Georgia's largest indie brewery has a cautious eye on tariffs

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Adam Beauchamp is CEO of Creature Comforts Brewing Company. He cofounded the company in February of 2014.

Credit: Creature Comforts Brewing

Athens-based craft brewery Creature Comforts holds the title of Georgia’s largest independently owned brewery. But recently, their focus has been on the on-again, off-again tariffs on Canadian imports like barley and aluminum, says CEO and co-founder Adam Beauchamp.

"Usually the time of year now where we start to look at barley futures, and it is a time of great uncertainty," Beauchamp said. "So we're in a wait and see phase for that."

Beauchamp says that Creature Comforts is in the middle of some long-term business moves. The brewery just signed a lease for a 36,000-square-foot storage facility, which he estimates should double the company's current production capacity to more than 200,000 barrels of beer per year.

The brewery has seen enormous growth since it opened in February 2014, when it produced 1,800 barrels of beer. Over the past 11 years, Creature Comforts built a working relationship with one Canadian barley supplier, which Beauchamp says simply provided the best product for their craft brews.

Barley is an essential component in beer production: It's the fermentable ingredient that is broken down into alcohol. There are domestic suppliers, but to Beauchamp, none have been able to show him the same quality and consistency in their product.

"I've got 11 years of data on the other supplier, and a heck of a lot of confidence that they meet our expectation," he said. "And if they haven't, then they fixed it, and I know they have the ability to fix it. So there's a known quantity there."

Currently, Creature Comforts has a contracted price on barley that the Canadian supplier said it will honor for 2025, but Beauchamp says the two companies do not yet have a contract for 2026.

While tariffs on Canadian goods such as steel and aluminum are currently on hold, it's possible that trade conditions could change again, as President Donald Trump has promised new tariff announcements for April 2.

But Beauchamp said that even though Creature Comforts uses domestically sourced aluminum for its cans, the influx of American manufacturers buying up domestic aluminum could mean the cost of its cans could go up anyways.

"We will see, probably, some price increase in the next year if those tariffs do in fact go in," Beauchamp said. "So you know, we would advocate for no tariffs being placed on aluminum ... it would be an extra burden for us."

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Cans line up at Creature Comforts' production facility in Athens, Ga.

Credit: Creature Comforts Brewing

Beauchamp said Creature Comforts hasn't had to raise prices on its six-pack for a long time, even in the face of inflation. He feels like his product is an affordable luxury, something that consumers might splurge on even while they're tightening their belts elsewhere.

Even in the face of increased costs, he said consumers won't have to pay more for their six-pack, for now.

"Our margins are definitely compressed, compared to what they were even pre-pandemic," he said, "but it's something we've felt we've needed to just sort of eat it ourselves."