It was only a matter of time

El Cajon Brewing Co. posted the following to their Facebook page a few hours ago.

"As of Monday April the 1st the restaurant and brewery is under new ownership.  The restaurant will be temporarily closed.  It was a an unexpected change in ownership, but over the weekend we hammered out a deal the was very generous for all.

We do not know how long it will take for the new owners to reopen the business but we are confident that it will be soon.  We wish them the very best of luck and we hope they are highly successful."

I've seen this coming for quite some time.  This was a pretty good indicator of what the future held for this struggling brewery.  What's next?  Hopefully a name change, perhaps a familiar face to the San Diego beer scene taking over the reins.  Then again, maybe not.  Perhaps the large amount of money the City of El Cajon poured into this business will prevent a change of name, and another hopeful entrepreneur will strive to carry on the ECBC torch.  Whatever the case, I hope they brew great beer, serve good food, and offer fantastic service.  If so, they just may make it.  Time will tell.

What's up, ECBC?

If ever there was a proponent of El Cajon Brewing Co. it was me, as evidenced by my many posts about the year old East County brewery restaurant.  After only a year in business, though, I wonder if they'll be around for another year.  A series of troubling events have occurred over the past couple of months, starting with the dismissal of owner/brewer David Meadows from the business.  Check out his response to my Brewery Project post from back in April.  Next came a new brewer, new beers, and a company struggling to reinvent themselves, all in the first year of operation.  Right on the heels of this reorganization came news of the company filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, also within the first year of opening their doors.  With the ink still drying on the bankruptcy paperwork, the faltering company chose to fire a missile at the City of El Cajon with the following remarks in a Facebook post from yesterday.

"We wanted to thank all who shared in our FIRST anniversary party, it went well.

We especially want to thank Jeff Klien from US FOODS for his generous contribution of food items for our celebration.

We were very disappointed however that the NO ONE from the CITY HALL attended the celebration. We were further disappointed that they REFUSED to even announce our anniversary on their public media email list.

Our new QUATRO CAJONES quad IPA is just wonderful, its probably the best beer we have made since our opening. We have plenty in reserve. We also have a great NEW BOURBON BARREL STOUT that is getting rave reviews, but we only have a limited amount and when its gone its gone. So get it quick before its too late.

Thank you all again and we look forward to next years even bigger party.

Management"

Patrons, past and present, came to the defense of the city, who poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into the venture.  Responses such as the following showed no support for the spiteful post.

"Was in there at 5:00pm tonight. 4 people in the bar, 3 in the restaurant... As I left, the owner and several employees were discussing this thread, making excuses and being defensive about the posts. Very unprofessional to do in front of patrons, even if there was just a handful of us... Bottom line, with the amount of money El Cajon put into this company, they have no business filing for bankruptcy. They obviously don't know how to run this type of business. Very sad."

An attempt at an apology was made, with very little response or support from the public.  I have no idea what's coming next, but I truly hope they get their act together fast, or I fear their days will be numbered.  My advice?  Make great beer, pair it with good food, and offer fantastic service.  If they can do that, El Cajon Brewing Co. may have a shot.  If not, they'll be missed.

The Brewery Project: El Cajon Brewing Co.

This week my brewery excursion took me to El Cajon Brewing Co.  Clicking on the link to their website reveals nothing more than an image of their logo.  The page is as barren as their bar.  I got to the brewery restaurant shortly after 4:30pm Thursday afternoon to find 10 people sitting in the spacious bar area.  After almost an hour of sampling various brews and snacking on sub-par nachos the total rose to 17, which included my group of 3.  This is not the first time I've seen this bar so sparsely filled, and from what I saw the restaurant wasn't much busier.  Is this a bleak sign of the future of this 6-month-old endeavor?  I hope not!  I've chronicled the progress of this brewery since the original "Hollywood Video" sign came off the building.  I find owner/brewer David to be a bit arrogant, which in brewing can be a positive and a negative.  The staff is not yet a solidified, cohesive team.  The food, in my opinion, is average.  The beer, however, is excellent!  When it's available, that is.  On this particular visit they had only 3 house beers on tap, not even enough to fill their $5, 4 beer sampler.  Their El Cajones IPA, not currently pouring, is one of the best I've ever had.  They did have El Cajones IIPA, which was a fantastic representation of the style.  However mediocre I may find the whole establishment, I truly love the beer they put out.  For that reason alone, I hope they pull things together and make El Cajon home for years to come.  After all, where else could they go?

El Cajon Brewing Co. grand opening

With the soft opening almost a month ago to the day, El Cajon Brewing Co. celebrates its grand opening today at 4:00pm. The following is their Facebook post from earlier today.

"Today is the BIG DAY!!! GRAND OPENING! GRAND OPENING! We start at 4 PM with free appetizers like, Buffalo Wings, Jalapeno Poppers and a few other delights.......then we have our special release Bourbon Barrel aged Honey Nut Brown Ale that is really really good.....festivities start at 4 PM !!!!"

Go show your support for this fledgling brewery by drinking their awesome beer and eating their free appetizers!

El Cajon Brewing Co. lowdown

I finally made it through the doors of the new brewery yesterday and had a lovely lunch. I had the Ultimate Stuffed Burger. I'm not going to give away any details of this monster, I'm going to make you go try it for yourself. I will tell you that the patty is beer battered and deep fried! Enough said. Now on to the beer. They currently have 4 of their own beers on tap, with about 20 guest beers. This number will eventually grow to a total of 40 taps as they put new beers on the line. Their offerings at this point are an American Pale Ale, Belgian Pale Ale, IPA, and a Stout. I felt that the APA and Stout were about on par with others I have had, nothing special. The Belgian Pale Ale is very well balanced, not too hoppy and not overwhelmingly "Belgian". I liked it a lot. I also liked the IPA a lot. It had a nice balance between citrus and pine. I would go back for that beer alone. I look forward to trying more of their beers as they become available. As far as the building itself, it is very nice from the outside and fits in perfectly with the downtown El Cajon theme. The inside is a different story. It is very light and airy, especially for a "brewpub". There are a lot of windows which bring in lots of natural light. That in and of itself is not a bad thing, and I'm sure it has a different feel at night. My main concern is the lack of wall decorations. I saw none. It almost had a cafeteria like feel to it. I will contribute this to the fact that we are still in the middle of the soft opening, and maybe the decorating has not been completed yet. That being my only complaint, I was quite satisfied with the whole experience, and look forward to visiting again soon. Even if you don't find yourself in East County or El Cajon very often (if ever), I recommend a trip out east to visit El Cajon Brewing Co. I think it will be a worthwhile trip, most likely the first of many!

El Cajon Brewing Co. is open!

I just found out (thanks Misty!) that today was the official soft opening, with an eye on Friday as the grand opening. Get over there and check it out!

El Cajon Brewing Co. update #3

In my ongoing effort to keep you abreast of the impending opening of East County's newest brewery restaurant, I give you a quote from Facebook yesterday.

"My brother and I are working 15 to 17 hour days, 7 days a week to get the place done and we have been working very hard for almost two years! And now we are almost done. After so much red tape we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Final inspections are all scheduled this week and then, if we pass, we'll open a few days after that. Ok?"

Could we be looking at an opening date of sometime next week? Only time will tell, let's just hope it's not too much time!

El Cajon Brewing Co. update #2

A couple of weeks has passed since my last update, and the brewery restaurant is still not open. The word now is that the opening will be in September. I will post the exact date when it is announced. East County waits with bated breath.

El Cajon Brewing Co. update

Just a quick update on the opening of East County's newest brewery. I have it on good authority (thanks Mike!) that the brewery will be open in the next couple of weeks. I'm looking forward to sampling their beer and seeing what else will occupy the guest taps. According to this article, they plan on having 10 house and 30 guest beers on tap, I would assume, rotating regularly. I will let you know more as I learn more.

El Cajon Brewing Co.

I first posted on the imminent arrival of El Cajon Brewing Co. to downtown El Cajon back in May of 2010. Last I heard they were planning on opening this month, but we'll see. I stopped by yesterday and took a few photos of their progress. Tanks have been visible for quite some time, but the signage is finally going up. The progress is encouraging, and I look forward to sampling their beer very soon!

A "sign" of good things to come

Hollywood Video, in it's heyday, was the premier place to find the latest movie and video game rentals. That was then. Now, with redbox kiosks on every corner and brand new movies available on your TV, computer, and cell phone, the large movie rental chains are becoming a thing of the past. The downtown El Cajon location, on the corner of Main & Magnolia, has been abandoned for quite some time, but the final remnants of this once choice location were removed today as the iconic sign came down. Not to worry, as this will be the new site of East County's premier microbrewery restaurant. El Cajon Brewing Co. has been working since last year to secure this location and to get to work. Read about their plans here, and keep your eye on this El Cajon intersection. I look forward to posting about the installation of a new sign. One heralding great new things to come, good times to be had, and fantastic beer to be consumed!