THE WAKKER WEEKLY
Issue #1563 – Posted on: 11-January-2021
BREWERY “HOP”PENINGS! Bushwakker Head brewer, Michael Gaetz, reports our seasonally available 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 16 Bushwakker brews currently available.
Beer Collectors Alert! The biggest beer in Bushwakker history will be released on Saturday, January 23rd at 11:00 AM sharp to commemorate our 30th Anniversary! A powerful brew sealed with wax to facilitate some further aging if you have the discipline!
JANUARY PREMIUM WINE FEATURES. From the Pelee Island Winery in Ontario. The red is Baco Noir Reserve and the white is a Gewurztraminer. Both are $7.95 for a glass and $21.95 for a half litre.
This weekend’s Special Dining Feature for January 8th and 9th is a 10 oz RIBEYE STEAK for $25.95. 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.
The BUSHWAKKER LOCAL ARTISTS WALL January featured artist is DUSTIN RITTER. His artist bio is as follows: My name is Dustin Ritter. I am a visually impaired artist with macular dystrophy. I got back into drawing for therapeutic purposes in 2018 and have done over 250 commissioned portraits in that time. I frame these portraits with handmade reclaimed barn wood picture frames. I use 100 year old barn wood salvaged from my parents’ farm in Southey and old elevator wood from Cupar. In 2020 I started a job at Papercrane Community Arts Center as an art instructor and have created a number of murals with clients who have special needs. I also do live portraits and caricatures for special events. I’m open for commissions and am happy to try my hand at any request. Enjoy Dustin’s engaging 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.
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!
Chef Mike’s AAA Black Angus Prime Rib was a huge hit this New Year’s Eve. Many of you have been asking if there will be any more Prime Rib Weekends this winter. We will most likely see this popular dish again before the spring…stay tuned!
Craft Beer Growth Gives Barley Sector a Boost
By Delaney Seiferling
The thirst for a new kind of beer continues to grow in Saskatchewan.
The province’s craft beer sector has grown steadily in recent years and one brewer says it is not done expanding yet.
“We just view it as nothing but untapped potential, especially for Saskatchewan,” says Mark Heise, president and chief executive officer of Regina’s Rebellion Brewery, now the largest producer of craft beer in Saskatchewan.
The growth trend for the craft beer sector has proved to be true not only in Saskatchewan but across the country.
In 2016, the number of Canadian brewing facilities had increased to an all-time high of 775, up 20.3 percent from 2015.
While the majority of these brewing facilities are in Ontario and Quebec, Saskatchewan is within the top three provinces for the number of brewing facilities per capita (at a rate of 4.6 per 100,000 drinking age adults), with about 17 breweries as of earlier this year.
This growth is good news for Saskatchewan malting barley growers because craft beer production requires about three to four times more malt than mainstream beer production, says Peter Watts, managing director of the Canadian Malting Barley Technical Centre.
“The growth in the craft sector leads to an incremental growth in demand for malt and ultimately malting barley,” Watts says. “Already 35 percent of all malt in North America is used by the craft brewing sector and that may rise to 40 to 45 percent in the next five to seven years.”
But the bad news is that this growth is likely to slow.
A recent article from the United States’ Brewers Association shows that while the country’s craft industry was still growing as of last year, growth had declined.
It looks like Canada might go in a similar direction. Canadian beer production declined 2.4 percent from 2015 to 2016 and sales volumes declined 0.7 percent during the same time period.
“My takeaway is that growth in both the number of craft breweries opening and volumes is slowing, which is not surprising as it grew at double digits for so many years,” Watts says.
TIME OUT – The Bison & Beer Theory
A herd of bison can move only as fast as the slowest bison. When the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first.
This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members.
In much the same way the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, we all know, kills brain cells, but naturally it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first.
In this way regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine.
That’s why you always feel smarter after a few beers, and that’s why beer is so GOOD for you!
