Creature Comforts is a name that most Athenians know or have heard of. If not (and you enjoy beer) you need to consider stopping by the brewery at 217 West Hancock Avenue. If you can’t find it, I would suggest looking for the old Snow Tire Company signs on the building and you’ve found it. It’s hard to miss, especially when the automotive shop doors are open, with music and laughter being heard from the streets. There’s a care free air about the place, and I feel like the founders, Adam Beauchamp and David Stein, would be proud of that fact.
Creature Comforts was founded after two home brewers, Beauchamp and Stein, got together to form their own brewing company. Both men worked at well-known breweries in Atlanta and wanted to bring that small brewery feel to Athens. After bringing on their CEO and some other full time workers, they began to renovate the old building that they now reside in. The brewery has won an award for outstanding rehabilitation by the Athens Heritage Foundation, which the people of Creature Comforts are incredibly proud of. And they should be! The ceilings are made of reclaimed wood and both the tables and bar tops are reclaimed wood as well.
A cool thing that takes place at the brewery is tours of the facility, where a very friendly staff member will explain to you how they make their 13+ craft beers, you’re always free to go back and refill your glass. As my tour guide said the last time I was there, “I am more offended by an empty glass than you walking away from my tour.” In addition to the the tours, customers get six pours (half a glass) of beer, and are free to look around, visit the outside area for some fresh air, or enjoy some music. Dogs are welcome both inside and out, and there is ample seating so that everyone can just relax. It is a definite spot that everyone should go at least once, and you even get to take home your glass!
Aside from making some great craft beer, Creature Comforts also works to help non-profits in the Athens area, specifically targeting hunger, poverty and homelessness. They have family friendly tours every Wednesday, called Get Comfortable, where there are barrels to collect items for the non-profit as well as silent auction items that can be bid on during the tour. Each month there is a different non-profit highlighted, and Your Pie is on site on the first Wednesday of the month to kick off each new non-profit. Get Comfortable also has their own merchandise on sale at Creature Comforts, where some of the proceeds go to the non-profit for the month.
I love you, Athens, for giving me this wonderful place that I can go and relax. I love that our town breeds creativity, and that Creature Comforts pours that creativity into their beers. I love the people that I have had the ability to share this true Athens staple with, and I love the way that I feel at home with a can of Creature Comfort beer in my hands. Thank you, Creature Comforts, for coming to my town and enriching my mind while also making something that I love to drink.