Creature Comforts to Open LA Space
Athens, Georgia-based Creature Comforts Brewing will become a bi-coastal craft beer brand next year with the construction of a taproom and brewery in downtown Los Angeles, the company announced yesterday.
“Los Angeles stood out because of its large craft beer community, the success of numerous independent, small craft breweries and California’s brewery-friendly state laws,” CEO and co-owner Chris Herron said in a press release.
The new brewery, slated to open next summer in Los Angeles’ Fashion District, will be capable of producing 15,000 barrels on a 15-barrel brewhouse system, with15-barrel and 60-barrel fermenters. The 10,000 sq. ft. brewery will also provide beer to a 3,000 sq. ft. taproom, and beer will be canned on site.
Creature Comforts is partnering with filmmaker and entrepreneur Joe Russo, director of Avengers: Endgame, Avengers: Infinity War and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Russo first encountered the brewery while filming in Georgia. Creature Comforts’ leaders called Russo “instrumental in helping the Creature Comforts team bring their brand to the West Coast,” according to the release.
Founded in 2014 by Herron, Adam Beauchamp and David Stein, Creature Comforts’ volume has increased steadily over the last six years. Last year, the company’s production volume increased 15%, to 46,237 barrels.
As part of the project, Stein will relocate to Los Angeles.
“Over the years, we have admired the stellar craft brewing scene in California and its pivotal role in advancing American beer,” Stein said in the release. “We have collaborated with outstanding brewers in Los Angeles and throughout the state, and I’m proud to call them my friends. We are committed to both bringing our beers to California and continuing to build our brand in Georgia, home to our long-time, loyal fans who have been critical to our success.”
Creature Comforts plans to continue its philanthropic efforts in California. The new brewery will produce Creature Comforts mainstays such as Tropicalia IPA and Classic City Lager, as well as new beers for the Los Angeles market.
Other Half Announces October Opening in D.C.
The long-awaited opening of Brooklyn-based Other Half Brewing’s taproom and production facility in Washington, D.C., now has an October 2020 opening date, according to a press release today.
Other Half’s foray into D.C. was first announced in October 2018, with plans to take over a former Pappas Tomato factory in a retail hub in the Ivy City neighborhood.
Other Half will occupy a 22,000 sq. ft. space that includes a 7,500 sq. ft. outdoor patio and roof deck, along with a 5,000 sq. ft. tasting and taproom space at 1401 Okie Street N.E. The facility will feature 20 taps pouring Other Half draft beers — with a focus on hazy IPAs, lagers and barrel-aged stouts, as well as limited release offerings and “limited collaborations from brewers and vintners from around the country and [around the] world.”
“This is the first brewery we built to meet all our specific needs from the start,” Other Half co-founder Sam Richardson said in the release. “We’re excited to bring our IPAs – what Other Half is known for – to D.C., but with this purpose-built brewery, we will be able to develop a more robust, barrel-aged Imperial Stout and barley wine program and the larger tanks will allow us to brew more lagers.”
Production is slated to begin in late September, with initial plans to offer curbside pick-up and delivery. In the interim, Other Half will be making weekly beer drops at Downtown Crown Wine & Beer in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
Other Half was founded in 2014 by Richardson, Andrew Burman and Matt Monahan.