A Greener Forge

A few days ago I saw a cryptic post about the timing of the sale of Barley Forge. It seemed on its face as a simple explanation for fans who might want to schedule last visits to the Costa Mesa brewery, but it also was a foreshadowing that the brewery was changing hands. Greg Nagel from OC Beer Blog broke the news that new that….

It looks a strategic parry to their neighboring brewery, Gunwhale Ales which opened a second location near Green Cheek and now Green Cheek is returning the favor. Also, it is interesting that this will be the second brewery space that Green Cheek will take over.

RIP – Barley Forge

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.