First Anniversary Ale
Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co.

 

Purchased this bomber at the brewery on the day of their anniversary celebration in November 2011.

A: Black with an inviting off white, creamy like head that settled down rather quickly and left little puffs of lacing.

S: Predominately coffee and dark chocolate with notes of toffee and oats and just a hint pine.

T: True to the smell, a wonderful blend of coffee & chocolate with hints of oats and toffee. The hop bitterness comes through nicely and lingers on the finish.

M: Mild, pleasant carbonation with a slight oily slick feeling, very nice!

O: Really enjoyed it. Rich, toasty and complex maltiness with a very nice balance of hop bitterness. Reminded me more of an Imperial Stout than a Black IPA, but very good no matter what you call it.

 

Well, Fig Mtn has done it again. Pours a dark brown with glints of red in the light. Nice, big, creamy root beer head with excellent head retention. Dark chocolate liqueur and coffee in the bouquet. Very creamy mouthfeel. Milk chocolate liqueur and coffee lingers on the palate. The finish is characterized by cherries on the center of the tongue and coffee acidity on the rear sides of the tongue. Everything is put together so nicely with this beer. I'm just so impressed with Fig Mtn and the genius that goes into brewing their beer.

Congrats Figueroa Mountain Brewing on your first anniversary! I had a bottle of this shared with me, which I enjoyed, but this is a draft review, and I’ve had a few pints of this now over a few days time. I was able to try this at instant replay, which to my knowledge, was sold the only keg outside of the brewery of this stuff (no way to verify, but that’s what the bar owner was told) Anyhow, on to the review.

Review is from notes.

A: The beer is black, with a dark chestnut brown hue, with a healthy full inch of off white colored head that lingers around and slowly settles, while depositing just a few splotches of sticky film. Head settled to a quarter inch, which mostly lasted throughout.

S: Touch of pine, some bitter dry hops up front in the aroma, followed by some aroma’s of medium chocolate, medium roasted malt, more bitter hops, with notes of earth, oats, and light smoke.

T: Taste was not too bitter, but rather just a light to medium bitterness, with an intense hop aroma. The body has flavors of medium roasted malt, some dark chocolate, earth, and oatmeal. The 9% ABV is well hidden. As it warmed, the earthy, chocolate, and ale yeast shines through.

M: Medium carbonation, not to sweet, with a smooth slick feel.

O: Pretty good stuff, and for me, one of the better black IPA’s I’ve had, since it was dry hopped up on the nose, but had a robust earthy & chocolate malt backbone which was not thin, and was robust enough to balance it out. I’ve heard the brewery is thinking of making this a regular offering, due to its popularity in their tasting room. I hope that’s true, since I sure liked it, and the $6 a tulip a price vs. the $20 a bottle is also preferable.