A craft brewery with a taproom creates a certain kind of kinetic energy. It can change a neighborhood, attracting patrons from around the block or across the country. At current count, there are 17 breweries within Baltimore City proper. The majority have been established within the last five years. Checkerspot Brewing is one of those and has become an important part of the city’s changing vibe.
Meet Judy and Rob Neff
Checkerspot Brewing in Baltimore
Judy and Rob Neff opened the doors to Checkerspot Brewing in 2018. They have been busy ever since. They come from backgrounds you wouldn't suspect would lead to a life at a brewery. Judy has a Ph.D. in microbiology, which helps with the science of brewing beer and water chemistry, and did her postdoctoral studies at the National Institute of Health. Rob started his career as an engineer, got the entrepreneurial bug and was rehabbing homes in Baltimore, but grew frustrated working with contractors.
Judy Neff offers a pint.
The brewing revelation happened while Judy was on a brewery tour at Anchor Brewing in San Francisco. That led to her adventure home brewing for 13 years. Then the stars aligned. They both were ready for career changes and in 2013 changes in Maryland law allowed for brewery taprooms and self-distributing which created opportunities for a small brewery to become a viable business model for them. They began working on working on the Checkerspot concept in 2015.
BREAKING BTAD
Rob and Judy Neff with Jim Koch of Boston Beer Co (Photo Credit: Checkerspot Brewing)
Some good things have been spinning around Checkerspot lately. In October 2022, Checkerspot learned that they were the latest winner of the Boston Beer Company’s (BBC) Brewing the American Dream (BTAD) Experienceship. This philanthropic program began in 2008 by the makers of Sam Adam’s beer to support food and beverage entrepreneurs. Besides the notoriety of winning this award, comes a mentorship for life plus the opportunity for brewing a collaboration beer with the Boston Beer Company (BBC) team. For Judy and Rob, this could not have come at a beer time — they were planning to move their brewery in 2023.
Judy and Rob took their signature Juniperus IPA, brewed with juniper berries, to New York as their BTAD entry. Judy said this beer took 2-3 years to get this recipe just right. The final ingredient was discovering Norwegian Hothead kviek yeast.
In March, Judy and Rob went to Boston for a week, meeting with the BBC team and even with Jim Koch for a few hours. They went with many questions and got answers and information to questions they didn't even know they had.
Megan Parisi and Judy Neff (Photo credit: Checkerspot Brewing)
They visited the Sam Adam’s Taproom at famed Faneuil Hall in Boston. There, Judy met Megan Parisi, an icon among female brewers who once brewed at Bluejacket Brewing and is now the head brewer at the Sam Adams Tap Room in Boston.
As part of the mentorship, Judy said that they can talk with the Boston Beer team about many aspects their brewery, now and for years to come. Boston Beer has experience setting up breweries of many sizes and have some of the best in the business for all aspects of running a brewery, including not only brewing beer, but the such details as where to place the bathrooms. BBC advisors have been there a long time and are experts in their prospective fields. Their people know the answers through experience. Judy said, “When you ask the question, you're getting the right answer.”
Checkerspot and Boston Beer are collaborating on a beer as part of winning BTAD. It will be a rye IPA using Maryland sourced rye from Bear Branch Malt. It will be released on Friday, April 28 at Sam Adam’s taproom in Boston and Friday, May 5 at Checkerspot.
The Move
With the 5-year lease at their current location coming to a close, Checkerspot has decided to pick up their tents and move. Judy and Rob live in the city and are committed to it. They have purchased a property at 1421 Ridgley St. in the Pigtown section of Baltimore. The new location will bring a fourth brewery (including Pickett Brewing, Wico St Beer, and Suspended Brewing) to that historic neighborhood. They hope to create a Pigtown Brewing District beer trail, with lively art work and want to attract new eating venues to the area.
As an unexpected benefit of their new Boston Beer connections, they learned that Boston Beer had a copper clad 20-barrel system with four vessels available as a result of BBC shuttering one of their breweries. As if it couldn't get any better, the landlord of their current location wants to maintain a brewery at the location and has purchased their current 15-barrel brewing system.
Five tractor-trailer loads have already delivered their new equipment to the new location. Checkerspot is looking forward to growing from their current 12,000 square foot venue on two floors, to 18,000 square feet on a single floor. They expect a late summer 2023 opening.
Women in Beer
Judy is an unabashed women brewery owner and brewer. She works to find and make opportunities to draw women into beer and brewing. She is one of the founders of the Baltimore Beer Babes, described as a program, “for women who want to learn more about beer, the brewing process, food pairings and other educational aspects that pertain to beer.”
She is also a member and supporter of the Pink Boots Society, a program to “assist, inspire, and encourage” women in the alcoholic beverage industry and to advance their careers through education.
Checkerspot loves to brew historical recipes in cooperation with friend and beer historian Maureen O’Prey. Maureen and author of Brewing in Baltimore and Beer in Maryland: A History of Breweries Since Colonial Times and has written two books on the history of Maryland beer and keeps Brewed in Baltimore, a blog on the subject. Their latest collaboration was a cream stout in honor of Maryland Women’s History Month. The problem was it sold out too quickly and didn't make it to the end of the month. Look for a bigger batch next year.
Yelp Baltimore Collab
Yelp Baltimore reached out to Checkerspot to have a bit of fun with beer that would start and finish in March. The idea was to lead a group of about 30 people who didn't know much about beer, through a sensory experience where they could sense six different hops varieties and choose the three they would prefer as an ingredient in a new beer.
Yelp Baltimore Beer Experience (Photo Credit: Checkershot Brewing)
The group ultimately chose to brew a hoppy kölsch. To further expand the experience, two women won the opportunity to help on brew day. The new beer was available on a release party on March 31, with Yelp Baltimore buying the first 150 people beers.
Checkerspot Brewing Company
1399 S. Sharp St., Baltimore, MD 21230
checkerspotbrewing.com
(443) 388-8912
Checkerspot Brewing was highlighted as a “brewery profile” in the Mid-Atlantic Brew News edition 2023 April-May. You can help support local beer writing by becoming a MABN subscriber.
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Mid-Atlantic Brew News (MABN) is a bimonthly publication for beer enthusiasts across the Mid-Atlantic region, with a focus on craft beer happenings across six states (MD, DE, VA, NJ, PA, WV) and DC.
