https://untappd.com/CheckerheadBrewing

Checkerhead Brewing, 10602 Sherburne Drive, Sooke, BC (2026)

09/03/2026

Well… every brewery has a little drama now and then! 😅🍺

🚨 The Bad News: Just before I headed off on my Atlantic crossing cruise ship gig, the glycol recirculation pump at the brewery decided it had officially reached retirement age and quit on me. 💀⚙️

The original pump came over from China with the brewery equipment, and I still remember my plumber Rick looking at it years ago and saying, “I don’t know Dave… doesn’t seem like a great pump to me.” 😂 To be fair, getting a couple of years out of it probably wasn’t too bad!

Was it because it was a 50 Hz pump running on our 60 Hz power supply? ⚡ Was the glycol mixture part of the problem? 🤔 Your guess is as good as mine! I spent more than a few moments mid-Atlantic scratching my head and trying to solve brewery problems from the middle of the ocean. 🌊🚢🧠

Huge thanks to my good friend Nathan Wilson for popping out to check all the electrical components. 🙌🔧 Once we confirmed the pump had power but refused to spin, a burnt-out motor became the obvious culprit.

🎉 The Good News: My plumber Rick (Rick & Ben Ackinclose) has a replacement on the way — and it’s a serious upgrade! 🚀🍺

We’re replacing the original self-priming jet pump with a proper centrifugal circulation pump, purpose-built for glycol systems. That means better performance, greater reliability, and hopefully a much quieter brewery soundtrack! 🔄❄️🔇

⏸️ In the meantime, production and packaging are temporarily on pause because temperature control in the unitanks is absolutely essential. But don’t panic… there’s still PLENTY of beer flowing from the taps! 🍻😄

✨ This weekend’s lineup:

🍇 Hidden Wonders — Blackberry Wit
🍓 Just Call Me Raspberry — Raspberry Checkerweizen
🤡 Stu’s Rusty Unicycle — Red Ale
🏔️ Man of the Mountain — Dark Mild
🍻 C & B Bitter

🕑 Long Weekend Hours:

Friday: 2:00–8:00 PM
Saturday – Holiday Monday: Noon–6:00 PM

Come on out and let me fill your glass with joy and happiness! 🍺❤️

08/29/2026

According to CruiseMapper, Sapphire Princess is now about three-quarters of the way across the Atlantic!

I’m delighted to report that the ocean has treated us very kindly so far. We’ve had a few bumpy patches, but nothing too dramatic—and today it’s been delightfully smooth sailing. 🌊🚢

Tomorrow evening is showtime! I’ll be performing in the Princess Theatre at 7:30 and 9:30 PM, and I’m very much looking forward to putting on my funny pants and creating some hilarious memories for the passengers onboard. 🤹‍♂️😂

It’s also my last night aboard, as we arrive in Sydney, Nova Scotia around 7:30 AM Monday morning. My first flight to Montreal doesn’t leave until just after 5:00 PM, so I’ll have most of the day to explore Sydney before beginning the long journey home.

Which brings me to the obvious question:

“Why isn’t Checkerhead Brewing open this weekend?”

Well… because I’m currently surrounded by approximately a whole lotta ocean and am therefore somewhat limited in my ability to sling beer. 🍺🌊

My apologies to anyone experiencing an acute case of Checkerhead Thirst™ this weekend. Sometimes, though, ya just gotta chase that SWEET. SWEET. JUGGLER. MONEY. 💰🤹‍♂️

Huge thanks to for landing me this gig, and of course to everyone at Princess Cruises who continue to believe in my ability to manipulate gravity and laughter.

The good news: Checkerhead Brewing will be back open for the Labour Day Long Weekend! 🇨🇦🍻

I can’t wait to get home, get the taps flowing, and pour you a glass full of joy & happiness.

Until then… greetings from the middle of the Atlantic! 🌊

08/25/2026

My beautiful and charming wife discovered a little mystery in the yard next to the brewery: a set of keys that someone accidentally left behind after visiting us this weekend! 🔑

Do these look familiar? 👀

If you recognize them and would like to be reunited with your keys, send me a PM and we’ll figure out how to get them back to you.

We’d love to solve the Case of the Missing Keys! 🕵️‍♂️🔑

08/23/2026

Just a quick reminder to anyone who might care: tomorrow, Monday, August 24, I’m off to Cork, Ireland! 🇮🇪✈️

I’ll be joining Sapphire Princess on August 25 for a six-day transatlantic voyage that will eventually deliver me to Sydney, Nova Scotia on August 31. 🌊🚢

Which means Checkerhead Brewing will be closed August 28–30.

So… if you want to get some Checkerhead Goodness before the end of the month, TODAY IS YOUR LAST CHANCE! 🍻

Here’s what’s ON-TAP today:

🍺 1. Hidden Wonders — Blackberry Wit
🍓 2. Just Call Me Raspberry — Raspberry Checkerweizen
🤡 3. Stu’s Rusty Unicycle — Red Ale
🏔️ 4. Man of the Mountain — Dark Mild
🍻 5. C & B Bitter

And for those of you following along at home, you may have noticed that the Skinny German Juggle Märzen has mysteriously disappeared from the list.

The mystery has been solved.

Some very thirsty patrons decided it was simply too good to leave any behind and polished off the last keg yesterday. 😂🍺

While I’m away crossing the Atlantic and keeping a close eye out for icebergs, rogue whales and suspiciously large floating chunks of anything, I’ve got a Mosaic SMASH beer happily getting itself ready to be kegged when I return.

Roger’s Rakau Pale Ale also looks like it’s getting very close to being ready for ON-TAP, so we should be back up to six or seven beers in September.

And that’s good, because I need to make some room…

FRESH HOP SEASON IS COMING! 🌿🍺

I’m hoping to brew:

🌿 A fresh-hopped Lemon • Basil • Bees
🌾 A Pilsner featuring Sterling hops
🫐 A Black Currant Ale featuring Brewer’s Gold hops
🌲 A West Coast IPA loaded with Cascade, Centennial, Chinook, Magnum & Galena

So there’s LOTS to look forward to when I get back!

But for now, if you’re craving some Checkerhead beer, today is the day.

Come enjoy a glass, fill a growler, grab a tasting flight—or just say goodbye to the brewer before he disappears across the Atlantic. 😎🍻

08/21/2026

There was a bit of a debate around which image should represent the Raspberry Checkerweizen going ON-TAP today. 🍺❤️

I was pretty fond of the Salvador Dalí-esque version where the beer is pouring directly into the inside of my checkered head. My beautiful and charming wife, however, felt it was just a wee bit creepy. 😂

So… democracy wins. We went with the image that looks more like the original Checkerweizen label, with a healthy dose of raspberry augmentation. And honestly? I think she was right. 🍓

But the name “Just Call Me Raspberry” has a much better story.

It goes all the way back to a party I threw long before Checkerhead Brewing was officially open. Our friend Robin (robin) liked the homebrew-scale version of this beer so much that she spent a good chunk of the party wandering around saying:

“Just Call Me Raspberry.”

Over and over.

Eventually I figured there was only one reasonable response:

“Okay… we’ll just call you Raspberry.” 😂

And now, years later, here we are.

JUST CALL ME RASPBERRY — Raspberry Checkerweizen is officially joining the taps today. It’s fruity, refreshing, a little bit cheeky, and absolutely loaded with late-summer raspberry goodness.

I have a feeling this one is going to be VERY well received… and disappear VERY quickly.

So if you’re headed out to Shirley this weekend, here’s what’s pouring:

🍺 1. Hidden Wonders — Blackberry Wit
🍓 2. Just Call Me Raspberry — Raspberry Checkerweizen
🤡 3. Stu’s Rusty Unicycle — Red Ale
🏔️ 4. Man of the Mountain — Dark Mild
🍻 5. C & B Bitter
🇩🇪 6. Skinny German Juggle — Märzen

⚠️ MÄRZEN WARNING: I’m down to my LAST KEG of Skinny German Juggle Märzen. If you’ve been meaning to grab one before it disappears, Friday would be a very good day to do it.

Looking forward to filling your glass with liquid joy, happiness, and enough raspberries that you’ll want me to call YOU Raspberry too. 🍓🍺❤️

08/20/2026

Spent some time this morning getting the bottle caps ready for this weekend, because if you order “Just Call Me Raspberry” — Raspberry Checkerweizen as part of your tasting flight, this is the cap that will be going onto your flight board. 🍺🍓

I’m super excited to finally get this one ON-TAP!

There’s a pretty cool story behind this beer. It features GAAN-19, an experimental Canadian hop that Aurora McLachlan from Topp's Hops generously gifted me. GAAN-19 is currently in brewing trials and was bred with modern Canadian lagers in mind. It brings layered sweetness, herbal and grassy character, and a touch of citrus—a clean but characterful twist on classic lager hop profiles.

But the hops are only half the story. 😏

This beer spent some serious quality time sitting on a ridiculous amount of raspberries while it was still in the fermenter before making its way to the brite tank for carbonation. The result is a fruit-forward, refreshing take on a German Hefeweizen.

Of course, adding raspberries to a Hefeweizen is about as far from the Bavarian Reinheitsgebot of 1516 as you can get. 😂

But sometimes you have to break a few rules in the name of deliciousness.

And, if I may say so myself, this one is pretty damn tasty. A fun, fruity way to finish out the summer!

🍻 ON-TAP THIS WEEKEND:

Hidden Wonders Blackberry Wit
Just Call Me Raspberry — Raspberry Checkerweizen
Stu’s Rusty Unicycle Red Ale
Man of the Mountain Dark Mild
C & B Bitter
Skinny German Juggle Märzen
⚠️ MÄRZEN WARNING: I’m down to my last keg of that Skinny German Juggle Märzen. If you want to get your hands on some before it disappears, Friday would be your best bet!

Looking forward to filling your glass with liquid joy, happiness, raspberries and just a little disregard for 500-year-old brewing regulations. 🍺❤️

08/16/2026

I knew this day was coming, and honestly, I’m a little surprised Chain Reaction Hazy IPA held on as long as it did! 🍺

But by the end of Saturday, the last drop was poured and Chain Reaction is officially SOLD OUT! 🎉

Which, of course, means we’re down to FIVE taps of deliciousness at Checkerhead Brewing today. Here’s what you can still whet your whistle with:

🍺 1. Hidden Wonders Blackberry Wit
🍺 2. Skinny German Juggle Märzen
🍺 3. Stu’s Rusty Unicycle Red Ale
🍺 4. Man of the Mountain Dark Mild
🍺 5. C&B Bitter

And there’s plenty more goodness on the way!

If everything goes according to plan, Raspberry Hefeweizen should be ON TAP next weekend, with a whole lineup of beers hot on its heels:

🍓 Raspberry Hefeweizen
🌿 Hop Juggler SMASH — Mosaic Edition
🌱 Roger’s Rakau Pale Ale
🍺 Moroccofied Cerveza
🍓 Liquid Shirley Hard Seltzer

I’m particularly excited about getting those tanks emptied because that means I can start brewing the fresh-hopped beers made with hops from my very own little hop yard. 🌿🍺 Those should start appearing in September!

Figuring out what to brew, when to brew it, and how to keep the tanks moving is basically mental Tetris for a brewer—and, honestly, it tickles all the right parts of my brain. 😂

Hopefully, the end result tickles your taste buds just as much.

Thanks for continuing to drink my beer, empty my tanks, and give me an excuse to keep making more. ❤️

Looking forward to filling your glass with happiness and joy!

08/14/2026

You don’t brew beer just to look at it… and I must be doing something right, because the taps are starting to run dry! 🍺

We’ve gone from 8 taps → 7 → now 6, with a very good chance we’ll be down to 5 before the weekend is over.

So, what’s ON TAP this weekend—and what’s about to disappear? Here’s the lineup:

🍻 1. Hidden Wonders Blackberry Wit
Back on tap at the beginning of August and selling FAST! This one has definitely found its fans.

🍺 2. Skinny German Juggle Märzen
A classic German-style lager made with malt from Bavaria for that extra-authentic taste. Big thanks to Paul Van Der Ham for brewing this one with me!

🍺 3. Stu’s Rusty Unicycle Red Ale
Made its return last weekend and is already proving to be a hit with our patrons.

🍺 4. Man of the Mountain Dark Mild
A tribute beer to my good friend Sean Rank—the original Man of the Mountain. IYKYK. 😉

🍺 5. C&B Bitter
Dark. Roasty. Delicious. A tip of the hat to Warren Boyer for brewing this one with me.

🍺 6. Chain Reaction Hazy IPA
Our tribute beer to Colten Nash, which I had the pleasure of brewing with Iain Warren.

🚨 CHAIN REACTION WARNING! 🚨

This one is down to its LAST KEG and I fully expect it to disappear this weekend.

So if you’ve been meaning to try it—or you’re Lee Jantzen and have been waiting for your moment—this is your warning. 😜

Once that keg kicks, we’ll be down to 5 taps until next week, when I’m hoping to get a couple of beers currently sitting happily in fermenters carbonated, conditioned and ready to join the lineup.

But don’t worry…

There’s plenty of beer in the pipeline. 🍻

The taps may be getting emptier, but there’s lots more to look forward to at Checkerhead!

Come get it while it’s here.

08/13/2026

Public Service Announcement! 📣

As much as I love my little brewery and everything that comes with it, I also really love my life as a performer. So when my new cruise ship agent, Starbook Entertainment, called and asked if I could fill in for another performer who had to cancel an Atlantic crossing, my first thought was:

“I’d better check with the wife.” 😂

I ran it by Emiko Yoshikawa, expecting at least a little hesitation.

Instead: “Ireland? They want to send you to IRELAND? You should totally go!”

So… I said yes. 🇮🇪🍀

On August 24th, I’m flying to Ireland and joining Sapphire Princess for a one-week contract sailing from Cobh, Ireland to Sydney, Nova Scotia.

Which means that while I’m away, Checkerhead Brewing will be CLOSED August 28, 29 & 30.

So please don’t make the trek out to Shirley those days… because I’ll be somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic, juggling my way toward that SWEET SWEET JUGGLER MONEY! 🤹‍♂️💰🚢

The timing is slightly tricky because, of course, this happens right around hop harvest time in my little hop yard. 🌿🍺 Thankfully, our son Owen, Lucky River, is coming for a visit and may be able to lend a hand. And for that, I am VERY grateful.

Sometimes I honestly have no idea how all of these pieces fit together.

It reminds me of one of my favourite moments from the 1998 movie Shakespeare in Love, when Geoffrey Rush’s character is asked how everything will work out.

His answer?

“It’s a mystery.”

And honestly… that pretty much sums up my life.

It’s a mystery.

I’m just incredibly grateful that somehow, it all seems to work out. ❤️

08/08/2026

🍺 ONE BEER ENDS… ANOTHER ROLLS IN! 🚲💨

All good things must come to an end, and I’m semi-sad to announce that IN JEST ESB is officially SOLD OUT!

I absolutely loved making this beer with Thom Riley and Jeremiah from and even more, I loved how it turned out. Judging by how quickly you folks kept coming back for it, I wasn’t the only one! 😁

But when one beer rides off into the sunset, another one rolls into the taproom…

🍺 Introducing the return of STU’S RUSTY UNICYCLE RED ALE! 🚲

This one is very Checkerhead:

🌿 Willamette hops grown right here in the Checkerhead hop yard
💧 Water from our well
🌾 Malt from Field Five Farm Ltd.
🍯 And our house yeast strain, propagated from the honey produced by our very own bees

And the name? Stu.

Stu is one of the legendary Four Swordsmen of the Apocalypse — the dream team of friends who have jumped in on countless projects, solved countless problems, and helped turn the crazy idea of Checkerhead Brewing into the place it is today.

Can Stu ride a unicycle?

🤷‍♂️ I honestly have no idea.

But if you put a motor on one, I suspect Stu would be willing to find out. 😂

🍻 WHAT’S ON TAP RIGHT NOW:

1️⃣ Hop Juggler SMASH — Fresh-Hopped Galena Edition
There’s only a whisper of this one left…

2️⃣ Hidden Wonders Blackberry Wit

3️⃣ Chain Reaction Hazy IPA — Collab with Iain Warren
Could sell out this week!

4️⃣ Skinny German Juggle Märzen — Collab with Paul Van Der Ham

5️⃣ Stu’s Rusty Unicycle Red Ale 🚲

6️⃣ Man of the Mountain Dark Mild

7️⃣ C & B Bitter — Collab with Warren Boyer

And for those looking for something non-alcoholic, I’ve also got six varieties of Checkerhead Craft Kombucha:

🍊 Orange Pekoe
🫐 Black Currant
🍓 Raspberry Lemonade
🍑 Peach Cocktail
🍯 Honey Bush
🌴 Paradise

So come on out to Shirley, grab a seat, and let me fill your glass with a little joy, happiness, and possibly some questionable unicycling decisions. 😁

Cheers! 🍻

Checkerhead Brewing

09/03/2026

08/29/2026

08/25/2026

08/23/2026

08/21/2026

08/20/2026

08/16/2026

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08/13/2026

08/08/2026

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