LAFAYETTE, Ind. – A year ago, as Purdue President Mitch Daniels proclaimed himself the official quality control officer for Boiler Gold – the school’s first, sanctioned signature beer – the university president was thinking about complementary brews to round out the university’s color scheme.

“I don’t want to get out in front of myself, here,” Daniels said in September 2017, after giving his seal of approval to Boiler Gold, an American pale ale produced by Lafayette’s People’s Brewing Co. “But maybe we need to have a Boiler Black next.”

It took a year, but Daniels asked, and People’s delivered.

On Wednesday, People’s owner Chris Johnson’s crew on North Ninth Street canned the first batch of Boiler Black, just in time for Purdue’s Homecoming weekend and Saturday’s football game against Boston College.

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Johnson said 16-ounce cans of Boiler Black – an American style porter he described as having “an approachable roasted character for fans of a darker, full-flavored beer” – will be available at Ross-Ade Stadium and the 1869 Tap Room on the ground floor of the Purdue Memorial Union on Saturday. It also will be available that day at the People’s Tap Room, 2006 N. Ninth St.

He said Boiler Black should be on store shelves in Indiana and Illinois, in a distribution area ranging from Indianapolis to Chicago, in the coming weeks. He said the wait to buy a six-pack in a liquor store or grocery store won’t be as long as it was for Boiler Gold, which People’s raced to produce for the opening slate of Purdue home football games.

As with Boiler Gold, licensing fees People’s pays to brew Boiler Black will go to the fermentation studies program in Purdue’s Department of Food Science.

“We talked about a Boiler Black from the beginning,” Johnson said. “We talked about doing it right away, releasing Gold and Black at the same time for the football season.”

That seemed to be a bit much, as People’s gauged demand at games and on retail shelves. When Boiler Gold proved popular – “It’s easily our best-selling beer,” Johnson said – he said there were conversations about having Boiler Black ready for the 2017-18 basketball season at Mackey Arena.

When that didn’t come together, either, People’s and Purdue aimed for the launch of the university’s 150th anniversary celebration, which officially kicks off during Homecoming with a theme of “Giant Leaps.” (The back of the Boiler Black can touts the Neil Armstrong-inspired, one-giant-leap-for-mankind slogan Purdue is using for its sesquicentennial, along with the years 1869 and 2019.)

Johnson said he worked with Fernanda San Martin, an associate professor of food science, and Jean Jensen, manager of Purdue’s Hops and Brewing Analysis Laboratory, on test batches of Boiler Black in Purdue’s brewhouse. The one-barrel operation – enough to brew 31 gallons – set up in Nelson Hall with equipment from Blichmann Engineering, a brewing supply company in Lafayette. He said brewers made a few adjustments before starting on the first 620-gallon batch at the People’s brewery.

Brian Farkas, head of Purdue’s Department of Food Science, was all smiles Wednesday as the first cans were filled and sealed at People’s.

Boiler Gold had been a calculated risk for Purdue.

It was, by no means, the first university-sanctioned beer in America. By the time People’s released it, there were nearly a dozen others, including Pistol Pete’s 1888 Ale at New Mexico State (brewed by Bosque Brewing Co.), Old Aggie Superior Lager at Colorado State (New Belgium Brewing Co.), Bayou Bengal for Louisiana State (Tin Roof Brewing Co.) and Lobo Red for University of New Mexico (Kelly’s Brew Pub).

But Farkas said Purdue had not been able to find a similar arrangement that had a signature beer feeding the studies intended to, in part, work with Indiana’s craft brewing industry. The Department of Food Science launched a fermentation minor this fall, with hopes of making that a major in the next few years. Farkas said craft brewing was only part of fermentation sciences, which play roles in pharmaceutical, agri-chemical and bio-fuel industries, too.

“We felt then, and I still feel now, that we had a great story to tell through our partnership with local brewers,” Farkas said. “I was a little nervous about what people saw between perception and reality when the university put its name on a beer.”

So far?

“It’s been 100 percent positive,” Farkas said. “This wasn’t just a keg-fest. This is real research. … And you could talk about bio-fuel research all day and you’re not going to get the same sort of reaction or excitement as when you can show them the can and say, ‘Here, try Boiler Gold.’”

Farkas said his department was grateful that the College of Agriculture invested in the brewhouse in Nelson Hall, which is used for student research and continuing education programs, where experienced Indiana brewers help neophytes troubleshoot the process.

“Now,” Farkas said, “it’s up to us to have those bake sales to keep it all maintained.”

In this case, those bake sales include Boiler Gold and now Boiler Black.

Purdue’s royalty proceeds from Boiler Gold were roughly $14,000 from September to December 2017, according to Rob Wynkoop, Purdue's managing director of service enterprises. He said the cash was never the point from Purdue’s perspective.

“The value was immeasurable in dollar figures in terms of the exposure Boiler Gold gave to the kind of work and research Brian’s department is doing,” Wynkoop said, rattling off mentions in Forbes and assorted other national media outlets. “That was always the reason to do this.”

Greg Boesch, owner of Bedrock Liquors in Shadeland, Dayton and Battle Ground, said he found out about Boiler Black along with everyone else Wednesday and was ready to get it into his stores as soon as he can.

“Boiler Gold’s still selling well,” Boesch said. “Maybe not like it was at first, when it flew off the shelves about as fast as we could get it. ... We had a display for the first Purdue game at the Indiana 43 store, right there where people come in for the games. It all disappeared.”

Johnson said Boiler Gold has become a way to get other People’s beers into stores, including the recent arrangement to get in Kroger and Pay Less super markets.

Is Boiler Black, an anticipated counterpart to Boiler Gold from the beginning, the end of the line for Purdue beers?

“Maybe it’s just a start,” Farkas said.

Reach Dave Bangert at 765-420-5258 or at dbangert@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @davebangert.