Black Diamond Brewing Company out of Concord, California, will make its DC metropolitan area debut tonight, Tuesday, July 20, at ChurchKey.

Black Diamond opened as a brewpub in 1994 in Walnut Creek. In 2005, with demand running high, they closed the brewpub and immediately opened a full-scale production brewery, which they added a bottling line to in 2007. The brewery focuses on brewing “ales of distinction.” According to their website, their name is derived from “the local coal mines where, during the 19th and early 20th centuries, nearly 4 million tons of these “black diamonds” w ere removed from the earth.  The mining town residents came from all over the world, and their lives were characterized by hard work and long hours.  Occasional celebrations were important to help sustain the dedicated miners, and beer became a favorite beverage.” It appears from the website that this will be one of Black Diamond’s first forays outside of California in terms of distribution.

ChurchKey will host Black Diamond tonight and will be pouring eight different drafts, which will be individually priced by both the 4 oz. taster and the full pour.

Jagged Edge IPA
Free Blonde Belgian Blonde Ale
Sponsorship

Sleep Trail Amber Ale
Wheat Whacker Dark Wheat Ale
Rampage Imperial IPA
Peak XV Imperial Porter
Grand Cru Aged in Bourbon Barrels
Grand Cru Aged in Brandy Barrels
Black Diamond doesn’t have a ton of reviews on BeerAdvocate or RateBeer. Indeed, none of their beers has more than 50 reviews on RateBeer. Of the beers that will be at ChurchKey, the Rampage Imperial IPA and Peak XC Imperial Porter fare the best, but I think it will be very difficult for most people to avoid the two different types of Grand Cru that will be on.
Welcome to the neighborhood, Black Diamond!