THE WAKKER WEEKLY
Issue #1692 – Posted on: 03-July-2023
BREWERY “HOPP”ENINGS! Bushwakker Head brewer, Michael Gaetz, reports that our seasonally available HONEY THISTLE WIT, BOMBAY IPA, BARON BOCK, SASKADIAN BLACK IPA, MARRY BERRY BLONDE ALE and CHOCOLATE MILK STOUT are currently available. SUMMER SUDS SALE! 650 ml bottles of the amazing THREE-DOWN BOHEMIAN PILSNER are on sale for $5.00 each. Our FLEK’S CZECH DARK LAGER and GRANNY’S BITTER are currently working their way through the brewery.
PRE-CANADA DAY SUMMER MEAD RELEASE! We held back a portion of our annual Blackberry Mead bottles to appease the many tourists who visit us every summer. To help you take your Canada Day Weekend celebrations to the next level we will be releasing bottles our famous Blackberry Mead on Friday, June 30th (because we will be closed on July 1st.) Come catch the buzz and discover why our famous mead is twice as nice when served on ice! Blackberry Mead Cheesecake will be available too!
CLOSED FOR CANADA DAY! Enjoy a cool Bushwakker brew or our summer mead on ice!
This Friday’s Special Dining Feature for June 30th is a GOURMET BURGER for $21.95. Our Saturday CLASSIC STEAK & A PINT SPECIAL as well as our Monday and Wednesday WINGS & A PINT SPECIAL and Tuesday PIZZA & A PINT SPECIAL are also great value deals.
JULY PREMIUM WINE FEATURES: This month’s wine features are the FAT BASTARD WINES from France. The red wine is their SHIRAZ and the white wine is their SAUVIGNON BLANC. Both are $8.50 for a glass and $22.95 for a half litre.
UPCOMING BUSHWAKKER EVENTS
July 3: Monday Night Jazz & Blues. THE DARA SCHINDELKA TRIO. Dara is described as having the voice of an angel with the power of a freight train! 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM.
July 5: Wednesday Folk Night. BRIAN PAUL D.G & FRIENDS. Saskatoon singer/songwriter makes his Bushwakker debut joined by a musical friend or two for a night of original compositions and storytelling. 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM.
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July 6: SASK VS. EDMONTON. A 7:00 PM kickoff gives you plenty of time to stop by the Bushwakker before the game and enjoy our gourmet game day EDMONTON BURGER & A PINT SPECIAL. Come “devour” the competition!
July 7: FIRST FIRKIN FRIDAY – Special Bushwakker Baby Blimp Launch Edition! Enjoy the pomp and circumstance of this longstanding Bushwakker monthly tradition! A piper from The Regina Police Services Pipes & Drums leads a keg (the firkin) of special ale throughout the pub in a procession which will include a mini blimp in the shape of the firkin. The blimp was designed by small local company, Weapons of Mass Destruction https://www.facebook.com/massdistraction.ca/ A guest volunteer tapper is selected to wield the handmade wooden maul affectionately named, The Mighty Firkin Wakker, and attempts to tap the keg in one mighty blow! To acknowledge the blimp’s debut, this month’s firkin offering will be a GERMAN KIRSCHWASSER – INFUSED MUNICH HELLES/WITBIER! The suds-soaking spectacular takes place at 5:30 PM. Hopefully the Bushwakker Baby Blimp survives its maiden brewpub voyage!
CURRENT HOURS OF OPERATION AND RESERVATIONS NOTES
We are open Monday – Thursday from 11:00 AM – 10:00 PM. The kitchen closes at 9:00 PM and last call is at 9:15 PM. Fridays and Saturdays we are open from 11:00 AM until midnight. The kitchen is open until 11:00 PM and last call is at 11:15 PM. Closed Sundays.
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. Our two banquet rooms are also available for private party rentals. Call Kelly at 306-359-7276 to book either our main floor Arizona Room or basement Clubroom.
A Brief History of Witbier
by TapRm
Editor’s Note: We are very excited at the recent tapping of a tank of Bushwakker Honey Thistle Wit. We haven’t seen this wonderful summer brew for a number of years. Available on tap, in our offsale and for growler fills too. Enjoy while quantities last!
Belgian beer is popular in America and worldwide, but some old-world Belgian ales that were once long-forgotten have made a surprising comeback. One such style is the witbier.
You’ve probably sampled something close to a witbier. Blue Moon, for instance, is a Belgian wheat ale that is a close relative of witbier, kind of a spin-off, if you will. And like witbier, you normally enjoy these beers with a slice of orange or an orange peel.
True witbier has a rich history and an even more interesting comeback story through the efforts of one brewer who refused to sell out or modify his original witbier recipe for the sake of mass production.
At TapRm, we appreciate an underdog, and a great beer, whether a pilsner or a pale ale. That’s why we love witbier, the unsung hero of pale, hazy beers with lots of carbonation and a spicy, citrusy finish. Pull up a chair, and we’ll tell you the tale about the rise, fall, and rebirth of this classic white beer.
What Is Witbier? A witbier is a Belgian-style wheat ale that is both pale and cloudy. Witbier is unfiltered and usually contains a combination of oats and wheat in the grist. Usually, the wheat is not malted. Witbier always contains spice, most notably coriander and orange peel. Witbier is crisp, clean, bubbly, and tangy. Usually, it is enjoyed with a slice of orange or orange peel as garnish. It might also be known as Bière Blanche or witte, and it’s usually served in a tulip glass. They tend to be lighter than German weissbier, with less clove flavor. It’s distinct from other wheat beers as well, including Hefeweizen and Berliner Weisse. Witbier is also significantly less malty than a Dunkel.
The History of Witbier. Like many ancient beers, the actual origins of witbier are a bit murky at best. We do know that at the turn of the 14th century, monks in monasteries located in the French-speaking part of Belgium were brewing beer using locally available herbs and spices. This beer used unmalted wheat, which meant that the beer had a pale color, giving it its name. These monks used wild yeast strains and bacteria during fermentation, which means that witbier actually began as a sour. Witbier brewers today have eliminated the wild yeast and bacteria, thus eliminating the would-be sour classification.
Popularity. Witbier, or “white beer,” became very popular during the 16th century. During this time, beer was usually much darker due to the necessary process of drying malt over an open flame. The charred malt gave beer not only a dark hue but also made it unpredictable. The resulting beer had different tastes depending on the level of scorching the malt received. Witbier became popular for its nuanced color, but also for the predictability of flavor it had.
The Fall Of Witbier. By the 1800s, new advances in beer-making technology, including air-drying malt, made it possible for brewers to better control the outcomes of the beers they made. This switched the focus from witbier to newer, darker, and more robust ales and lagers. By 1930, there were only a few breweries still producing witbier, and one of them was in the town of Hoegaarden.
The Rebirth of Witbier. We can attribute our current affair with witbier to one man, Pierre Celis. Growing up in Hoegaarden in the 30s and 40s, he became familiar with witbier and the brewing process from a neighbor who owned a brewery. Celis helped his neighbor at the brewery while simultaneously working on his family’s dairy farm. After WWII, his neighbor’s brewery was forced to close. At the urging of friends and family, Celis began brewing witbier at home in 1965. His production grew, and he purchased used brewing equipment to keep up.
Eventually, Celis opened a brewery and began distributing his witbier commercially. Unfortunately, the brewery burned to the ground. To rebuild it, he was given financing by a large beer conglomerate. He reopened as Hoegaarden Brewery but eventually sold his shares of the company when his financial backers wanted him to change the recipe for faster distribution.
TIME OUT
Juan Vega, a famous clam diver, found an injured sea otter and nursed it back to health. From the moment the grateful otter was recovered, it never left Juan’s side. It even learned to dig for clams.
One day, a man went to Juan’s house looking to hire him for a week. His wife answered the door, and said “He can work for you, but it will cost you $500.”
“That much?” asked the man.
“But you’re getting my husband and his pet sea otter,” said the wife. “They bring up more clams than anyone else in town.”
“But I just want Juan. I’ll hire him alone for $350,” the man countered.
“Sorry,” she shrugged. “You can’t have Juan without the otter.”
We will be CLOSED FOR CANADA DAY on Saturday, July 1st! Be sure to enjoy a cool Bushwakker brew or our summer mead on ice!
