Before Creature Comforts expanded to the massive production facility at Southern Mill and opened a second brewery facility on the West Coast, it began life as a small downtown Athens brewing company.
As Georgia's largest independent craft brewery, Creature's mentorship of brewers who are looking to take their product to the next level has resulted in the co-creation of a new flavor of beer that is perfectly timed for fall.
Released on Nov. 1, Seeds Take Up the Soil is a sweet potato ale created in collaboration with Black-owned Our Culture Brewing Company. Founded in Atlanta and owned by siblings Isaac and Isaiah Smith and longtime friend Shakeel Radford, the Our Culture team is rounded out by co-owner Josie Footmon-Smith, head of operations and community engagement. Seeds Take Up the Soil is the first commercially available beer produced by Our Culture and can be purchased on draft and in 4-pack cans at Creature Comforts brewery.
Though Creature Comforts has partnered with breweries like Sierra Nevada, Allagash and Bell's through its Get Comfortable program, the mentorship with Our Culture is a first. At a conference the day that Seeds Take Up the Soil was released, Creature Comforts vice president of talent and culture Fenwick Broyard explained that his company's strategy of diversity and inclusion also incorporates equity and ownership.
"It's not just about having a seat at the table but having a table of your own," said Broyard. "What would it look like for us to not just have more Black brewers and more Black sellers, but more Black brewery owners? (Our Culture) is a group of young people who have a fantastic product that they're developing."
Instead of just making a beer with a big established company, Our Culture has also learned how to open and operate a brewery from the ground up, which included an eight-week sensory training program for quality detection, a visit to the Creature Comforts location in Los Angeles and experience running front of house and marketing. The next step for Our Culture is to create a solo branded beer and to negotiate with distributors for placement in retail stores.
"What we've been doing for the past four years is trying to continue to build our brand so that when we do come into the market, we're ready with a quality product," said Footmon-Smith. "We don't just want to be another Black-owned brewery, we want to be a great brewery."
Creature Comforts Downtown Taproom and Brewery is located at 271 W. Hancock Ave. For more information about Our Culture Brewing Company, visit ourculturebrewing.com.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Creature Comforts and Black-owned brewery collaborate on new beer