Black Diamond Brewing Co

The SF Homebrewers Club visited here today, and we were given the royal treatment. What a class act: great beers described by the head brewer, nice tour of the facility, and a general feel of welcomeness by all. The buzz on the bus was universal: this was our favorite brewery of the day with some of the best beers. Visit this place and give them your business, you won’t be disappointed!

Best craft brewery in the area by a mile. Bartenders are awesome and the beer is better. Moving away tomorrow and I’ll miss this place. Check it out if you havent

Five stars. Enough said. Except Unilocal wants more… so check it out for sure. It’s off the beaten path and if you come at the right time the Brewers will fill you with knowledge.

Where do I start?
Like the previous place I went to, hard to find lol
But it’s nice inside… they have old jazzy music playing. Relaxing…
Today they definitely seem to be tailoring to the older crowd. …kind of what I picture the 50’s like…
Guy was super friendly and based on what I told him I had tried before managed to find something I could sip on… good thing I had been to tank 7 and could say I’ve tried something other than michelada and bud light platinum: P.
My drink was good… a little on the sour part but good… still not a HUGE fan of beer.
Had one glass and two Lil samples and I’M GOOD. lmao… such a light weight. …anyways it never hurts to try new places and this is a pretty cool place … I’m sure most beer drinkers would find it to be a good place to drink :)

Looked at hours on Unilocal that Sunday is 1−7pm and when we showed up there was a sign that said open weekdays only till 4pm.

I have spent a lot of time in the pacific northwest, so I have tried a lot of variety of beers from many places around the country and the world. I must say, overall, Black Diamond is a wonderful micro brew that makes a mean imperial IPA. It is not bite your face off hoppy, but it does have a punch. I would recommend it for those who are venturing into IPAs.

This a such a phenomenal local brewery!!! Great staff and delicious variety of beer. My boyfriend and I tried the sampler of 8 (all their beers on tap) and there was not a single one we didn’t enjoy! We will definitely be back!

Smaller brewery worth seeking out in industrial area of Concord which serves up favorites Rampage and White Witch. No frills or menu to speak of, but oceans of bold brew. Growlers available, pig roasts and other specials are part of the charm.
Did I mention they have great beer?

Very nice space; giant windows and mirrors behind the bar to help it feel even more open. The Grand Cru was my favorite. Can’t wait to come back!

Had the flight, and each beer was delicious.
Out in the middle of nowhere… but worth the drive!

How did I miss this hidden gem of a local brewery while living nearby for so long? I’ve purchased their Jagged Edge IPA from stores before and never really noticed they were from Concord until recently. Perhaps it was due to the fact that they were only open during weekdays until their recent addition of Sunday hours. Recently my honey brought me here for my grown up dessert during a fantastic date night.
We got their excellent sampler tray featuring all of their beers on tap. Actually we got two paddles of four 4oz tasters each, since they don’t have a fully loaded sampler as seen in several older Unilocal photos :-\ No worries as the barman excitedly served up all 8 offerings when my girl asked for the sampler. Gotta hand it to him as he knew exactly what we were looking for.
Their aforementioned Jagged Edge is okay, not too memorable and it’s not all that memorable on tap either. However, their Rampage Imperial IPA more than makes up for it with a double kick to the nads of fresh floral hops aroma and flavor. Their Peak XV was a tasty Imperial Porter that was a bit too sweet. Perhaps more aging is in order? I could see using this bad boy in an ice cream float. All beers I tried were decent overall, yet nothing is really mind blowing here.
This place is kinda tiny and can get loud with lots of boozy drunks in here. Probably best to avoid on Friday nights but always worth a stop to see which bottles they have on sale such as the bomber of 20^th anniversary IPA that we snagged for $ 3. Either that or grab a growler and fill’r up! I’m just not sure how much of the loud crowd I could take in this cozily confined place. They do have the occasional special event out on their back parking lot that I’m sure are worth checking out.
Don’t make the same mistake I did and pass this place up. As they will fill unmarked growlers, not just their own, makes it a win win situation for everybody. The fact that they don’t pervert the California beer growler law to their benefit is reason enough to keep me coming back for more and more reasonably priced, fresh beer.

Unilocal and Google deny it, but they are open on Sundays until 6pm.
Maybe because of that false information, I found the place almost empty on a Sunday afternoon. It’s an easy trip off of the 4 freeway, and an unlikely spot for a brewery, surrounded by heavy industry in a soulless suburban office park. The interior is comfortable: there’s a bar with room for about 8 people and several tables within two rooms. There were pretzels on the bar but, otherwise, there is no food available unless a food truck has shown up (it hadn’t that day). They have two TVs behind the bar, and the Giants and A’s just happen to be on consecutively, so I was able to watch those while drinking.
I’m familiar with the brewery from several years ago, when they randomly popped up on bottle in Arizona. It’s also one of the breweries that we can now consistently get on the Monterey Peninsula. Their flagship seems to be their Jagged Edge IPA, which is good but nothing that’s going to make me seek them out. They also have a good imperial IPA, the Rampage, which you’ll see on bottle sometimes. I had only had those, but liked both.
There is no set tasting tray, but 5oz pours come to about $ 1.30 each, which is reasonable compared to other Nor Cal breweries. Pints are under $ 4, also very reasonable. You can also get a mug if you want to get really tore up, but I would suggest starting with the samplers if you don’t have one picked out, because they have some heavy ones.
The quad was just that. The poor Belgians who came up with this style never imagined Americans would try to get the ABV as high as they could just for the purpose of having a high-​gravity beer. I’ve had better (mostly Belgians) but I’ve also certainly had worse. This was really sweet, but I don’t see how it couldn’t not be sweet, coming in at 12% (thus its official name, «The 12»).
I really liked the White Witch though, which is apparently a fairly recent IPA addition to their regular lineup, and named after a being that supposedly haunts the nearby Black Diamond mines area. I felt like this was the IPA I had been looking for them to produce, so it was nice to see something like it. And it’s available on bottle, at least at the tap room. I appreciate the story behind the name as well, which is often lacking with breweries.
They do fill growlers, and they will fill other breweries’ growlers, which is a huge plus.
Worth visiting.

A friend of a friend recommended this place and since it was right down the road we decided to give it a try on Friday around 5. The place was absolutely packed. I felt bad for the one bartender working– not sure why they didn’t have more help. They definitely weren’t ready for that type of crowd. When the bartender could actually breath he told us that they are not normally this busy but they were offering free fish tacos and it really brought out the crowd. We wanted to have a flight of pretty much everything they offered, but they were out of flight glasses. We just ordered a bunch of pints and did our own tasting. We had the coconut wheat, honey saison, white whitch, rampage, 21, DPA, and they had just cracked open a keg of triple IPA. I liked each of them on differing scaled but my favorite was the saison. My least favorite was the 21 and the coconut wheat. The triple IPA was also amazing, but I think its rarely available. We liked the beer so much we bought a growler of the saison. At then end of the evening I was quite worried about what our tab would look like considering we had so many pints including the growler (30 $) the tab came to 64 $.! Not bad at all considering we had 7 – 9 pints! Also, I am not sure why they had free fish tacos but they were amazing!!! I am really quite happy with the quality of beer and hopefully there are more events like free taco Friday in the future!
P.S this place is located in a business park type setting– keep driving around and you will find it!

this place is great, their beer is awesome and their staff are all great! the bar area is a little small, but they sometimes have BBQs and open up the back lot, have live bands and food, it was a blast!

Great beers, nice tap room — have bought kegs of RAMPAGE & WHITE WITCH — all my pals are loving these beers. thanks guys

This is a great place to go after work for a brew. They usually only have one bartender, but for the size of the brewery that’s plenty. They have six or seven different beers on draft ranging from IPAs to lighter beers.
My favorite part of this place is that they sell large bottles of their beer for $ 2 a pop when they are overstocked. Great deal if you are looking to take some beer home with you.
The beer itself is quite good. It didn’t knock me out of the park, but I’d definitely go back for it.
The only bummer with this place is the hours. It’s definitely a place to start the night rather than end it.
There is a batting cage right next door so if you have a couple brews and are looking for some fun, you can go there after and pretend to be the next Ted Williams.

This was a treat to find. They do not serve food here, but that is OK. I tried the Rampage, which was delicious and destructive, because I did not realize it was a high gravity beer.
The four guys in my party had a nice visit. I will be happy to return if I am in the area.

Kind of out of the way for me but I made the effort to BART to the Martinez/​North Concord station and walk the short-​ish distance, past the Golf Course, to the brewery for their first annual Pig Roast.
While at the event I met some friendly revelers who I became fast friends with and spent the remainder of my time at the brewery with. Mike, the distributor, also offered to host a brew day with my Home Brew Club: Bay Area Mashers (BAM). I am coordinating with him to make that happen.
Can’t wait!

Back in the mid-​1990s, Black Diamond ran a Brew Pub on North Main in Walnut Creek. I remember bringing some out-​of-​town guests here and we enjoyed our craft beers downstairs and the menu upstairs. Then one day I noticed they were closed and that the Harley Davidson dealer had moved in. However, I still noticed the beer at bars and restaurants and on sale at my local Grocery Outlet.
The Black Diamond name is not derived from a few enthusiastic skiers that loved to pound down a few beers and ski expert slopes all day. Instead, the name refers to «Black Diamonds» that were extracted from from the local coal mines during the 19^th and early 20^th centuries. Those old mines still exist in Antioch as part of the East Bay Regional Park District, and that’s where you can spend a pleasant day of hiking and exploration within the Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve. And if that week day hike wraps up during the late afternoon or early evening, it’s only a short drive to the Black Diamond Brewing Company Tap Room to finish up with a cold one.
The Tap Room is tucked away within an Industrial Park area and right across the street from the Muir Laboratory Building. I stopped in after work and enjoyed hanging out with a 10-​ounce glass of Rampage Imperial IPA and a complimentary bowl of pretzels. I was a Happy Hoppy Guy! I also counted a total of 8 taps, so there’s plenty of choice. However, there’s no other food available, unless you bring it in yourself.
The Tap Room was nice and could probably hold 20 people comfortably. There’s a nice bar in the back of the room, tables in the front and a decent partial view of the hills of the former Concord Naval Weapons Station to gaze at and wonder. There were also a few big flat screen TVs (for sports viewing) and just a few other folks doing what I was doing. I’m sure to be back and could also see being here for a small event or party. I really like enjoying my beer this way (or To Go).

I love our local Concord breweries, and Black Diamond will now be in my regular rotation for growler fills.
I’ve been dying to go here for months now but their crazy hours (or lack thereof) have kept me away. Finally, the day before Thanksgiving I got off work early & dragged my hubby there. We tried one of their samplers ($ 8.50) since there were 8 different beers on tap & I wanted to try them all. It turns out that the sampler is enough to share, in fact we both left there with a bit of a buzz!
I really liked:
Wheat Wacker — a nice refreshing hefeweizen
Steep Trail Amber — I’m an Amber beer fan & really liked the malty flavor of this one
Jagged Edge IPA — not overly hoppy but great taste (see Rampage below)
2011 Winter brew — I don’t remember the name, but this one is a bourbon barrel aged dark brew. Sweet & rich… just lovely!
Liked:
Porter — good flavor, I’m just not a huge porter fan. Hubby really liked it.
Didn’t like:
Rampage Imperial IPA — SO hoppy that neither of us could finish it. It was like chewing on a bunch of dry hops. BUT…2 of my friends who love IPA’s absolutely loved it. To each his own.
Free Style Belgium Blonde — too light for my taste
Most growler fills are $ 12 and you don’t have to have a Black Diamond growler, either. They will fill any growler & slap on one of their own stickers to make it legal. In case you forgot yours, they sell them in the tap room along with some 22 oz. beers & BD sweatshirts.
This would be a 5 star place for sure if they were open on weekends! 3:30 to 7:30 Monday thru Friday is difficult for us folks working out of town.