THE WAKKER WEEKLY
Issue #1560 – Posted on: 21-December-2020
BREWERY “HOP”PENINGS! Bushwakker Head brewer, Michael Gaetz, reports our seasonally available “Missile”tow Christmas Ale, Blackberry Mead, Orangerine (Orange & Tangerine) Ale, Premium Pale Ale and Chinook ESB are currently on tap! There are also 13 other year round brews to choose from making a total of 18 Bushwakker brews currently available.
Our limited edition Bushwakker Christmas Variety Six-Packs proved to be very popular this year. Much thanks to night manager, Rayna Hart, for her assembling efforts. Due to the temporary suspension of brewery operations in the spring due to the pandemic, the only way to get a bottle of our “Missile”tow Christmas Ale was in one of these holiday six-packs.
BUSHWAKKER GIFT IDEAS FOR YOUR SASKATCHEWAN BREWPUB LOVER!
Commemorate the strangest Mead Day in Bushwakker history by picking up a “Bee Safe” Mead t-shirt or face mask for the mead lover on your list! Our “Craft Beer Pioneer” t-shirts and classic Joe Fafard designed t-shirts are a timeless gift which are uniquely Saskatchewan. Bushwakker Growler Gift Boxes include your choice of a glass or insulated black stainless steel Bushwakker Joe Fafard growler, two pint glasses and a gift certificate redeemable for a growler fill. Our Christmas Variety Six-Pack features some of our seasonal and specialty offerings including bottles of Blackberry Mead and “Missile”tow Christmas Ale (available December 12th), our ornate fancy Hop Handle Growler Christmas Package with two pint glasses and a growler fill gift certificate is also back…and you can’t go wrong with a Bushwakker gift card available in $25, $50 and $100 denominations. GIFT CARDS CAN NOW BE PURCHASED ON OUR WEBSITE!
Our new Bushwakker ONLINE STORE is now activated! With only a week to go until Christmas, our new on-line store is here to make your shopping life easier! Visit https://bushwakker.com/product/bushwakker-gift-cards/ to order your Bushwakker gift cards, Bee Safe t-shirts and masks, Pom pom touques and more! Heck, we’ll even have them mailed to you or your intended Bushwakker fan! You can always stop by and visit us in person too!
DECEMBER PREMIUM WINE FEATURES. The red is Carmen Gran Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon Single Vineyard from Chile. The white is Toasted Head Chardonnay from California. Both are $8.95 for a glass and $23.95 for a half litre.
This weekend’s Special Dining Feature for December 18th and 19th is a Surf N’ Turf Burger for $19.95. 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.
Our one single solitary keg of “Missile”tow Christmas Ale for the 2020 holiday season is now on tap! This rich, malty, complex and warming English Barleywine comes in at 8.5% ABV. It has been aged in our beer cellar for over an entire year. Incredible depth of flavour awaits you! Enjoy while quantities last.
NOTHING FOR NEW YEARS 15 is still going ahead on Thursday, December 31. Say “good riddance” to 2020 and celebrate the arrival of a fresh new 2021 with our famous slow roasted AAA Black Angus Prime Rib and Jumbo Yorkshire Pudding! Make your reservation for our spacious in-house dining by calling 306-359-7276 or order your Prime Rib to go by visiting our Pre-Order Prime Rib Page at bushwakker.com/newyears and select the time you’d like to pick up your takeaway order. Our signature Chocolate Malted Cheesecake will also be available. Deadline for online orders is Wednesday, December 30th. Limited quantities available!
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.
Reservations are accepted and encouraged. We accept reservations as late as 6:00 PM from Monday to Saturday. Call at 306-359-7276 to secure your table. Please note under the new provincial guidelines the maximum number of people who can be seated at the same table is now limited to four. Larger reservations must occupy more than one table and maintain three meters of 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 open back UP!
Our famous KENTUCKY BOURBON PECAN PIE will be made available by the entire pie this holiday season! Just give Kelly a call at 306-359-7276 to place your order and arrange a pick up time today!
Bushwakker Customers Raise a Glass to Mead Day
BY MATTEA COLUMPSI
On Dec. 5, Regina’s Bushwakker Brewpub kicked off the Christmas season with its annual Mead Day. This year, the tradition looked a little different. Photo illustration by Mattea Columpsi.
Mead Day looked very different this year as Regina’s Bushwakker Brewpub took its Christmas kickoff tradition curbside.
For years, the first Saturday of December marks the day Bushwakker unveils its infamous blackberry mead. Usually, people assembled from all over to line up down the snow-covered blocks of Dewdney Avenue.
Arriving early, customers would set up barbeques, propane tanks and pitch tents overnight just to get their hands on the beverage.
“I heard [the mead] was a big deal and something you needed to line up for,” said long-time mead enthusiast Mike Wong who moved to Regina in 2012 and has been going ever since. “Having moved from Edmonton, I was curious about all the hype. So, I got up and lined up at 6:30 a.m. the first year and it became a tradition after that.”
Unfortunately, this long standing tradition changed to ensure public safety during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Instead of lining up down the street, customers ordered their mead online in advance and had it delivered directly to their vehicles.
Wong, along with many others, missed the excitement of lining up on mead release day.
“It was so different this year, “said Wong. “You picked your time – I ended up going at 2 p.m. in the afternoon versus going at six in the morning.
“There is less ability to mingle this year. I remember the days lining up when it was minus-40 to -45 and how cold it was and we were out there. One year they put in a porta-potty, it was hilarious and a ton of fun.”
Bushwakker’s bar and marketing manager Grant Frew believed the new tradition went incredibly smooth for the mom-and-pop shop not used to e-commerce, as they completely sold out of mead and cheesecake.
“On Saturday we had cars come to the loading dock,” said Frew. “We would get their name, give them their order and they would zip away.
“I was looking at a lot of comments on our Facebook page and our customers said it was very well-executed. I am happy to see that because it was an incredible amount of work getting the orders and processing them.”
In previous years the brewpub would normally bottle and sell 6,000 bottles of mead. This year, only 3,600 were bottled due to the suspension of operations.
“When we were locked down the brewery was out of commission for a few months,” said Frew. “Right now we are bottling some more [mead] because we are so slow in the restaurant.
“We normally have an entire tank for people to have it on tap but we are going to bottle a sizeable portion out of that as well. With people not coming out we will have mead on tap until July. We’ll have more bottles in our off-sale cooler possibly today.”
Although customers were not able to enjoy the excitement of the lineup and meeting new people, Wong still managed to keep the tradition alive and enjoy the mead he purchased on Saturday.
“It was really good,” said Wong. “It is good every year. Mead is something that ages fairly well over time. I have some in my basement from 2013-2014 and they are really smooth by now.”
Hoping there will be a COVID-19 vaccine by 2021, Frew added that Bushwakker will likely continue to sell curbside next mead season.
“We heard from people on Saturday that they never had our mead before,” said Frew. “They never bought it because they didn’t want to stand for hours on end outside. So I think we will continue to offer this again next year.
“We want to maintain as many of our traditions as we can and give people a sense of normalcy, but we are hanging on for that vaccine.”
TIME OUT – Christmas Wood
A young woman asks her mother, “Mom, how many kinds of penises are there?”
The mother, surprised, answers, “Well, daughter, a man goes through three phases. In a man’s twenties, a man’s penis is like an oak, mighty and hard. In his thirties and forties, it is like a birch, flexible but reliable. After his fifties, it is like a Christmas tree.”
“A Christmas tree?” the young woman asks.
“Yes, dried up and the balls are there for decoration only.”
