THE WAKKER WEEKLY
Issue #1693 – Posted on: 10-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 and MARRY BERRY BLONDE ALE and 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, GRANNY’S BITTER, KAIS MUNICH HELLES and TANGERINE DREAM FRUIT BEER are currently working their way through the brewery.
Blackberry Mead and Three-Down Bohemian Pilsener bottles are in our offsale cooler for summer patio sippin’! We release a limited amount of mead bottles for the summer tourist season and our extra-aged pilsener is available at a reduced summer sale price of only $5 for a 650ml bomber bottle!
This Weekend’s Special Dining Feature for July 7th and 8th is SMOKED BRISKET for $22.95. 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.
Our SASK CRAFT GUEST TAP is currently pouring a POMEGRANATE PALE ALE from Saskatoon’s High Key Brewing. Next up is a NEW ENGLAND IPA from Swift Current’s Black Bridge Brewery.
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.
Thank you Regina! We are very pleased to have won SEVEN top spots in the 2023 edition of the Prairie Dog Magazine’s BEST OF FOOD REGINA Awards! Cheers to 32 years of incredible enthusiastic support!
The Bushwakker LOCAL ARTIST WALL July featured artist is JAN CROOK. Her artist biography is as follows:
I was born in Edmonton, but have lived in Regina most of my life. I have always enjoyed drawing, but with work and other commitments, I found it difficult to find time to really develop my skills. I retired from teaching in 2009 and decided that I had the time to strengthen and develop my artistic skills.
In 2010, I became a member of the Aurora Art Guild which provided a connection to the art community. I have taken a number of classes through the Neil Balkwill Centre, the College Avenue Campus, online, and the University of Saskatchewan Adult Art Sessions. I’ve taken classes from Martha Cole, Donna Kriekle, Larry Jackson, Bonny Macnab, Birgit, O’Connor, Joyce Faulknor, and Grant Fuller. Through each instructor, I’ve learned new techniques using different media and experimented in different styles. I started with watercolours, but have expanded into acrylic inks, silk paints, and acrylics. Each one provides me with interesting ideas to try and to even combine into one piece.
My art has been shown in numerous guild shows, at the Art Gallery of Regina members’ show, and at the Allan Blair Cancer Clinic. I enjoy creating realistic pieces using nature for inspiration. A lot of my pieces focus on prairie landscapes. I have started to experiment with abstracts that still have a focus on nature. For me, art should be something to enjoy…not only to look at, but to create.
Enjoy Jan’s colourful works all this month!
UPCOMING BUSHWAKKER EVENTS
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!
July 10: Monday Night Jazz & Blues. LONG LIVE THE GLORY. Young up-and-coming blues rock act with members hailing from Dilke, Estevan, Imperial and Regina are back for an encore performance. 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM.
July 12: Wednesday Folk Night. REGINA SONGWRITER’S ASSOCIATION PRESENTS: Bob Davies and Adrienne Bilodeau. Two fine local singer/songwriters will strut their stuff. 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM.
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.
An Introduction to Mead
By: Owen Ogletree
Editor’s Note: The summer release of our famous Blackberry Mead took place last week. Bottles of this delicious purple elixir will be available in our offsale cooler while quantities last. We began this tradition a few years ago after many a summer tourist had stated that they had heard of our world-class mead but had never had the opportunity to try it. We have found that many locals also enjoy picking up a few bottles to help tide them over until the annual Christmas release returns on the first Saturday of each December.
What Goes Into Mead Fermentation & Production, And How Are The Varied Styles Of Mead Defined?
Craft mead ranks as a hot new trend in the alcohol industry, but few imbibers truly understand and appreciate the complexities and defining characteristics of this historic, legendary beverage. How does mead differ from wine, cider and beer? What goes into mead fermentation and production, and how are the varied styles of mead defined?
How Is Mead Different from Beer, Wine & Cider?
Wine is fermented from grape or fruit juices. Beer starts with converting the starch of barley grains into fermentable sugars using a hot water infusion, then boiling the sweet liquid with hops to balance the sweetness. Cider basically arises from fermented apple juice. With mead, honey makes up most of the fermentable sugar, and the final alcohol-by-volume (ABV) content can range from around 3 percent to over 20 percent, depending on the style.
Robin Kosoris of Georgia’s Viking Alchemist Meadery believes that mead innovation is only limited by the imagination of the mead maker. “Like wine, mead has terroir,” she says. “Wildflower honey is the ‘bees’ choice’ of local flowers and has a distinctiveness based on location as well as time of year. Like beer, mead has a wide variety of styles and lends itself well to creativity.”
When Was Mead Invented?
Millennia ago, water soaked into a damaged beehive, or maybe rain, diluted a container of honey that was left out in the elements. The watery honey fermented from microbes found in the environment, and some calorie-deprived soul drank the resulting liquid and found it to be delicious and delightfully intoxicating. Early mead production was going on almost 10,000 years ago, based on residue found in ancient Chinese pottery, and for thousands of years, this “nectar of the gods” was probably the favorite alcoholic drink in the world.
How is Mead Made?
Honey, water and yeast are essential in the creation of mead, and the final product can fall on a carbonation spectrum from zero carbon dioxide (still) to lively and sparkling like champagne. Depending on the amount of residual sugar at packaging, meads are available in versions that can be described as dry, semi-sweet or sweet. Dry meads make for splendid aperitifs, while sweet meads pair well with desserts.
Bees collect nectar and pollen from surrounding flowers and convert this mixture into honey in the hive. Mead’s major flavors come from the type of honey that is used, and different flowers give rise to honeys with a surprising array of aroma and flavor characteristics. Most standard, mixed blossom honeys produce meads with appealing, neutral flavors. Orange blossom honey contributes a pleasing hint of citrus. Tupelo honey can produce meads with somewhat earthy undertones, while an unusual honey type such as eucalyptus offers notes of pungent menthol.
TIME OUT
Three bees fly into a pub and land on the bar.
The barkeep says “Wow bees, uh what can I get you?”
All three bees order a half drop of mead.
The barkeep finds an eye dropper and dispenses their order.
Full of curiosity the barkeep asks “So do bees drink a lot?”
The first bee replies,
“No… just enough to get a buzz on.”
Our Summer Blackberry Mead Release is underway. Although some claim mead on ice is twice as nice it is no patio pounder! At 10.5% ABV this bevie is no lawnmower lager!
