Photo Tour of The New Checkerspot Brewing Company Facility

After five years at 1399 S. Sharp St. in Stadium Area, Checkerspot Brewing Company has moved a few blocks west to 1421 Ridgely St. in Carroll-Camden Industrial Area. Checkerspot Brewing Company owners and married couple Judy and Rob Neff purchased the 24,000 sq. ft. building last year and spent nine months renovating it into a production brewery, taproom, and event space.

Checkerspot was previously in a 12,000 sq. ft. space and its new brewery is 18,000 sq. ft. Vicinity will continue to lease 6,000 sq. ft. in the building.

Everything is bigger at the new location including the production brewery, taproom, and event spaces, according to Judy Neff.

Judy Neff said they had been looking for a new space for about a year as their lease was up this summer. “The goal was always to own a property,” she said.

The building was previously used by industrial printer The J.W. Boarman Company.

Rob Neff was the general contractor on the renovation. The new Checkerspot space has a large first-floor taproom with 18 ft. ceilings. It has polished concrete floors, light fixtures and tap handles made of drift wood from North Point State Park, and large Checkerspot signs made of reclaimed wood. The bar is made of 100-year-old Frasier Fir wood, and the bar facade is made of metal from an old barn.

Checkerspot has a second-level dining area with tables and pinball machines. There is also skee-ball on the first level.

The large event space has a projector television, a window into the brewery, tables, and rolling bars. It is open to the taproom but can be sectioned off with a divider.

Windows and roll-up garage doors give the new taproom a lot of natural light.

The exterior of the building was painted black and yellow with Checkerspot logos. There is a small outdoor space with picnic tables that Rob Neff said will be upgraded in the future.

The beer selection will continue to have a focus on “lighter” beers, “malt-forward” beers, “hop-lover” beers, and non-alcoholic selections. In honor of the adjacent CSX train tracks, Checkerspot is releasing a beer called Cut Spike. Checkerspot distributes its beers along with serving them in-house.

The kitchen is not yet open, but the menu will be similar to the previous location with pretzels, charcuterie, and hand-held items.

Checkerspot is open Monday to Wednesday from 3pm to 9pm, Thursday from 3pm to 10pm, Friday and Saturday from 12pm to 10pm, and Sunday from 12pm to 8pm.

Checkerspot’s former brewery will be the home of Australian-themed brewery M8 Beer when it opens this month. There will be five breweries in the blocks near M&T Bank Stadium as the new Checkerspot and M8 Beer join Pickett Brewing Company, Wico Street Beer Co., and Suspending Brewing Company in the area.

The breweries recently combined to form the South Baltimore Brewery District. An inaugural event will take place on October 28th.

Judy Neff said it’s exciting to be part of this growing hub of breweries and hopes more will join them in the area.

First-floor taproom 

Second-level dining area and arcade

First-floor event space

Kitchen 

Production brewery 

About the Author: Kevin Lynch

Founder and Publisher of SouthBmore.com, longtime resident of South Baltimore, and a graduate of Towson University. Diehard Ravens and O's fan, father of three, amateur pizza chef, skateboarder, and "bar food" foodie. Email me at Kevin@InceptMM.com and follow me on Twitter at @SoBoKevin.