative, modern melomel producers choose from an interesting range of fruits that can include berries, stone fruits, figs, exotic fruits, citrus and more. BJCP descriptions use the culinary, not botanical, definition of “fruit.” For example, a jalapeño pepper is technically a fruit, but its culinary reputation classifies it as a vegetable. Some fruit meads may also contain one or more complementary spices for added complexity.

TIME OUT – New Year’s Resolutions You Can Actually Keep

Read less. Put on at least 30 pounds. Start buying lottery tickets at a luckier store. Watch more TV – I’ve been missing some good stuff. Watch less T.V. in standard definition. Gain enough weight to get on The Biggest Loser. Procrastinate more. Do less laundry and use more deodorant. Become a vegan for a day and subsequently learn that it was a missed steak. No longer waste my time relieving the past, instead spend it worrying about the future. Drink. Drink some more. Start being superstitious. Spend more time at work. Stop bringing lunch from home and eat out more.

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