USA, CA: Harmonic Brewing to close original taproom and brewing facility

Harmonic Brewing, one of San Francisco’s popular craft breweries, will close its original taproom and brewing facility, the San Francisco Chronicle reported on August 3.

The company announced it will shutter its brewery at 1050 26th St. later this year after eight years of brewing and pouring pints of its refreshing ales and lagers. Brewmaster Eddie Gobbo told the Chronicle several factors forced the closing: chief among them a lagging recovery from the pandemic, lower spending, recent break-ins and the increasing costs of brewing materials.

Ultimately, the company wasn’t able to reach an agreement for a new lease with its landlord. The last day for drinking will be in October.

“We’ve been ingrained in the fabric of Dogpatch for a long time,” Gobbo said. “For us to lose our mothership in Dogpatch is a hit to the community as much as it is for us.”

Harmonic’s Dogpatch space opened in August 2015. Inside, the 15-barrel system produced beers like its signature easy-drinking Harmonic kolsch and toasty Starship lager. Production at the space is limited to a yearly 1,200 barrels of beer, keeping the focus on making small batches of beer for its taprooms and San Francisco accounts.

The brewery didn’t just help Harmonic gain a foothold in San Francisco’s brewing scene, but also helped steward now-popular projects with frequent food pop-ups, like an early Horn Barbecue, Al Pastor Papi and Gilberth’s Latin Fusion.

“Everything is small-batch and local, and we extend that mentality to our food truck and pop-ups,” Gobbo said. “They’ve been fantastic in creating community.”

Harmonic’s coming closure in Dogpatch follows news of the closure of San Francisco’s historic Anchor Brewing, and a number of high-profile mergers and acquisitions as small breweries consolidate amid stagnating sales.

But this won’t be the end of Harmonic Brewing. In 2021, the brewery opened another location at the Chase Center’s Thrive City plaza, about a mile away. There are no immediate plans to open a new brewery, however, because of the high costs of rent and moving brewery equipment, but Gobbo hopes to find partners to continue brewing beers with Harmonic’s recipes under the Harmonic label. The Chase Center Harmonic location will pour beers from other local craft breweries.

04 August, 2023