10/01/2026
Over the past two years we have watched brewery after brewery close, sharing the announcements with each other and saying, with a sense of impending doom, โthere goes another one.โ
Well, now itโs our turn.
After almost 8 years, Black & Gray Brewing has closed its doors for good. We will spare you the gory details, but suffice it to say that this was not a decision that we wanted to make, but one thatโfinanciallyโwe have no choice but to endure.
We are eternally grateful for this experience.
When we started Black & Gray, we wanted to be a different type of brewery: not so b**r snobby, more blue collar. We wanted to be the neighborhood tap, the type of place where everyone knew you when you walked in the door. We wanted to create community. If nothing else, we accomplished that.
We fell in love with East Dundee, the people, our patrons, and our employees. We saw friendships form; first dates that turned into marriages, and then children; we raised funds for the local fire department, cancer research, and injured local first responders. We hosted weddings, reception dinners, baby showers, promotion, retirement, and birthday parties. And all of these over pints of what we liked to refer to as, โthe best b**r brewed in East Dundee.โ
We want to thank our family. Running a small business can be all consuming most of the time and sacrifices get made. We appreciate the love and support throughout the years and hope, in the end, it was all worth it. We love you.
A big thank you goes out to our employees past and present. We were always a small operation and working at Black & Gray often meant you had to wear multiple hats. All the hard work and dedication to making Black & Gray the best version of itself did not go unnoticed.
The Village of East Dundee has been an amazing host and we appreciate the professional staff that makes this village run. The effort that goes into the events that make this town come alive is Herculean and without Public Works, the Police, and Katherine and her staff, East Dundee would not be the community that it is.
In the endโbecause this is the endโwe cannot think of anything more risky and scary than opening a small business and putting out a product into the world. We gave it our best shot. Now that it is over, we are going to go sleep for a year or so to recuperate. We will see you around. And donโt forget to get out there and support those small, local businesses. God knows most of them are holding on with nothing more than a hope and a prayer.
--Chris and Teresa
