THE WAKKER WEEKLY

Issue #1596 – Posted on: 30-August-2021

BREWERY “HOP”PENINGS! Bushwakker Head brewer, Michael Gaetz, reports our Summer Wheat is back on tap and in our offsale cooler. Our Mango Radler and even a few two litre bottles of Sarsaparilla are currently available in our offsale cooler. Our new Pink Guavabuster Ale is also on tap and in our offsale cooler. There are also many other beers available including a West Coast IPA, Irish Red Ale, Brown, Blonde, Pilsener, Vienna, Pale Ale and a Porter. Growler fills and keg fills are also available!

 

It’s hard to believe it has been almost 18 months! This is cause for celebration! Bring on the piper and bring on the pomp and circumstance as this longstanding Bushwakker monthly tradition finally returns! The beer is aptly named and we can’t wait to see you all again. Plan to arrive early in order to get a good seat! Special Bushwakker Resurrection t-shirts will be available soon.

 

Our legion of longstanding loyal brewpub fans are the backbone of our success. Many of you have been with us since the very beginning. What or the reasons for coming back year after year after year? We’ll let them tell you themselves! Visit https://www.facebook.com/TheBushwakker/videos/1042756766462526 to hear their stories!

 

A nice milestone was reached last week. The first great grandchild of the late Bushwakker co-founder and president, Bev Robertson, got to celebrate her 19th birthday in her grandfather’s brewpub. Happy birthday Makayla!

 

A sold out Labour Day Classic at Mosaic Stadium is in our midst! Enjoy our SASK BURGER & A PINT or WINNIPEG BURGER & A PINT Specials for three glorious days! History has demonstrated that the burger which sells the best is a strong indicator as to which team will win the Labour Day Classic! #bestlocalburgersregina2021

 

Our GUEST TAP is currently pouring the HOPPY WIT from Saskatoon’s 9 Mile Legacy Brewing. Up next is the POMEGRANATE PALE ALE from High Key Brewing.

In addition to taking our beer home in glass bottles and 2 litre jugs direct from our pub, you can find a varying selection of 650 ml bottles of Bushwakker beer in ALL SIX REGINA SLGA stores.

Our August PREMIUM WINE FEATURES celebrate Canadian wines! The red is Ontario’s Don’t Poke The Bear Cabernet/Baco Noir. The white is B.C.’s Quail’s Gate Chenin Blanc. Both are $8.95 for a glass and $23.95 for a half litre.

This Weekend’s Special Dining Feature on August 27th and 28th is GREEK BACK RIBS for $21.95. Our Saturday CLASSIC STEAK & A PINT SPECIAL will also be available. Our Monday and Wednesday WINGS & A PINT SPECIAL and Tuesday PIZZA & A PINT SPECIAL are also a great value deal.

 

We’re hiring! Greater seating capacity and the return to normal hours of operation means we are looking for more experienced cooks, serving staff and a daytime bartender. Stop by and see us with your resume today or apply at  https://bushwakker.com/apply/

 

Our new Bushwakker Online Ordering Page is now live on our website! You can order everything from our food menu as well as our Bushwakker brews and even select the time you’d like to pick up your order. Visit  https://bushwakker.com/shop-2021/ and give it a try! Of course, you can continue to place your orders by calling us at 306-359-7276. We still love to hear your friendly voices. Thanks for your support everyone!

 

BUSHWAKKER “PHASE THREE NEW NORMAL” NOTES

We are open Monday – Thursday from 11:00 AM – midnight. The kitchen closes at 10:30 PM and last call is at11:15 PM. On Fridays and Saturdays we are open from 11:00 AM until 1:00 AM. The kitchen is open until 11:30 PM and last call will be at 12:15 AM. We are planning to be open on Sundays in September starting on the Labour Day long weekend. We are very appreciative of the considerable increase in the number of our takeout food orders. Call us at 306-359-7276 or visit our online ordering page at https://bushwakker.com/shop-2021/

Reservations are accepted and encouraged. We accept a limited number of reservations as late as 6:00 PM every day except Fridays. Fridays we accept reservations as late as 3:00 PM. Call us at 306-359-7276 to secure your table. We are now also able to accommodate larger groups. Our two banquet rooms are also available for private parties. Call Kelly at 306-359-7276 to book either our main floor Arizona Room or basement Clubroom.

Please continue to practice safe health measures. 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.

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Calgary Beer Rises from the Dead, and with a New Purpose

By Jason Foster of onbeer.org

Alberta’s first homegrown big beer brand was not Trad, or Drummond, or Uncle Ben’s, or even Lethbridge Pils or Bohemian Maid. It was Calgary Beer, formally known as Calgary Export Lager, which was first brewed in 1892. Alas Calgary Beer was killed off by Molson in 1994 during the years of frenzied corporate takeovers and consolidation. But it has risen again, sort of.

Village Brewing has worked out a partnership with Molson-Coors (who still own the trademark) to release a new take on Calgary Beer this summer. The new Calgary Beer is designed to link the past with Calgary’s (and Alberta’s) burgeoning craft beer present and future.

As a keen observer of the beer industry and an amateur historian the story of Calgary Beer has long fascinated me and I simply could not pass up an opportunity to dig into why and how Village has created a 21st century version of this iconic brand. I did a recent CBC beer column on the new beer.

But before we talk about Village, let’s take a step back. Calgary Beer deserves its iconic status in Alberta. It is the creation of Calgary Brewing and Malting which opened in 1892, making it one of Alberta’s earliest breweries. Calgary Brewing was the creation of A.E. Cross, a prominent rancher, politician and businessman best known for being one of the four founders of the Calgary Stampede. The brewery operated continuously (except for prohibition) and independently until the 1970s, when it was purchased by the Carling O’Keefe empire. When Carling was swallowed by Molson in 1989 it quickly became victim to their aggressive consolidation agenda. Molson shuttered the plant in 1994 and Calgary beer was no more.

Sorta. Oddly (and ironically) Molson continues to brew the Calgary Beer brand out of Vancouver exclusively for the Saskatchewan market, where it is mired in the “value” segment of low-price beer brewed with lots of adjuncts and less interest in flavour. Why Saskatchewanians get the privilege/curse of drinking the zombie version of Calgary Beer is beyond me.

Calgary Beer matters because of its longevity, its iconic buffalo and horseshoe label, and its unquestioned place in Alberta beer history. Even Edmontonians should recognize the significance of its return.

Enter Village, stage right. They found a way to talk Molson into lending them the brand for a summer 2021 reboot. They are a bit tight-lipped on how they they persuaded the notoriously insular Molson to play with others, simply saying “it has been on our radar for a long time”.

READ MORE

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TIME OUT  – Glorious Insults from an Era Before the English Language got Boiled Down to 4-Letter Words

 

A member of Parliament to Disraeli:  “Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease.”

“That depends, Sir,” said Disraeli, “whether I embrace your policies or your mistress.”

 

“He had delusions of adequacy.”

Walter Kerr

 

“He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.”

Winston Churchill

 

“I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure.”

Clarence Darrow

 

“He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary.”

William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway)

 

“Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I’ll waste no time reading it.”

Moses Hadas

 

“I didn’t attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.”

Mark Twain

 

“He has no enemies but is intensely disliked by his friends.”

Oscar Wilde!