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Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co.
45 Industrial Way
Buellton, California, 93427
United States
(805) 694-2252 | map
figmtnbrew.com
Food available for purchase at adjoining restaurant.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by DocJitsu:
Reviewed by DocJitsu from Florida
4.36/5 rDev +7.1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5
4.36/5 rDev +7.1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5
It's located in an unassuming, non-touristy area of Buellton. This place has undergone an evolution of sorts, with more change expected in the near future. It's owned by a local person, which has it's advantages (e.g., in touch with the community) and disadvantages (e.g., less aggressive with investment for expansion). There have been recent additions of brewing equipment, which has made an already cramped space even moreso. When I first starting patronizing the brewpub (sometime around February 2011), there were never more than a handful of people there. With the beer's exploding popularity, it's nearly impossible to find a seat now on a weekend. The wait staff is always patient and attentive. However, there simply may be too few of them to handle the demand at times. The overall pleasant and patient personality of the wait staff parallels that of the manager, Dave, who is a British gentleman who has experience in the brew pub industry.
Fig. Mtn.'s mug club was a brilliant idea and has morphed into it's own fraternal sub-culture. There is certainly some envy of club
members without the conceit from members. There's plenty of
social involvement--even among members and non-members. While membership is exclusive, it is not necessarily the result of VIP, power, or wealth. It's more due to luck, being in the know, and perhaps being in the right place at the right time. The way it's been explained to me is that nearly immediately after the brew pub opened in Fall 2010, the waitlist for the mug club was pages deep.
Pints of anything Fig. Mtn. has are available. They have bombers to take with you and they also sell growlers at a reasonable price. But, the sampler flights are very popular. Particularly among non-mug club members and tourists. This gives you the unique opportunity to try all of Fig. Mtn.'s offerings for a very fair price.
Now, the brewer. AJ Stoll, a Santa Cruz Banana Slug and former dorm room homebrewer is a genius. He has created one of the most remarkable collections of artisan beers in America and, perhaps, the world. This is one of those rare occasions where a local business owner pairs up with a subject matter expert who likely far surpasses any expectations the owner had at the business's inception. Good for them and great for us, the consumers.
Lastly, I like that Fig. Mtn. is in an anonymous area of town, but I think a move to larger and, unfortunately, a likely more visible area is inevitable.
The Buellton rivalry (Fig. Mtn. v. Firestone-Walker) is on like Donkey Kong!
ADDENDUM: Figueroa Moutain has now added a beer garden to the east side of their building. All outdoors with some grass, fire pits, adirondack chairs, picnic tables, umbrellas for shade, a bocce ball court, horseshoe pits, and a stage for live music. This has immensely improved the atmosphere, hence my increase in the rating, in addition to the space issue that was becoming a problem. This has been an excellent addition.
Aug 19, 2012Fig. Mtn.'s mug club was a brilliant idea and has morphed into it's own fraternal sub-culture. There is certainly some envy of club
members without the conceit from members. There's plenty of
social involvement--even among members and non-members. While membership is exclusive, it is not necessarily the result of VIP, power, or wealth. It's more due to luck, being in the know, and perhaps being in the right place at the right time. The way it's been explained to me is that nearly immediately after the brew pub opened in Fall 2010, the waitlist for the mug club was pages deep.
Pints of anything Fig. Mtn. has are available. They have bombers to take with you and they also sell growlers at a reasonable price. But, the sampler flights are very popular. Particularly among non-mug club members and tourists. This gives you the unique opportunity to try all of Fig. Mtn.'s offerings for a very fair price.
Now, the brewer. AJ Stoll, a Santa Cruz Banana Slug and former dorm room homebrewer is a genius. He has created one of the most remarkable collections of artisan beers in America and, perhaps, the world. This is one of those rare occasions where a local business owner pairs up with a subject matter expert who likely far surpasses any expectations the owner had at the business's inception. Good for them and great for us, the consumers.
Lastly, I like that Fig. Mtn. is in an anonymous area of town, but I think a move to larger and, unfortunately, a likely more visible area is inevitable.
The Buellton rivalry (Fig. Mtn. v. Firestone-Walker) is on like Donkey Kong!
ADDENDUM: Figueroa Moutain has now added a beer garden to the east side of their building. All outdoors with some grass, fire pits, adirondack chairs, picnic tables, umbrellas for shade, a bocce ball court, horseshoe pits, and a stage for live music. This has immensely improved the atmosphere, hence my increase in the rating, in addition to the space issue that was becoming a problem. This has been an excellent addition.
More User Ratings:
Reviewed by WickedBeer from Alabama
3.94/5 rDev -3.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5
3.94/5 rDev -3.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5
Great spot with great quality food from their adjoining restaurant! Pretty good seasonal/year-round selection, would like to see more experimental dark brews in the future!
May 14, 2017Reviewed by shoegueuze from California
3.74/5 rDev -8.1%
vibe: 3.75 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.75 | selection: 4
3.74/5 rDev -8.1%
vibe: 3.75 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.75 | selection: 4
The interior of this place is quite nice, good wood motif, decent amount of seating and to-go bottle list selection was also cool. Few of the pluses: They do flights for $8 for four 4. oz pours (which is a good deal imo). They also sell a lot of the bottles they're pouring there. If they don't have bottles of it this place has a crowler canning machine and the beertender informed me they would do fills of any of their beers on draught (though that some would be pricier than others, obviously.)
The cons of this taproom are the location, there's just nowhere to fucking park! My father and I came on a Monday around 1 PM in the afternoon and there was literally NO parking. I would expect it on a Friday evening but at this hour it's a bit ridiculous. I feel like in order for this taproom to truly be good it would need to move somewhere where there's enough parking or buy up some more space for parking because the inconvenience of getting to this taproom makes me not want to return.
Feb 28, 2017The cons of this taproom are the location, there's just nowhere to fucking park! My father and I came on a Monday around 1 PM in the afternoon and there was literally NO parking. I would expect it on a Friday evening but at this hour it's a bit ridiculous. I feel like in order for this taproom to truly be good it would need to move somewhere where there's enough parking or buy up some more space for parking because the inconvenience of getting to this taproom makes me not want to return.
Reviewed by bradybeer from California
4.97/5 rDev +22.1%
vibe: 4.75 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5
4.97/5 rDev +22.1%
vibe: 4.75 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5
Really nice place for high quality beers and excellent vibe. We stopped off before hitting our hotel for a few beers. We had the Danish Red, Black IPA, Imperial Brown and Bohemian Pils. All were solid with the Black IPA being outstanding. We will be back.
Mar 28, 2016Reviewed by UCLABrewN84 from California
3.86/5 rDev -5.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4
3.86/5 rDev -5.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4
The main brewery is a must stop if you are in the area. They usually have at least 10 of their beers on tap and some bottles for purchase to go. There is seating inside and patio seating outside. I believe they offer tours of the brewery at certain times. Service has always been pleasant but it can take a while to get beer if they are busy.
Jun 23, 2015Rated by My-glass-half-full
3.97/5 rDev -2.5%
vibe: 3.75 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 3.5
3.97/5 rDev -2.5%
vibe: 3.75 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 3.5
Great service and complementary tastings on mid-day weekdays.
Apr 25, 2015Reviewed by Orthodoxkardia from California
4.13/5 rDev +1.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.75 | service: 5 | selection: 3.75
4.13/5 rDev +1.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.75 | service: 5 | selection: 3.75
Maybe not my favorite beers ( nothing to complain about, they're tasty enough) but the staff was excellent. Would come back just for the service... And beers.
Mar 31, 2015Reviewed by Absolut from California
3.89/5 rDev -4.4%
vibe: 3.75 | quality: 3.75 | service: 4.25 | selection: 3.75
3.89/5 rDev -4.4%
vibe: 3.75 | quality: 3.75 | service: 4.25 | selection: 3.75
Visited the Santa Barbara location. Full selection of the beers while watching nfl football. Ordered food through bartender from lucky penny which has great pizza. Excellent afternoon of beer and food. Great service.
A must if you are in SB and looking for some beer.
Jan 05, 2015A must if you are in SB and looking for some beer.
Reviewed by ONovoMexicano from New Mexico
4/5 rDev -1.7%
4/5 rDev -1.7%
I can't stop in any town in America without paying a visit to a local brewery, and of those in Santa Barbara, this is the one I was most interested in checking out.
When I arrived with the family, the place was packed and a band was rocking out, making for a very loud establishment. No biggie, but surprising considering it was the afternoon.
As I usually do, I start with a flight for myself and find the sweetest beer available for my wife. My wife wasn't crazy about the wheat beer I chose for her, but I found plenty to like with the flight. Based on what I recall and a little help from the Untappd app, here's my impression of the beers I tried:
Lizard's Mouth- A Double IPA. I enjoyed this and found it very easy to put back. It was well-balanced and, surprisingly, wasn't the typical West Coast Hop Bomb. It was still very approachable. 4/5
Monkey's with Typewriters Rye- As the name suggests, this is a rye, and a decent one. My recollection is that I wasn't getting the rye spice that I wanted and that the hops were pretty subdued as well. Still, it was good enough. I gave it 3.5/5
Stearn's Irish Dry Stout- This isn't a style I don't see too much, but I did enjoy it. I recall a strong dark malt presence and hints of coffee with almost no sweetness. 4/5
Big Cone Black Ale- This was good and it required a second, full, pour. A moderately hoppy beer with dark malts that provided some hints of chocolate and toffee. 4/5
Davy Brown Ale- This was a run-of-the-mill brown ale. I enjoyed it, but didn't find anything unique about it. 3.5/5
Also, while up north in the town of Cambria, I had a pour of Fig Mountain's 3rd Anniversary Stout. The beer was very robust and complex in its flavors, with lots of oakiness, chocolate, vanilla, toffee and coffee notes (it's a stout and I believe it's aged in bourbon barrels, although I didn't detect a lot of bourbon notes, but I'd just had a Bourbon County before trying this). The beer was tasty and I'd certainly have enjoyed more, but when I was at the brewery they only had it in bottles and it was selling for $23. Whoa! Fig Mountain, I like your stuff, but there are a number of barrel-aged imperial stouts I like much more and some as cheap as $9 a bottle, so I couldn't justify this price. Anyway, the beer has sold well, so the locals are happy.
Finally, the service was friendly enough, so no complaints there. I don't recall seeing food, so beware coming hungry.
Sep 22, 2014When I arrived with the family, the place was packed and a band was rocking out, making for a very loud establishment. No biggie, but surprising considering it was the afternoon.
As I usually do, I start with a flight for myself and find the sweetest beer available for my wife. My wife wasn't crazy about the wheat beer I chose for her, but I found plenty to like with the flight. Based on what I recall and a little help from the Untappd app, here's my impression of the beers I tried:
Lizard's Mouth- A Double IPA. I enjoyed this and found it very easy to put back. It was well-balanced and, surprisingly, wasn't the typical West Coast Hop Bomb. It was still very approachable. 4/5
Monkey's with Typewriters Rye- As the name suggests, this is a rye, and a decent one. My recollection is that I wasn't getting the rye spice that I wanted and that the hops were pretty subdued as well. Still, it was good enough. I gave it 3.5/5
Stearn's Irish Dry Stout- This isn't a style I don't see too much, but I did enjoy it. I recall a strong dark malt presence and hints of coffee with almost no sweetness. 4/5
Big Cone Black Ale- This was good and it required a second, full, pour. A moderately hoppy beer with dark malts that provided some hints of chocolate and toffee. 4/5
Davy Brown Ale- This was a run-of-the-mill brown ale. I enjoyed it, but didn't find anything unique about it. 3.5/5
Also, while up north in the town of Cambria, I had a pour of Fig Mountain's 3rd Anniversary Stout. The beer was very robust and complex in its flavors, with lots of oakiness, chocolate, vanilla, toffee and coffee notes (it's a stout and I believe it's aged in bourbon barrels, although I didn't detect a lot of bourbon notes, but I'd just had a Bourbon County before trying this). The beer was tasty and I'd certainly have enjoyed more, but when I was at the brewery they only had it in bottles and it was selling for $23. Whoa! Fig Mountain, I like your stuff, but there are a number of barrel-aged imperial stouts I like much more and some as cheap as $9 a bottle, so I couldn't justify this price. Anyway, the beer has sold well, so the locals are happy.
Finally, the service was friendly enough, so no complaints there. I don't recall seeing food, so beware coming hungry.
Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co. in Buellton, CA
Brewery rating:
3.74 out of
5 with
1591 ratings
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