There is a brewery casualty coming from Costa Mesa and it is the five-year old Barley Forge. There were signs in the tea leaves. They recently had a “work walk-out” which garnered a little press, and there was a Facebook post from the founder talking about returning to full-time work at a law firm but from responses to the news, it seems like many claim that the tap room was full and that the closure is based purely on the rent being raised to a non-workable level probably due to the fancy mixed use shopping area across the street that the landlord thinks he can get a piece of.
More than likely, it is a combination of all of the above. Anytime someone goes back to a day job means that something went wrong. If you were a fan, best to buy what you can while you still can.