Figueroa Mountain Brewing

Just a few minutes from Firestone Walker, this is an older school place that's a bit more intimate. A dozen+ beers on tap with custom flights of 4 available for $12 plus tax (preset flights for $10). They had a couple barrel aged beers when I visited, but neither were particularly well-made. I enjoyed their hoppier beers more. Friendly service, and comfortable inside and outside seating, though a bit grungier. Not a mandatory stop at this point, but worth a look if you have time.

Stopped here after Firestone Walker which may have been a bad idea. Place was cramped, but still attractive. Had a sampler of beers and some pretzels. Different but not all that memorable.

We were taken here by our tour. I liked it the best cause the other three stops were wineries. Most people in our group had the lighter beer sampler. Andy had the Dark sampler(which I had some of) I chose the IPA sampler and changed out one IPA for a stout. Great DIPA’s and the stout! No crowd in middle of a Thursday afternoon. The women in our group did not like smelling the open brewing process while sampling the flights of beer.

Nice dark-wood pub feel in the taproom right next to the tanks. Many of their widely distributed varieties available, but also Half a dozen that are not available anywhere. No food beyond peanuts and chips. Very friendly and helpful service. Extra points for letting me in before they were really open for business.

Visited after some locals I met the day before told me I should check it out. Awesoe ambiance, old school wooden pub built inside the brewery, right next to the tanks. The service is friendly and the people are passionate about their beer. Prices are good, you can get flights. The beer is solid, not too special though. Definitely recommended if you’re on your way through Buellton or here anyway for Firestone Barrelworks.

Situé à une distance raisonnable (30min) à pied de Firestone/Barrelworks. Petit pub avec une tonne de charme et d’habiletés en commençant par la collection de barbelés dans l’entrée. Des bands se donnent en spectacle entre deux fermenteurs aussi parfois. Pour ce qui est de la bière, c’est assez égal de la ipa à l’impériale stout mais rien qui émerge dramatiquement.

Kom forbi og fik en række tasters plus en t-shirt. Søde og hjælpsomme mennesker. Rigtig god stemning. Fint sted der bestemt kan anbefales.

It’s located in an unassuming, non-touristy area of Buellton. It has undergone an evolution of sorts, at key times in its development. It’s owned by a local person, which allows him to be in touch with the community. When I first starting patronizing the brewpub (Feb ’11), 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 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. The brewer, AJ Stoll, a Santa Cruz Banana Slug and former dorm room homebrewer is a genius. 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. It 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.