THE WAKKER WEEKLY
Issue #1609 – Posted on: 29-November-2021
BREWERY “HOP”PENINGS! Bushwakker Head brewer, Michael Gaetz, reports his brand new Dark Cherry & Blackberry Ale is now on tap and in our offsale! The final bottles of our famous Blackberry Mead have been filled and are ready for their annual release this Saturday, December 4th. He also has a special limited edition surprise Winter Brew which will be released in individual 650ml glass bottles on Saturday, December 11th.
Our brand new DARK CHERRY & BLACKBERRY ALE is one of the fruitiest Bushwakker beers of the year! Enjoy while quantities last!
Growler fills are available and we have partially resumed our customer personal keg filling services. Lager keg fills are not available at this time but all Bushwakker ales are available. Our lagers still need a couple more weeks of aging time before they will be ready.
Our GUEST TAP is currently pouring a COCONUT PORTER from Pile O’ Bones Brewery. This will be followed by a DOUBLE NEW ENGLAND IPA from Black Bridge Brewery.
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 a number of REGINA SLGA stores.
We regret to announce that we will not be presenting our annual Single Malt Scotch Tasting event for the second year in a row. The uncertainty associated with the pandemic makes it very difficult to plan for any large events. Here’s hoping we can bring our big scotch tasting back in 2022!
NOVEMBER PREMIUM WINE FEATURES. Seeing as there will be no Bushwakker scotch tasting event this month, we thought we’d offer a scotch-inspired red. It is Jacob’s Creek Double Barrel Shiraz from Australia. Finished in aged scotch whiskey barrels for added richness and complexity. The white is The Ned Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. Both are $8.95 for a glass and $23.95 for a half litre.
Our Weekend Special on November 26th & 27th acknowledges the introduction of the new Saloon Series which is part of Agribition. Choose from either our PRIME RIB COWBOY BURGER for $19.95 or our 10 OZ. AAA BLACK ANGUS RIBEYE STEAK for $32.95. 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 are down to the final week before our big annual BLACKBERRY MEAD RELEASE DAY and this year’s “vintage” is selling like hotcakes! So many folks have taken advantage of our ONLINE ADVANCE ORDERING CURBSIDE PICKUP service! No more standing in line and no long waits. (But of course you can still wait in line to keep the tradition alive.) Just choose your pickup time, pull up to the rear of the building and you can either come in the back entrance to pick up your mead (PICKUP SERVICE) or you can choose our CURBSIDE option where you just pop open your trunk and we’ll place your mead bottles in your vehicle. Place your mead orders today at: bushwakker.com/mead2021
The Riders’ home playoff game is Sunday, November 28th. We will open at noon. Come down and enjoy our gourmet CALGARY BURGER & A PINT game day special for only $21.95 either before or after the big game. Come “devour” the competition!
BUSHWAKKER “NEW NORMAL” NOTES
We are open Monday – Thursday from 11:00 AM – 11:00 PM. The kitchen closes at 9:30 PM and last call is at 10:15 PM. Fridays and Saturdays we are open from 11:00 AM until Midnight. The kitchen is open until 10:30 PM and last call is at 11:15 PM. Live music fans can enjoy our Monday Night Jazz & Blues and Wednesday Folk Night performances from 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM.
This fall the government of Saskatchewan announced that mandatory masking would return immediately to all indoor spaces. Please be sure you are wearing a mask upon entering and leaving Bushwakker and even if you just need to get up to use the washroom. Masks are not required when you are seated and are eating or drinking. If you forget to bring a mask, we can provide you with a new one. The government also recently expanded their proof of vaccination or a government recognized recent negative Covid test health order. This is now not only required for in-house dining but also for offsale beer purchases. Don’t delay and get your vaccination proof in order today!
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.
Nov. 29: Monday Night Jazz & Blues. THE JAZZ BAND-ITS. Over 20 musicians deliver big band, jazz and swing – loud and proud! 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM.
Dec. 1: Wednesday Night Folk. REGINA SONGWRITERS GROUP AND SASKMUSIC PRESENT three local talented artists including: Roxie Lenton, Kat Thome and Bob Davies. 8:00 – 10:00 PM.
Nov 19 – 27: AGRIBITION SALOON SERIES. Five Regina venues will offer Agribition-themed food & drinks specials. Knotted Thistle Pub, Victoria’s Tavern (both Downtown & North locations,) Cathedral Social Hall and The Bushwakker Brewpub. Each “Saloon hopper” participant presents their Saloon Postcard in order to receive a stamp at each venue. If the Saloon Hopper participant collects the four pub stamps they will receive a set of Agribition playing cards. They can then fill out the form located on the back of their postcard and will be entered in a draw to win an Agribition Saloon Series grand prize. The Bushwakker Agribition Saloon Series specials will be:
Agribition Meal Features:
The Prime Rib Cowboy Burger: A huge eight-ounce prime rib patty loaded up with maple peppered bacon, sautéed mushrooms, onion rings, jalapeno jack cheese, banana peppers, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, ancho chili BBQ sauce and chipotle mayo on a brioche bun. Served with our award-winning fries, Tossed or Caesar salad or our house-made Soup du Jour.
Black Angus Steak: A 10 ounce AAA Black Angus Ribeye steak charbroiled to your specifications and topped with sautéed button mushrooms and chimichurri sauce. Served with vegetable ratatouille your choice of western-cut fries or roasted garlic aged cheddar mashed potatoes. Starts with Tossed or Caesar salad or our house-made Soup du Jour.
Bushwakker Brewed Beer Features:
Stubblejumper Pilsener – a German-style Pilsener balanced towards bold hop character with a deep straw colour. Its name refers to a field of grain after harvest.
Sodbuster Brown Ale – a traditional Northern English Brown Ale with a toffee-like, lightly caramel character and a medium-dry hop finish.
Bushwakker Local Distillery Drink Features:
Last Mountain Distillery Single Cask Single Malt Whiskey – A brand new release!
Outlaw Trail Spirits Rum Runner – made with Rustler’s Reward spiced rum and cola with a lime twist.
Outlaw Trail Spirits Calamity Jane Ginger Pack Mule – made with ginger vodka, ginger ale and lime juice served in a copper mug.
Saskatchewan is home to some of Canada’s best craft beers. Craft breweries have revitalized Saskatchewan communities and neighbourhoods, and become a vital part of the province’s economy and culture. Plan your tour and visit one of the many breweries listed at https://www.tourismsaskatchewan.com/exploresask-craft-beer-flight Check in to all 13 locations and get a custom designed Little Town Apparel t-shirt.
It’s Last Call for Cheap Beer
By Jen Skerritt, Bloomberg News
All this talk of inflation could drive a person to drink. But even that’s getting more expensive.
Beer input costs are soaring across the globe, fueled by withering barley supplies and surging aluminum costs, plus the same labor and transport bottlenecks plaguing every other industry.
As a result, AB InBev, the world’s largest brewer, has recently raised its prices in some markets, including Brazil, Columbia, Mexico, Nigeria and China, Chief Executive Officer Michel Doukeris said by phone this week. Brewer Heineken NV says it’s being “assertive” in raising prices to offset the impact of climbing commodity costs. Sam Adams maker Boston Beer Co. is planning a mid-to-high single-digit price hike in 2022, which will “look reasonable” in the “context of everything else,” said CEO David Burwick.
“There is elevated everything; we don’t believe that’s going to go down much,” Burwick said on a recent earnings call when asked about inflation. Hopefully, he said, the company’s customers, already used to paying a premium for craft beer, will be able to stomach the rising prices. “We’re not going up as much as our costs have.”
Input costs have been rising globally, across industries, fueled by a confluence of events: extreme weather that’s destroying global crops, a labor shortage that’s crippling the transport sector, shipping logjams at many of the world’s biggest ports and a worsening energy crisis in Europe and Asia. But the run-up in commodity costs couldn’t have come at a worse time for the global beer sector, which is just starting to recover from the coronavirus pandemic that shuttered bars, restaurants and sporting venues around the globe.
Across the top 20 alcoholic beverage markets that make up 75% of global consumption, beer showed a recovery in the first half of 2021, with volumes rising 7.5% compared to the same period in 2020, according to Brandy Rand, chief operating officer for the Americas at data-provider IWSR Drinks Market Analysis. Still, compared to the first half of 2019, overall beer volume is still down 5.7%, she said.
“There’s pressure coming from every direction,” said Brett Ireland, the chief executive officer of Bearhill Brewing, who anticipates he will spend as much as 7% more for malt at his four brewpubs in Alberta, Canada. “It’s definitely hitting home for brewers.”
Barley prices are largely to blame for the rising beer costs, after dry weather scorched fields in North America, which typically produces enough barley to account for about 20% of global commercial beer production. The European Union has also cut its barley crop estimate after rain dented the quality of the harvest. Barley output shrunk 34% to the second-smallest harvest since 1968 in Canada, the fifth-largest producer, while American farmers reaped the smallest crop since 1934, just after Prohibition ended.
“This year, they are not going to have enough or quality will be negatively impacted,” Jamie Sherman, Montana State University’s barley breeder, said by phone. Drought reduced the “plumpness” of barley and also raised protein content in the grain—both bad news for the beverage industry. “There’s a competition for good-quality barley,” Sherman said.
Global barley stockpiles are likely to fall to the lowest in nearly 40 years. That’s driven prices in Canada to all-time highs, with feed barley at C$9 a bushel ($7 a bushel) and malt fetching a premium of as much as C$1 above that, according to the Canadian Malting Barley Technical Centre.
“We’re crawling back out then the drought hits,” said Kevin Sich, supply chain director at Rahr Malting Canada Ltd. “Now we’ve got brewers wanting supply and we’re having trouble finding it because the raw products aren’t there.” Malt companies need barley so they can start and then halt the germination process, which changes the starches into sugars used by distillers and brewers.
At the same time, aluminum prices—key for canning the finished product—are also rising. The global aluminum price recently touched the highest in 13 years, while the North American cost to ship the metal rose to a record this year.
The pandemic spurred a shift to dining at-home and with it a demand for packaged beer, tightening the market for can-grade aluminum. The shortage has gotten so bad with plants running at maximum capacity that some can makers and beverage producers are importing cans from Brazil, Saudi Arabia and even from Asia. This is brutally expensive, according to CRU Group, because they’re effectively shipping air. Cans made in Hawaii, which have distinctive ridges on top and are typically only found on the island state, have been popping up in Colorado, said Bart Watson, chief economist at the Boulder, Colorado-based Brewers Association, which represents small and independent craft brewers in the U.S., calling it an example of today’s “weird supply chain.”
“For small brewers, they are going to face a choice: You either need to take on those supply chain costs and get lower margin, which many are going to have a tough time accepting, or find a way to pass those costs on to customers,” said Watson. “There’s only so long that brewers can take on those lower margins and stay in business, particularly given how challenging a year it’s been.”
TIME OUT
Two friends are walking their dogs together. One has a big black Lab, while the other has a minuscule Chihuahua. They pass a bar and the lab owner says, “Let’s get a beer.” The chihuahua walker complains, “That would be great, but we can’t take our dogs in there.” The first responds, “Watch me.”
The Lab owner strolls in with her dog and orders a beer. The bartender tells her, “Sorry, you can’t bring your dog in here.” “He’s my seeing eye dog,” the woman replies feigning offense. The bartender quickly apologizes and serves her the beer.
The other woman follows, her Chihuahua in tow, and orders a beer as well. Again the bartender says there are no dogs allowed in the bar. “He’s my seeing eye dog,” the woman replies. “Yeah, right,” the bartender says, “A Chihuahua? Give me a break.”
Without missing a beat, the woman replies, “They gave me a Chihuahua?”
Some controversial history depicted in this Salt Lake City craft beer label. Only in Utah where polygamists have lived before the area even became a state!
