Monday, January 7, 2013

Figueroa Mountain

Strange brews, after paying all of my dues, were awaiting me on my return drive towards the King's Road in Buelton, CA from my short and prosperous, and non haunted but kinda creepy, trip to La Purisima Concepcion.

I was turned on to this brewery in my travels in the upper reaches of California, when I stopped in Pismo Beach. I was searching for a taste of what the locals were offering. After a long and difficult choice of about three or four brands, I picked up a Hoppy Poppy IPA. The most important deciding factor was the label design. A good label can make or break a product, and it did for me that night.

Figueroa Mountain Brewery, a short drive off the main path, was an odd looking establishment. From the images below, one would believe that it is snug and deep in the middle of the wild, but in actuality, its smack in the middle of a suburban commercial center. The exterior was most reminiscent of Stone Brewery As was their seating area of their beer garden. Much more impressive than the winery right around the corner. Many changes have taken place since the most recent street views on Google Maps.




The inside  of the tasting room was incredible. It seemed to resemble a lodge of sorts. The bar area was designed to look like a building inside of a building.with galvanized corrugated steel sheeting and all. I was thoroughly impressed with the design of the interior. 



Here are the flights I tried from them. From left to right: Red Rock ESB, Danish Red Lager, Hurricane Deck DIPA, Stagecoach Stout.









They had a great lineup, and for the most part, they all tasted great. Some I liked more than others, and others I might have had my hopes set a bit too high. If you are ever in the Santa Barbara/San Luis Obispo area, I highly recommend a stop by this great establishment. They have great prices and Its incredibly easy to get to on your way to or from Solvang. Unless you happen to live in the area, then I imagine, you've been there a few times.


Thanks for stopping by, and look for a continuation on my adventures on the El Camino Real.

Comments (14)

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Dig the top photo! You are improving, my friend~~
1 reply · active 638 weeks ago
It was a hard day to take pictures. There were clouds abound. Programs like Lightroom are a godsend for pictures like the top one. Thanks, dude!
Ha! I take so much for granted around here, I forgot about Figueroa. I am partial to their Stagecoach Stout. I have not been to their brewery because I have tried their different brews at the Grapes and Grains Festival that we have here in October. It's mostly local breweries and wineries that have tents set up for tasting. Looks like you got some nice clouds, was this Saturday on your way back home?
So where did you stop in Pismo to wet the whistle??
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1 reply · active 638 weeks ago
Yeah this was on Saturday. I was going to text you, but I only had a short amount of time and I thought you guys might have already left for your trip. I was on my way back from the ever so creepy La Purisima and I figured, why not. It's technically on my way back to the freeway and I could work off my buzz while walking around Solvang. It was actually a last minute decision to stop in Lompac and Solvang, I was just going to blow through until I saw I was only about 3 hours out.

I should have asked you when I was there of a good bar to go to. I also think I should have hit up that place that looked like a country bar across the street from Brad's. I walked into Scotty's and didn't like the look or the crowd, so I just went to a regular restaurant and had some Firestone before hitting up the liquor store which had a ton of great beers. Its not that easy finding a good place that has more than 2 good beers on tap. Any recommendations for the future?
I am glad you stopped. Looking forward to find out about your creepy experience at La Purisima.

Harry's is the place across from Brad's. It's a mix bag of folks in there but not too bad. You were right down the street from the Pismo Brewing Tasting Room, it was up closer to the freeway only about 2 or 3 blocks north of Brad's. The Boardroom on Hinds Ave has a good selection of beer too. I am not into pool because I suck at it but Hot Shots has a good selection of beers on tap and they are priced very fairly and they offer giant mug sizes :)
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1 reply · active 638 weeks ago
AAAAAHHHH!!!!! NO BUENO!!! Damn I totally missed out. :-( Those are exactly the kinda places I was looking for. bummer. I love the giant size mugs.

I didn't have any real creepy experiences, but I did feel the atmosphere inside the living quarters and I could feel what was there potentially. I'm open to that kind of stuff. I haven't had any bad dreams since I've been home so nothing followed me, thank christ.
You should just make a movie like Sideways, except for brewery hopping... I'd be happy to play the sidekick who can't help but bang hot Asian girls and chubby white girls ;)
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5 replies · active 638 weeks ago
I'm surprised nobody has done that yet. I 'll take the hot asian girls and you can have the chubby white ones :-)
I hated Sideways! But I had to watch it because it was shot locally.
I would be more than happy to direct you to breweries in the area! So long as I can tag along for a few brews myself.

I leave the girls to you two.

Also Tom
I nominated you for a Liebster Award. You can play along if you like: http://xanaxjunkee.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-rock-...
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I'd love to see all the breweries up there. I really think I can make it back up around the beginning of February.
I have 2 Mondays off that month. Aside from the 8th and 14th I am free to enjoy some local tasty brews with you.
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Awesome! I think I will go that very first weekend. I actually need to drive up to Santa Cruz that 1st day so I can catch the last 3 missions up there that I missed out on and drive back down to your area that Saturday or Sunday.

o.0 I need to hit the last 3 missions in So Cal too, maybe I will be hitting up stone and a couple others down there too....
I must visit this brewery! Nice pics, buddy.
1 reply · active 637 weeks ago
Hey, Thanks alot Dude. Hopefully someday soon I can take you over here! maybe on the way to Firestone.

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