The Simi Valley Acorn reported on Mad Era Brewing's plans for 20 W. Cochran Street, the former Marie Callender's site. Mad Era did not open. The building is now intended for a new brewery project, and the current project's announced opening targets have passed.
Simi Valley has a beer scene beyond a hometown brewery. The building at Cochran and Madera has been the subject of two brewery proposals, while local events offer other ways to enjoy beer and live music. This article follows the site's brewery timeline and the fall events on the local calendar.
Two Attempts, One Address
Mad Era Brewing got the furthest of any project on this site before it disappeared. Starting in 2018, the team posted regular updates on Facebook: building plans submitted, a roll-up door installed, tile going in, plumbing run, brewhouse equipment placed. Then the posts just stopped in May 2022, and the building sat quiet with a fading sign for three more years.
The team behind the current attempt, Simi Valley Brewing Company, has real credentials. Ali Zia co-founded Tarantula Hill Brewing Co. and Bottle & Pint, both in Thousand Oaks. Phil Adler runs Freda's Pizza & Woodfired Kitchen, with locations in Moorpark, Camarillo, and Westlake Village. Daniel Price spent over a decade brewing at Beachwood Brewing and Riip Beer Company before signing on as head brewer here. Ali Witwit rounds out the group as co-founder and COO.
Zia has been direct about why he picked this particular corner.
"Simi's in a similar situation where they are actively excited about having a brewery in town."
— Ali Zia, quoted by WhatNow
He said that after already proving the concept once in Thousand Oaks. The plan for the Simi location calls for 8,400 square feet split between a dining room seating roughly 200 and a shaded patio built for another 200, with a menu built around barbecue and a rotating lineup of West Coast IPAs and lagers.
It would not even be the first brewery Simi Valley has had. Back in the 1990s, both Joe-Joe's Brewing Co. and Doc's Brew Pub & Restaurant operated in the city before eventually closing. The wait for a third attempt has just been considerably longer.
The Opening Timeline
The reported opening targets and current status are summarized below.
| When It Was Reported | Opening Target Given | Status as of September 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Summer 2025 (Simi Valley Acorn) | "Early 2026" | Passed |
| April 2026 (Hoodline, WhatNow, National Today) | "June 2026," pending inspections and ABC liquor license approval | Passed |
| Checked this month, the brewery's own site | No date given | Reads "Grand opening coming soon" |
Reports described inspections and ABC liquor license approval as conditions for the June 2026 target. Mad Era was a separate earlier brewery project at the same site.
What it means for anyone circling October on their calendar is simple. Don't plan a fall outing around this opening. Plan it around what's already confirmed.
A Reddit comment quoted by Clair captured local interest after the announcement first went public:
"We've been waiting for a legit brewery here forever. Finally!"
The comment reflects local interest in the project; its opening date remains unannounced.
The City Already Knows How to Throw a Beer Festival
Here's the part that undercuts the assumption that Simi Valley has been sitting dry this whole time. It hasn't.
Simi Valley Oktoberfest returns Saturday, October 3, billed as the largest one-day Oktoberfest event in California, with parking sharing a lot with the Simi Valley Police Department. A live band called Hammerstein Musik Bavaria works through polka, tango, and the occasional classic rock cover while the beer tent stays open to everyone 21 and up. It's organized by the Simi Sunrise Rotary Charitable Foundation, a group that's been running community fundraisers in the city since 1996.
Three weeks later, the Simi Valley Street Fair takes over Simi Town Center Way on October 24 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with more than 300 crafters, artists, and food vendors, a beer and wine garden, and a stage sponsored by Logix Federal Credit Union. The Chamber of Commerce has run this one for years, long before anyone drew up plans for a brewery on Cochran Street.
Both events have their own schedules and take place independently of the Cochran Street brewery project. The brewery's opening date remains unannounced.
What This Fall Actually Looks Like on the Ground
If you're mapping out the next six weeks, the confirmed fall events offer several options while the brewery's opening date remains unannounced.
- Saturday, October 3 — Simi Valley Oktoberfest, tickets required, 21 and up
- October 11 through November 9 — Shrek the Musical at the Cultural Arts Center, staged by Actors' Repertory Theatre of Simi as the venue heads into its 31st season
- Saturday, October 24 — Simi Valley Street Fair at Simi Town Center Way, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., beer and wine garden included
- Saturday, October 31 — a Beetlejuice-themed community Halloween event at Rancho Santa Susana Community Center, plus RSRPD's ticketed youth carnival for kids 12 and under, tickets going on sale October 1 at $5 each
- All month — Fall Harvest Festival at Underwood Family Farms, technically just over the line in neighboring Moorpark, with a corn maze, wagon rides, and themed weekends through the month
These events offer options for fall while the brewery's opening date remains unannounced.
The Brewery Project
The Cochran Street project has drawn attention in Reddit threads and local coverage. Plans reported for the site include a barbecue menu and a patio under the oak trees.
If the doors do open, the brewery would be another addition to Simi Valley's local beer scene, alongside the events already on the calendar.
For now, the sign on Cochran Street stays where it's been, and the fall calendar moves forward without it. Keep an eye on Simi Valley Brewing Company's own updates if you want to be there for opening day, and make October plans around the confirmed events listed above.
If you're already living in Simi Valley and curious about how the rest of the neighborhood's rhythm holds up beyond one corner and one long-delayed building, our team put together a broader look at everyday life in Simi Valley, from parks to the dining scene that's grown up around it. And if a friend or family member has been asking what it's actually like to live here day to day, from beer festivals to fall calendars and everything in between, the team at Rodney Johnson Team has spent decades getting to know this corner of the Conejo and San Fernando valleys, one neighborhood detail at a time. Reach out any time you or someone you know wants an honest, local read on Simi Valley.
