Creature Comforts was founded by people passionate for starting a craft brewery in Athens, GA, a town that we love and that has the potential to be a craft beer hub and destination for the South East. The first piece of the puzzle was David Stein who at the time was the head brewer at Twain’s Billiards & Tap, a well-known brewpub in Decatur, GA. David was a home brewer turned pro, whose passion for craft beer had moved him through working at some of the top craft beer establishments. David was using the name Creature Comforts for his personal home brews and that name became the foundation for the brewery we run today. David quickly brought on his friend Adam Beauchamp, who was in his seventh year of brewing beer at Sweetwater Brewing Company in Atlanta, GA, a brewery he began working at after leaving a PHD in Genetics program at Emory. Adam himself was an accomplished home-brewer and he had a wealth of experience running a production brewery.
With the help of a craft beer enthusiast and local Athens, GA businessman, Derek Imes, we began building Creature Comforts in a beautiful 13,000 square foot historic warehouse building in downtown Athens. The building was originally built in the 1940’s as a Chevy dealership and later became Snow Tire Co., before Creature Comforts took over. Building in a 1940’s warehouse presented a lot of challenges as well as many wonderful opportunities. One such opportunity was the chance to salvage and reclaim the old wood from the building that was subsequently refinished and then put back into the brewery in the form of bar tops, tables, wall paneling, and ceilings. The final result, is a brewery that has won an award for outstanding rehabilitation by the Athens Heritage Foundation and something that we are extremely proud to share with the world.
Approximately two months before opening, we found the final missing piece. We knew we wanted to bring someone into the family who would handle the business aspects of the brewery, considering the fact that Adam and David are brewers dedicated to spending every minute of their day making the best possible beer. Through a long journey that ended with a very serendipitous introduction that came via a person in Vancouver, British Columbia, Chris Herron, a Georgia native himself who was living in Connecticut, became the CEO of Creature Comforts. Chris had spent 12 years working in sales, pricing, and finance for major beverage alcohol suppliers, and was intent on starting a craft brewery in Georgia, which made him joining Creature Comforts an easy choice. We have since added, Blake Tyers a veteran and forward thinking home brewer as a brewer at Creature Comforts, and we brought on Katie Beauchamp to manage our office activities, tours and special events. Combined with the nearly 20 part time tour staff we have, our entire family is together and we have 20+ years of experience.
What started out as curious exploration of what we love, turned into us uncovering our passion, following that passion, and finding happiness, which has allowed us to enjoy the Creature Comforts of life. Creature Comforts Brewing Company is truly our very own creature comfort. Our brewery is what makes us happy, it is what makes us feel at home, it is what comforts us, and puts us in a happy place. Creature Comforts is the end result of the story of our past and the starting point for the story our future, and we look forward to writing that story with you.