Bold stout aged in Sagamore rye whiskey barrels dumps dark chocolate syrup upon boozy sherry, port and burgundy wining plus lingered bourbon vanilla sweetness. Whiskeyed cherry bruise heightens finishing mocha bourbon resonance. Exquisite nightcap.
Tag Archives: CHECKERSPOT BREWING
CHECKERSPOT ADMIRAL BUCK IMPERIAL BOCK
Beautiful bourbon-aged bock imparts true whiskeyed cognac warmth for caramelized barleywine sweetness contrasting dry rye flourish. Boozy Manhattan cocktail continuance picks up tertiary sherry, bruised cherry, glazed pecan and butterscotch candy illusions for impressive 9.8% ABV fireplace sipper.
CHECKERSPOT MORENITA MIA PORTER
Intense high-altitude jungle roasted Honduran coffee beans combine with nutty cocoa nibs bittering and a wispy citric rind twist for dry porter. Brisk clean water flow lightens the bitter mocha end of freshly roasted percolator coffee resilience and unsweetened cocoa bean continuance regaling bold porter.
CHECKERSPOT BEAR IMPERIAL PORTER
Smooth watered dried fruiting and winy whiskey response seep deep into dark cocoa base. Dry anise-spiced raisin, prune and fig combo receives Muscat-wined burgundy and blackberry brandy snips plus rye whiskey nip overriding musky mocha murk.
CHECKERSPOT HIGH & MIGHTY IMPERIAL IPA
Nicknamed ‘A Force Of Nature,” heightened 8.3% ABV adds boozy conviction to sunshiny dry bodied Imperial IPA. Bright lemony yellow grapefruit stead gains tangy tangerine-pineapple zing as salty pine licks and subtle herbage lightly come forth.
CHECKERSPOT FANCY PANTS NEW ENGLAND IPA
Tropical fruited NEIPA (using Idaho 7/Citra/Cashmere hops) lets candied orange, tangy tangerine, salted pineapple, sweet nectarine and lemon-limed guava, lychee and mango tartness combine alongside mild pine lacquering above porridge oats creaming.
CHECKERSPOT JUNIPERUS IPA
Refreshingly dry juniper berry bittering guides zestful Mosiac/Idaho 7-hopped IPA as lemony grapefruit peeled orange rind sunshine and candied pineapple tang briskly scour parched pine tones above mild oats creaming.
CHECKERSPOT STOOP SESH IPA
Sessionable IPA lets zesty lemon pitted grapefruit bittering stay soft alongside peachy mandarin orange licks, salted pineapple-papaya-guava tropicalia, tart passionfruit wisps and subtle blueberry-blackberry hints given delicate resinous pining over dry pale malt base.
CHECKERSPOT 24 KARAT KOLSCH
Mustier kolsch brings dry lemon pith spritz and desiccated orange musk to mild cilantro herbage above doughy white breading. Simple golden clear moderation.
CHECKERSPOT BREWING COMPANY
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND
Beginning operations September 1, 2019 at the Pigtown site now occupied by M8, CHECKERSPOT BREWING COMPANY moved westward down the street to an eye-catching black cinder-blocked warehouse with yellow butterfly trim and white company lettering.
Entrepreneurial brewing spouses Rob and Judy Neff renovated their new Checkerspot digs in 2023 at a former industrial printing plant they now own. Its community-tabled first floor includes a wood lacquer-topped 20-seat bar with 20-plus driftwood draught handles and two TV’s. The lounge-chaired balcony area contains a few pinball games. A subaquatic theme runs thru the wall art and windowed tanks contain the copious liquid suds on hand.
Adding a kitchen for worthy pub fare to complement the mostly ‘lighter malt-forward beers’ as well as ‘hop-lover’ ales and non-alcoholic selections, Checkerspot’s grown to be one of Baltimore’s most successful brewpub ventures.
My wife and I settled in on a Friday at noon, February ’24, to try a traditional British ale and honeyed kolsch. We left with about a dozen canned brews reviewed in Beer Index.
Conventional English pub ale, Average Joe, suited the everyday light-bodied pilsner-lager fan with its mossy brown tea-like dewiness, dry pale ale malting and cocoa-dried wattleseed nuttiness given a dainty lemon spritz.
Raw-honeyed buckwheat saddled Bird Is The Word, snatching a honey-wined mead theme teased by oniony chive, butternut squash and pecan illusions over buttermilk breading.