Burning Beard Brewing’s new home is still grounded. As of Oct. 9, 2026, the El Cajon brewery has moved its equipment into a former airplane hangar at Gillespie Field, but it can’t open until the building is cleared for non-aviation use, a call that now appears to rest with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). No decision has been reported and no opening date has been set.
Burning Beard Brewing status check
| Old taproom | 785 Vernon Way, El Cajon; closed after service April 26, 2026 |
| New site | Former hangar at 1825 N. Marshall Ave., El Cajon, on the edge of Gillespie Field |
| Size | 11,500 sq. ft., with a 3,500-sq.-ft. taproom and 8,000 sq. ft. outdoors |
| Equipment | Moved into the hangar this spring |
| Holdup | Whether the hangar can be released from aviation-only use |
| Next step | A meeting with the FAA that the county supervisor’s office plans to set up |
| Opening date | None announced |
Why the hangar is stuck in a holding pattern
According to San Diego Beer News, Burning Beard owner Jeff Wiederkehr signed the lease about 15 months ago. Master leaseholder Velocity Center of Excellence in Aviation plans to modernize its hangars and convert an older, street-facing one into a non-aviation building, with Burning Beard as tenant. The City of El Cajon and the County of San Diego, which operates the airport, are on board. Opposition has come from within the Gillespie Field Development Council (GFDC), a City-County joint powers board.
Opponents say the hangar sits in the airport’s runway zone and is restricted to aviation uses. Velocity managing director Edward Karstetter says it’s outside the aviation-only area and would be “orphaned,” fenced off from airport traffic, once the larger campus is built.
What happened at the Sept. 16 meeting
Burning Beard asked fans on social media to “pack the room,” adding, “We are not going there to fight the City of El Cajon. The City is supporting us.” The official agenda for the Sept. 16 GFDC meeting at El Cajon City Hall listed a “Proposed Brewery/Restaurant” as an information item, not a vote. Karstetter and Wiederkehr told San Diego Beer News he wasn’t allowed to present, and the outlet reports the meeting ended without definitive action.
What happens next for Burning Beard Brewing
At a later meeting, San Diego Beer News reports, the county supervisor’s office and the airport manager told the pair the fence-line question doesn’t matter. What matters is whether, given new construction on the hangar, the FAA will treat it as orphaned from aviation use. Supervisor Joel Anderson’s office is reaching out to the FAA to set up a meeting. “In short, if the FAA says ‘no,’ it is no, and if they say ‘yes,’ it is yes,” Wiederkehr said.
Bureau caveat: nearly all of this comes from a single Oct. 5 report built on the brewery’s and leaseholder’s accounts. We found no newer update on Burning Beard’s website, and its Instagram and Facebook weren’t viewable to our sensors. The next GFDC meeting is proposed for Nov. 18. Archive: the Bureau’s 2018 Delinquents Club report.
Terry Bunch
