Black Plague Brewing is back from the dead, and that is not a phrase we use lightly for a brewery whose whole brand was built on the afterlife. About a year after the Oceanside brewery shut down in September 2025, co-founder Jordan Hoffart has revived the brand with help from Karl Strauss, and its beers are returning to San Diego County shelves and tap lists.

The comeback is led by Hell Hazer, a double dry-hopped hazy IPA pulled from Black Plague’s archives. San Diego Beer News named it Beer of the Week on October 23, with Brandon Hernandez writing that it smells like a mimosa garnished with lime zest, followed by orange, peach, and passionfruit. Hoffart’s own description promises ripe pineapple, peach, and passionfruit, with coconut cream, grapefruit zest, and a candy-like tropical edge. At 7%, it is substantial but, in Hernandez’s words, incredibly drinkable.

Hell Hazer is hopped with Riwaka, Mosaic, Nectaron Hyperboost, Simcoe, and Superdelic, and brewed with rolled oats and white wheat, which explains the soft body behind all that tropical aroma. It is not alone in the revival: Open Mind Hazy IPA was the first beer back on the market, in kegs and cans, and Loud Mouth West Coast IPA, at 6.5%, appeared on San Diego Beer News’ October 15 tap list.

The revival is a rare second act in a tough market. Black Plague operated from June 2017 to September 2025 out of a tasting room in inland Oceanside, founded by Hoffart, a retired professional skateboarder, and career marketer Jarred Doss. Its dark aesthetic, grim reaper murals, and coffin decor made it one of the most recognizable taprooms in North County, and its closure last fall felt like a real loss for the local scene.

That the brand is back at all, and back with Karl Strauss in its corner, says something about how much goodwill it built. San Diego Beer News called it rare for a shuttered business to be raised from the dead, and it is right. Most closed breweries stay closed.

For now, the question is whether the revival can stick. The beers are out, the Beer of the Week nod gives Hell Hazer a real launchpad, and the skeleton decor, spotted at the Capital of Craft Beer Festival, suggests the brand has not lost its sense of humor. If you missed Black Plague the first time around, this is your second chance. If you were a regular, welcome back to the afterlife.

Sources: San Diego Beer News, Beer of the Week: Hell Hazer, October 23, 2026; San Diego Beer News, What’s Tapping, October 15, 2026.