Creature Comforts Brewing Company will launch the 2019 campaign of its flagship community outreach program, Get Comfortable, on February 6. Starting with the 2019 campaign, the program will begin partnering with another brewery each year to release a collaborative beer to generate funds for the campaign. In the 2019 Get Comfortable season, Creature Comforts will partner with Russian River Brewing Company.
“When Russian River put a call out to our friends in the craft beer industry last year to raise money for the victims of the 2017 Sonoma County fires, Creature Comforts came forward to help support the cause. It was pretty early on in our recruiting, so naturally I was blown away that a brewery all the way from Athens, Georgia would help out,” said Russian River Owner & Brewer Vinnie Cilurzo.
“Fast forward to the 2018 Firestone Walker Invitational, Adam and I were having a beer and discussing beer and business and he told me about the Get Comfortable campaign Creature Comforts was doing. When Adam asked if we’d like to brew a beer together to help raise money for local charities in Athens, it was an easy yes. At Russian River, we look at giving back to our community as a part of our business model, so it is great to connect with others in the beer industry like Creature Comforts who have the same values.”
The breweries collaborated to brew an IPA featuring Strata, Amarillo, Comet, and Pahto hops. The beer is named Get Comfortable IPA and is 7.2-percent ABV. Get Comfortable IPA will be available throughout the campaign on draft and in 4-packs of 16-ounce cans.
With the vision of being a good neighbor to those in need, the brewery created Get Comfortable in 2015, which has grown to be a year-round program. Get Comfortable’s mission is to unify the business community to resource the agencies meeting the community’s most pressing needs. In Athens-Clarke County, where one in five people are food-insecure and the poverty rate is 34.4 percent—double the state, and triple the national, average—the campaign has traditionally focused on hunger, homelessness, and poverty. Through a rigorous vetting process as well as the direction of an advisory committee of community stakeholders, the campaign selected nine organizations to highlight throughout the season and receive funding when the program wraps in November 2019.
The following nonprofits were chosen as the 2019 Get Comfortable partners: Action Ministries, Advantage Behavioral Health, The Ark, Athens Community Council on Aging, Bigger Vision, Chess & Community, College Factory, Family Connection-Communities in Schools, and Mercy Health Center.
“Get Comfortable aims to align as many partners as possible to make the largest impact that we collectively can. Beyond the more than 40 local businesses participating in this year’s campaign, we are profoundly honored to welcome a new partner this year in Russian River Brewing Company. Headquartered across the country in Sonoma County, they obviously operate beyond the borders of Athens-Clarke, but they are absolutely a part of our craft beer community,” said Director of Community & Culture, Matt Stevens. 
“Given our desire to transition the Get Comfortable release into an annual collaboration, and specifically our aim to leverage this program to intersect with other craft breweries famous for their philanthropic work, Russian River was an obvious choice to inaugurate this new direction. Whether it’s their annual Framboise for a Cure release, past participation in Ales for ALS, or most recently, their rallying the craft beer world around the Sonoma Pride project in the wake of last year’s California wildfires, they remain an industry leader both in the quality of their product and the reputation of their charity.”
Get Comfortable 2019 will be a year-round campaign with a pronounced season of emphasis taking place February 6 through April 10, during which the brewery will donate 100-percent of its Wednesday “community day” profits towards the Get Comfortable fund. In addition to the profits from the collaborative beer going towards the fund, Creature Comforts will also create Get Comfortable merchandise and work alongside local businesses to generate additional profits for the fund.
Get Comfortable 2019 will kick off February 6. Get Comfortable merchandise, as well as the Get Comfortable IPA, will be available at the brewery for the kickoff. For more information on Get Comfortable, visit www.GetCurious.com. For more information about Creature Comforts Brewing Company, visit www.CreatureComfortsBeer.com and to learn more about Russian River Brewing Company, visit www.RussianRiverBrewing.com.
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