The craft beer shakeout continues as eight-year-old Dogpatch brewery Harmonic Brewing is closing its doors this fall due to a lease issue.

The local craft beer industry, which a decade ago was booming all over California, has been in a state of contraction for several years, and that's been exacerbated by the pandemic. Fast on the heels of the tragic news about the closing of historic Anchor Brewing, we're learning that another SF brewery is closing its doors: Harmonic Brewing.

Maybe it's a last-ditch negotiation tactic, but Harmonic announced on Instagram Wednesday that it is closing its doors when its lease runs out on October 31 because "we could not come to a mutual agreement with our new building landlords to continue operating here past then." And that will mean the end, at least temporarily, of Harmonic Brewing's beer — while they'll be keeping their taproom and restaurant at the Chase Center (Thrive City) open, it will be serving other brewers' beer until they can line up a partner brewery to brew their own recipes again.

"We’ve been ingrained in the fabric of Dogpatch for a long time," says Harmonic Brewmaster Eddie Gobbo, speaking to the Chronicle. "For us to lose our mothership in Dogpatch is a hit to the community as much as it is for us."

Harmonic Brewing opened at 1050 26th Street in 2015, and the Thrive City taproom followed in 2021.

Gobbo tells the Chronicle that there are other factors at play in the decision to close, besides the lease. He also points to the lingering impacts of the pandemic, as well as some recent break-ins, and the rising costs of beer-making materials.

It's been a rough few years for craft beer on the West Coast, where an oversaturated market has led to bankruptcies, mergers, and a number of prominent closures. In addition to the closure of Anchor Brewing, San Francisco alone has seen three other significant brewery/brewpub closures in the last eighteen months. Magnolia Brewing, which sold a significant stake to New Belgium Brewing several years ago, shut down its Dogpatch brewpub and brewing facility in February 2022. Copenhagen-based Mikkeller closed its brewpub on Mason Street last October; and Seven Stills Brewery and Distillery announced it was shutting down operations completely last October as well, after growing out of a backyard brewing operation a decade ago in SF.

Additionally, big brands have been consolidating, like Bear Republic, the maker of Racer 5, which was acquired by San Leandro's Drake's Brewing earlier this year.

An annual report from the national Brewers Association found that craft beer production was flat 2022, and the number of brewery closures was up by 3%. Still, craft beer is doing better than the overall, conventional beer market, which continues to see declines as younger drinkers increasingly opt for wine, cocktails, and lower-calorie options like hard seltzers.

Barring any new developments, Harmonic Brewing's last day for their "mothership" will be October 31.

Related: No More Anchor Steam Beer: 127-Year-Old Brewery Shutters In San Francisco

Photo: Instagram