Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co. has taken over operations of three Los Angeles brewpub properties from Artisanal Brewers Collective (ABC), and will convert each into specialty Figueroa Mountain taprooms, the Buellton, California-based brewery announced June 17.
Stalking Horse Brewery and Pub in Rancho Park, Broxton Brewery & Public House in Westwood Village, and Bluebird Brasserie in Sherman Oaks are now “Figueroa Mountain entities,” effective immediately, and will remain open – with the exception of Bluebird, which shut down in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic – as Figueroa Mountain completes transformation plans, founder and president Jaime Dietenhofer told Brewbound.
ABC’s Library Bar, Ojai Pub and Brenna’s are not a part of the deal and will remain under ABC ownership. ABC founder Tony Yanow – who also co-founded Golden Road Brewing, before it was acquired by Anheuser-Busch – will stay “actively involved” with the locations changing hands, serving as a “special consultant and advisor” to Figueroa Mountain.
“Tony’s a great, great advisor and has great knowledge in the beer industry and business in general,” Dietenhofer said. “So we’re keeping him involved in those stores.”
Each location will have a unique identity tied into the LA neighbor it inhabits and specific Figueroa Mountain brands:
- Bluebird will become Lagerhaus, a Germanic-style brewhall focused on lagers;
- Broxton will become Fig at UCLA, a “hub” for the company on the UCLA campus, that will feature a “nimble” brewhouse focused on research and development;
- Stalking Horse will become Agua Santa Cervecería, a Mexican-inspired taproom featuring the brewery’s Agua Santa 4.8% ABV lager, as well as future brand extensions that will be released in 2023.
“The exciting thing about L.A. is that it is 88 different cities pretending to be one,” Dan Shapiro, Figueroa Mountain’s marketing director, told Brewbound. “So there’s a lot of different communities here, and there’s a lot of different opportunities here. What we can do is rather than just having one big brewery that tries to represent everyone, we can speak to those communities directly.”
Dietenhofer – a Los Angeles native whose family has been in the area for several generations (his grandparents graduated from Hollywood High) – had been looking for “some time” at how to expand Figueroa Mountain’s presence in “the Southland,” and mimic the brewery’s “successful model” of growing brand awareness through brick-and-mortar locations. Prior to the L.A. additions, Figueroa Mountain operated four taprooms in Buellton, Westlake Village, Los Olivos and Santa Barbara.
“Unless you see the 20 to 30 beers that we have on tap, you’re not experiencing the full breadth of what Figueroa Mountain can offer,” Dietenhofer said. “So we’re really excited to bring that down there.
“[The expansion] helps our retailers as well; it helps the retailers around there for the awareness of the beer,” he continued. “We’re still a small independent brewery that wants to connect with customers.”
Through the deal, Figueroa Mountain has also assumed management of the craft beer bar Mohawk Bend in Echo Park. There will be “no operational changes” to the location, according to a press release.
“That place is iconic to me and the last thing I want to do is mess with it,” Dietenhofer said.
“I’ve known it forever as a craft brew Mecca,” he continued. “We saw that as an opportunity to get more involved in the craft brewing beer community, if anything, but we’re not going in there and changing Mohawk.”
All staff will remain on at all the locations, with plans to add additional positions. An exact date for when the brewpub revamps will debut has not been set, due to the continued “long lead times” and supply chain constraints.
“We’re just doing construction right now,” Dietenhofer said. “We wish we had a more finite date, but [it’s] as soon as we can.”
The Brewers Association estimated that Figueroa Mountain produced 15,000 barrels in 2021, which would be a +15% increase over 2020. However, Dienthofer said that estimate is low, and the brewery will be running at a monthly production rate closer to producing 30,000 barrels by the end of this year.
Figueroa Mountain had a bumpy 2020, which included filing for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October, in order to take on new investment. At the time, the company owed between 200 and 99 creditors between $1 million and $10 million, according to the filing. Now, the “reorganization has been finalized, and the only item currently pending is the transfer of the ABC licenses, which are in process,” Shapiro said.
The start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 also forced the company to become “lean and mean,” with a renewed focus on SKU rationalization and chain and retail growth, Dietenhofer said. Now the brewery is in growth mode, due in part to the returning on-premise, as well as gaining more chain authorizations.
Figueroa Mountain’s sales are now about 60% off-premise, 40% on-premise – a shift from the 70% draft focus it had in its early years. To support continued off-premise growth, the brewery revealed a brand refresh this past February, with the intent to make its products appear more cohesive.
“We’re in our 12th year now, and I’ve been involved in every single logo sketch in the back of a notepad,” Dietenhofer said. “When you finally stop and put all of the cans in front of you and all of the stuff that you have out there, you’re like ‘Crap, we Frankensteined some things here and there.”
The company partnered again with Blindtiger Design – the creators of the original Figueroa Mountain logo and artwork – to create the brand refresh. While the brewery’s packages now look “more modern,” they still have the “hand drawn aesthetic” that Sharpiro said the brewery’s consumers voiced was important to keep.
IPAs are “still king” for the brewery, including its flagship Hoppy Poppy IPA, as its new Point Conception West Coast IPA (which Dietenhofer said is “gaining on Hoppy”) and Hikers High hazy IPA, Dietenhofer said. The brewery’s Lizards Mouth 9% ABV imperial has also gained a “cult following” and is “absolutely ripping” through the market, so that the brewery “can’t make it fast enough.”
Other honorable mentions are Santa Barbara Shandy – an answer to consumers looking for fruit- and flavor-forward bev-alc offerings in the beyond beer space, available in a variety 12-pack, and single-flavor 6-pack – as well as Agua Santa, which is an “absolute beast,” particularly on draft.
The motto for Figueroa Mountain decisions going forward: “focus, execute, repeat [and] simplify,” Dietenhofer said.
“There’s no need for us to take over the world,” he continued. “We have enough great customers and accounts right in our backyard, between here and the Southland, so that’s our mode for the near future.”