East County regulars cramming in elbow-to-elbow with bar-staff banter and the clinking of hop-skull embellished glassware spiking above the high-volume alt-rock and punk tunes blaring from the tasting room’s juke box. Over the past two years, it’s been business as usual at “The Beard”…for customers, at least. But behind the scenes there’s been a frantic race against time for owners Mike Maass and Jeff Wiederkehr to find a new place to house their nine-year-old business, Burning Beard Brewing.
The company’s lease on its El Cajon facility expires next year, and the landlord – who also operates buildings east, west and south of Burning Beard’s facility – informed Maass and Wiederkehr that the structure they occupy is part of his future expansion plans. That notification prompted the duo’s search. In launching it, they aspired to not only find something suitable close to their existing location, but also a place where they would be able to advance their business.
The pair toured numerous locations, including some potential turnkey spots abandoned by local breweries that have gone out of business over the past few years. In the end, Wiederkehr says those sites’ geography, vibe or price points rendered them all infeasible. With the clock ticking and options dwindling, the probability of ceasing operations altogether became all too real. But earlier this month, Maass and Wiederkehr were able to locate a viable home in El Cajon just a short mile from their existing location. They have since signed a lease on and are currently working on plans to move on and move forward.
“We have been looking to move for the last two years and there were a million factors that went into the hunt, not the least of which was attempting to find a unique Beard-vibe-like spot close to our BeardO customer base,” says Wiederkehr, who is also Burning Beard’s brewmaster. “And we are glowing up. The manufacturing space will double, the tasting room will be larger, and we will have a massive outdoor patio and event space.”
Located at 1825 North Marshall Avenue, the new facility comes in at 11,500 square feet. The company plans to transport its current brewhouse, cellar tanks and equipment, but also intends to add new production machinery and fermentation vessels down the road. And though nothing is set in stone, Burning Beard’s spontaneous-fermentation and wild beer program – an award-winning differentiator and source of pride for Maass and Wiederkehr – figures to be significantly scaled back, if not taken completely offline for the time being. The duo say the market for such beers is almost non-existent at present, but they are hopeful that may change in the future.
Burning Beard’s current tasting room is 1,200 square feet and supplemented by a small front patio eating into its parking lot space. The public space at the new location will include a 3,500-square-foot sampling space and a public outdoor area coming in at a whopping 8,000 square feet. Maass and Wiederkehr have big plans for the latter.
“This location will give us a permanent event space with a stage and a PA system, and allow us to do what we were born to do, throw great parties,” says Wiederkehr. “The main idea of the patio is to host a variety of community events like craft fairs, car and motorcycle shows, and to book killer bands year-round, all without interrupting our normal tasting room business.”
Burning Beard also plans to install its popular culinary program at its new digs. A smashburger concept that launched in 2020 as Punkespeare’s Brasserie has since been brought under the company’s master brand. That operation is headed by chef Dan Hacker, who will be responsible for bringing his existing menu and the company’s food trailer over intact.
“Vibe was one of the main factors in our choice of location,” says Wiederkehr. “We turned down a lot of places because it is hard to replicate what we do in a high-rise retail space or a strip mall. Our new spot is pretty epic.”
There is no firm timeframe for Burning Beard’s move, the impending closure of its existing facility or opening of the new spot. Maass and Wiederkehr hope to minimize downtime as much as possible by completing licensing applications and other paperwork with government and regulatory agencies as quickly as possible. In their best estimate, if everything goes as smoothly as possible, they hope to be fully operational and open to the public in the spring of 2026.
Burning Beard Brewing is located at 785 Vernon Way in El Cajon