SANTA BARBARA, Calif.– The new year starts off with a bang for Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co., a highly decorated brewery based in California, which is debuting three new packaged products at taprooms and craft beer retailers within the first month of the new year. These new items include existing brands moving to new package formats, packaging design upgrades and entirely new brands.
The rapid fire of fresh items is a signal of what is to come the rest of 2019, according to Director of Marketing Cambria Griffith. “This year is all about executing a queue of fun ideas we’ve been eager to share. Our team focused heavily on building out our expansion and personnel in the past year, which means we can get these new projects, collaborations, and packaging formats out to our fans more efficiently than ever before,” says Griffith. “Our planned releases for this year are a pivotal step in a fresh direction for our brewery, and these new cans are just the beginning.”
The biggest shift in the 2019 line-up is the introduction of Point Conception IPA, a new, year-round, canned IPA named after the iconic elbow in California’s coastline. While the brewery’s flagship Hoppy Poppy IPA is an English-style, appropriately malt-balanced hoppy ale, Point Conception IPA features big, fruit-forward hops and a very dry finish with a deliberate resinous punch.
“If you look at our spectrum of packaged hoppy beers, we’ve been missing that modern, west coast IPA that’s light in color, nice and bright, and in that 6-8 percent ABV range,” says co-founder and owner Jaime Dietenhofer. “So, the development of this brand was very intentional,” he shares. “We’ve seen beer drinkers asking for this, and we looked at taproom customer feedback to confirm the ideal traits for our new IPA.”
As for the name, Dietenhofer explains, “We name a lot of our beers after local hikes and regions near and dear to us, so for our bright, west coast IPA, Point Conception had huge resonance. It’s an unmistakable feature of California’s coastline which defines the beginning of our Central Coast, and it’s a protected site of incredible historical and ecological significance.”
Point Conception IPA cans will be on retail shelves on Feb. 1, commemorating the 163rd anniversary of the Point Conception lighthouse activation. On Jan. 31, Jaime Dietenhofer and Head Creative Brewer Kevin Ashford will visit each Figueroa Mountain taproom location for a special, in-person, beer preview trek.
There are two more can releases coming before the end of the month. Fig Mtn Mosaic Pale Ale, a fan favorite and year-round core, will be available in cans as well as bottles wherever Figueroa Mountain products are sold. The brewery’s seasonal golden mocha ale, Zero to Sexy, will transition from bottles to 12 oz. cans with an updated design, and will be available in limited supply through March.
For updates on launch events, follow @figmtnbrew on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and visit figmtnbrew.com. An ongoing video series about Point Conception IPA can be viewed on the Figueroa Mountain Blog.
About Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co.
Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co. is an independent craft brewery founded in 2010 by father and son team Jim and Jaime Dietenhofer. With a passion for craft beer, they set out to pay homage to the beautiful Santa Ynez Valley with handcrafted beer and hand-drawn label art depicting their beloved local landscape. FMB has multiple tap rooms along the Central Coast of California, supported by a staff of 255 employees. Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co. beer can be found at taprooms or select retailers in California and Arizona. Learn more at www.figmtnbrew.com.