THE WAKKER WEEKLY
Issue #1555 – Posted on: 16-November-2020
BREWERY “HOP”PENINGS! Bushwakker Head brewer, Michael Gaetz, reports our seasonally available Ponce de Leon Blackberry Raspberry Ale, Premium Pale Ale and Chinook ESB are currently on tap. There are also batches of Blackberry Mead (which will be released on Saturday, December 5th and bottles will be made available to pre-order on our website for curbside pick-up or take-out) working their way through the brewery.
BUSHWAKKER MEAD DAY 2020. Many folks have been asking how we are going to release our famous Blackberry Mead this year. It will indeed be unveiled on Saturday, December 5th. But this year you can pre-order your mead bottles, mead masks, mead t-shirts and mead cheesecake at the BLACKBERRY MEAD ORDERS section of our website https://bushwakker.com/shop/ Choose from one of the many 30 minute time slots available as well as if you would like curbside pickup or if you would like to come in through our back doors to pick it up yourself. We have a smaller supply of mead this year so order yours today to avoid disappointment!
Our NOVEMBER PREMIUM WINE FEATURES are from Chile. The red is Clos de Luz Arao Carmenere Blend. $8.95 for a glass and $23.95 for a half litre. The white is De Gras Reserva Fume Blanc. $7.95 for a glass and $21.95 for a half litre.
This weekend’s Special Dining Feature for November 13th & 14th is BEEF BORDELAISE for $18.95. Our Saturday CLASSIC STEAK & A PINT SPECIAL for $21.95 will also be available.
In addition to taking our beer home in glass bottles, 2 litre jugs and growler fills direct from our pub, you can find a varying selection of 650 ml bottles of Bushwakker beer in ALL SIX REGINA SLGA stores, as well as METRO LIQUOR REGINA.
BUSHWAKKER GIFT CARDS are available in $25, $50 and $100 denominations. Give us a call at 306-359-7276 or stop by to get yours. They work very well with all dine-in or takeout food and craft beer desires!
The Bushwakker LOCAL ARTIST WALL for the month of November features the works of ALEX BEITZ. Alex is a local visual artist who works in a variety of medium and subjects, with humour being a key element in his most recent works. He obtained his art education by taking many classes at the Neil Balkwill Civic Arts centre and through his active participation with various art guilds. Over the past nine years Alex has been working as a picture framer where he has been fortunate to work with a variety of artists and art collectors. Alex is pleased to be returning to the local Artists Wall at Bushwakker. Enjoy his interesting works all this month!
BUSHWAKKER “NEW NORMAL” NOTES
Our Hours of Operation are Monday to Thursday from 11:30 AM until 9:00 PM and the kitchen closes at 8:00 PM. Fridays and Saturdays we open at 11:00 AM and close at 10:00 PM. Kitchen closes at 9:00 PM. We are still closed on Sundays at this time. Our takeout food and beer services will continue to be made available.
Our first week of business under the new Provincial Government Public Health Order requiring everyone to wear non-medical masks in restaurants and bars went smoothly. We thank you for your continued cooperation and support!
Please remember that reservations are accepted and are encouraged but we will no longer be able to accept dinner reservations on Friday and Saturday nights beginning on November 6th. Call at 306-359-7276 to secure your table. Please note under current guidelines the maximum number of people who can be seated at the same table is limited to six. Larger reservations must occupy more than one table and maintain physical distancing between each table.
Please continue to practice safe health and social distancing practices. Remain connected to one another and to us! In addition to this weekly newsletter, we are very active on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Check-in with us often as we navigate these continually evolving times together. Try to support local businesses whenever possible. Be vigilant in your resolve to protect yourselves which in turn will protect others. Please don’t let your guard DOWN so the province can continue to open UP!
Our Football-themed Burger & a Pint Specials have been very well received this year. Can’t wait to see what our creative kitchen team will bring to the table (get it?) in mid-November!
2020 Great American Beer Festival Medal Winners Analyzed
By Bart Watson
2020 has been anything but normal, so in an attempt to return a tiny bit of normalcy to your calendar, it’s time for my annual post on the GABF competition winners!
The competition looked a little bit different this year with judges wearing special aroma cone technology (aka face shields), but was still able to carry on through a lot of hard work from competition staff and volunteers, not to mention the judges who still came in from 21 states. Nearly 9,000 entries were judged in 91 categories across three weeks, resulting in 272 medals.
Before we dig in to my made up geographic awards for this year, some random beer entry name trivia to impress your friends at your next physically distanced party (note: if this actually works, you may need new friends).
- Breweries entered beers with “Summer” in the name far more than “Winter.” Even with that, “Beach” and “Mountain” finished tied in usage.
- “Red” was by far the most used color name, appearing in 2.2% of all entered beer names.
- Brewers slightly prefer “Imperial” (93 entries) to “Double” (80 entries) in naming.
- “Chocolate” (33) still has a slight edge over “Vanilla” (27) and “Raspberry” (53) wins over “Cherry” (33) and “Blueberry” (19) in the Berry Wars.
- “Sour” (96) crushed “Sweet” (13).
- Brewers were surprisingly restrained with hop pun entries – only 159 entries contained the word “hop” with Citra winning out as the most commonly named variety.
Alright, time to move along, these fake awards aren’t going to present themselves.
2020 GABF States of Year Awards
This year, I thought I’d do a variation of our brewery of the year awards, but for states. Rules were exactly the same, with points won divided by entries (points: gold = 6, silver = 5, bronze = 4). To give out a bit more digital hardware, I created four size brackets, roughly divided into quartiles (every state + D.C. had entries). So states with 30 or fewer entries, then 31-100 entries, 101-250, and 251+.
Starting at the bottom… our first winner in the Low Entry States Division was Arkansas! Arkansas only won one medal (a gold to Bottle Conditioned Day Drinker from Lost Forty Brewing), but with only 11 entries, that ratio was enough to secure it the top spot (and the best points to entry ratio of any state, regardless of size).
Let’s take a diversion for a second to remind our faithful readers how hard it is to win a GABF medal. I could start with a poetic treatise on the technical challenge of brewing a beer that adheres to style guidelines, has no off flavors, and delights the judges palate, but I’m a stats guy, not a brewer. So I’ll just say that a random beer had a 3.1% chance of winning a medal this year. That’s slightly harder than a single number bet in roulette. I.e., if it seems easy to you, I’d advise you avoid Vegas vacations.
Back to our thread, just based on categories entered, Arkansas breweries had a 67% chance of not winning any medal (or, if you prefer, a 33% chance of winning one or more), so bringing home a gold beat the odds.
Next up were the states who entered 31-100 entries. There was some strong competition in this bracket, with 9 of 13 states winning at least one medal. In the end, Maine pulled off the victory, with Lone Pine bringing home two and Allagash one. Fellow New England competitor Massachusetts put up a tough fight with four breweries winning medals, but Maine had a higher win and points rate.
Next up is our 101-250 grouping. Each of those 15 states won a medal, so the competition came down to who could bring home the most, and there quickly emerged a clear winner: Indiana. I wrote about Indianapolis and its strong performance last year as well. This year, with all of the medal winning breweries within a 35 minute drive of the Indianapolis Airport, Indiana might have to be a beer destination to add to the travel calendar.
TIME OUT – Aging Gracefully
Any woman can have the body of a 21-year-old, as long as she buys him a few drinks first.
My memory’s not as sharp as it used to be. Also, my memory’s not as sharp as it used to be.
Know how to prevent sagging? Just eat till the wrinkles fill out.
I’ve still got it, but nobody wants to see it.
I’m getting into swing dancing. Not on purpose. Some parts of my body are just prone to swinging.
It’s scary when you start making the same noises as your coffeemaker.
I think I’ve reached my sexpiration date.
The good news is that even as we get older, guys still look at our boobs. The bad news is they have to squat down first.
These days about half the stuff in my shopping cart says, “For fast relief.”
Don’t think of it as getting hot flashes. Think of it as your inner child playing with matches.
Don’t let aging get you down. It’s too hard to get back up.
You don’t stop laughing because you grow old, you grow old because you stop laughing.
Our new “Bee Safe” Bushwakker Blackberry Mead Face Masks will be made available on Mead Day! This deluxe mask features adjustable ear straps and nose clip. A useful and special souvenir to commemorate one of the strangest Mead Days in history! Order yours on our website today!
