1st BATCH OF FILES AVAILABLE NOW!

GA's Creature Comforts remains one of the strongest bright spots in craft beer and continues to expand beyond. Its shipments to wholesalers grew 12.6% to 89,185 bbls in 2025, CEO Adam Beauchamp shared with CBN. That marks one of the larger volume gains (+10K bbls) in the segment last yr, virtually all comin' from beer growth plus a small amount of new Sun Glow vodka seltzer RTD, not even including another yr of "success" at its taproom and cocktail bar. Recall, Creature Comforts rose to #29 indie craft brewer by production volume overall in 2025, according to the BA. And it's set to keep climbing. After a strong start with growth thruout existing mkts, shelf space wins this spring, statewide launch in NC and some new initiatives in the hopper, co expects to surpass 100K bbls in 2026. Creature Comforts is up 15.7% YTD across its footprint with strong growth in home state GA, delivering "well over half of that growth," plus double-digit growth in TN and SC, and NC just getting started. Flagship Tropicalia IPA's 12pks are still the biggest driver of that at the brand/SKU level, benefiting from some new distribution in Costco and Sam's Club last yr that spilled into this yr. Single-serve 19.2s remain a big source of growth too, mainly for Tropicalia plus Classic City lager and Flash Cat imperial IPA. And Classic City Light is off to a "great start" after it "beat our plan by almost 300%" in 2025, Adam highlighted, pleased with the limited cannibalization on core Classic City Lager, which is expected to be flat this yr. Classic City Light is "a little more aggressively priced," and seems to be speaking to a broader consumer base, picking up "a ton of activation" in chains this spring.Yet growth is coming "across the board" with core brands "doing really well," coupled with seasonals and variety pks "doing well." While craft shelf sets typically shrunk this spring, "Creature Comforts held or gained shelf," Adam underscored. So there's "a really big uptick in rate of sale per POD."Moving "Faster" in NC to Go Statewide While it typically launches new states by seeding the brand thru specific cities first before going statewide, co's moving "a little faster" to turn on NC since it's "a really chain heavy state" and "we've already got really great relationships with chains already there," Adam explained. So Creature hired people on "day one" that are NC locals, brought in "a lot of support from our sales team" and "got really great support from wholesalers" to get off the ground for its statewide launch. Four parts of the state had a group of 4-8 people in mkt for a week to get to know distribs and key accounts as it rolled out, and Adam attended 3 of the 4, he shared. Still early days, but Creature's got "a lot of chains already turned on" as it's "selling a lot of draft," and "beating our plan." That's as Creature Comforts continues to add to its sales team out-of-state, now up to 4 people based in TN and 2 in SC, Adam highlighted. "We're really finding a lot of the competition is not staffed up as much as they were," and Creature Comforts is in a position to be "present." That especially paid off in Charleston over the last yr, where "we had a huge year," he added.Sun Glow Adding New Flavors, Variety 8pk, On-Prem Presence in Yr 2 After Modest Start, Learnings Sun Glow vodka seltzers sold just shy of 6K cases in year one, only available in GA via 4pks. Last yr was about "proof of concept" more than anything, using learnings to inform several levers being pulled in 2026. So Sun Glow will launch variety 8pks by end of the month, which co knows is "the core format" at a "better price point." It includes two new flavors, peach and cherry lime, to go with original tropical and citrus. "Midway through the release" of Sun Glow, co recognized that "on-premise needed to be a focus," Adam added. So it's making a more concerted effort thru existing relationships in GA and new "brand ambassador team," including a "couple marketing interns" to "spend time in accounts," talk about the product with bartenders and customers, and sample "one customer at a time." Adam's "very optimistic" on Sun Glow in 2026, especially after recent Jam for Can event it sponsors, raising awareness for skin cancer, where many college LDA drinkers were "trying it for the first time."Full Proof Spirits Launching Distribution The next leg of its journey to "transform into a beverage company," as Adam put it, is the launch of bottled spirits into distribution. Creature Comforts has been selling spirits at its taproom for yrs now, including its own cocktail program made on-site and sold at its Cura cocktail bar next door to the main brewery, as well as some bottled spirits for sale to go and the Sun Glow vodka seltzer RTD launch. Co's done limited bourbon bottle drops including recent collab with Bardstown. But for the first time, co will launch its own bottled spirits brand for distribution, Adam shared. While he didn't share deets on the brand quite yet, he divulged that it will start with an aperitivo that was available as a limited release during its recent 12-yr anniversary party.Taprooms "Still Seeing Success"; "Real Desire to be a Member" of "as Many Communities as We Can" Taprooms are "still seeing success," just coming off "the best quarter we've had" at the flagship location in Athens since before Covid, Adam noted. Its new beer garden in Chattanooga, TN was "too exciting of an opportunity to pass up," located in a "historic redevelopment site" of the city that is on brand for Creature Comforts, marking co's "4th historic preservation project," Adam reminded. Opening weekend coincided with Chattanooga's United Ways Day of Caring event that brought in hundreds of volunteers, and Creature Comforts "hosted the after party" for all who participated, buying everyone a beer and a baseball ticket to the minor league Chattanooga Lookouts. Adam's "looking forward to having a more permanent" location in that part of town and is close to landing the official space, but wants to "let the pop-up breath for a little bit."As for the decision to close the Los Angeles taproom, that's "a difference of investors" since it was "more like a franchise," and it "wasn't really our decision to stop it," he explained. There were "a lot of factors that led to it" outside of anyone's control, from Covid to wildfires. But Adam's "happy to be moving forward." And, he assured, Creature Comforts is committed to opening up more taprooms in markets that make sense as a key leg of its growth strategy. "Local matters" and Creature has a "real desire to be a member" of "as many communities as we can.""We Stopped Selling" Hemp THC Bevs at the Taproom After dabbling with hemp THC bev sales at the taproom last yr, "we stopped selling it," Adam shared. "We made that decision out of an abundance of caution," he said plainly, pointing to the legal gray areas. But "I don't want to throw shade on the category," Adam added, noting that "if something could be figured out" on the regulatory framework, he's "excited" about intoxicating hemp bevs. But "I would like to see a really regulated pathway ultimately" in order to go back to it.

Creature Comforts On Track to Crack 100K Bbls in 2026; Beer Leading the Way; Added Boost from Expanded RTDs & Launch of Bottled Spirits

Publishing Info