Figueroa Mountain Brewery

45 Industrial Way

Buellton, CA 93427

 (805) 694-2252

website

I'll let you in on a little secret about our anti-traffic stop at Telegraph:  the idea originated before then, at Figueroa Mtn.  People may know Buellton as the split pea soup capital of California (talk about a feather in your cap, huh?), but did you know a reputable brewery splits their own peas, so to speak?

Men at work.

They've managed to make the inside of a commercial building feel warm and inviting.  Lots of wood, and signs of a deep localism run throughout.

The FMB Mug Club!

Maybe it's the wall of mugs.  Or maybe because everyone in there was wearing some combination of FMB hat/shirt/hoodie.  I don't know, but it feels like a great place for an after-work meet up.

IPA flight

There was an ungodly number of beers on tap, which is impressive in it's own right, and only a few of them are ones you'll find in the stores.  We decided to focus on their IPAs.  In the photo, from right to left:

1. Hurricane Deck (double IPA) -- 8% --  a classic west coast double.  a bit heavy on the malt side
2. Hoppy Poppy (IPA) -- 6.5% -- read Brendan's review
3. Lizard's Mouth (an imperial IPA) -- 9.2% -- pretty good, very imperial, very resiny
4. Seafoam (a Belgian IPA) -- 6.8% -- OK, but nowhere near as mind blowing as BP Homework Series #2 (although maybe those are not comparable)

I can't say FMB makes my favorite beers around, and there weren't any that stopped me in my track, but I can say this is a fun place to drink.  There are so many options, you could get a Russian River style flight in scope -- unfortunately that's where the comparisons to RR stop.  I highly recommend making a stop here, even if the motivation is purely for beer's sake.