Creature Comforts and Jackie O’s Are Joining Forces for an “All Athens” Collaboration Saison

This is what collaboration beers are all about—two of the best breweries in the country in their respective fields, acknowledging a commonality and coming together to shine a light on what they both do well. So yeah, we’re pretty excited to drink a wild collaboration saison brewed by Athens, GA’s Creature Comforts and Athens, OH’s Jackie O’s.

This newly announced upcoming beer, titled “Athens to Athens Grist to Grist,” is a 6 percent ABV, wild, multi-grain saison made with local spelt that was sourced from Ohio, and local wheat sourced from Georgia. The saison base was split between two types of wine barrels—half inoculated with Creature’s house mixed culture, and half with Jackie O’s. After a year in the barrels, the saisons were blended together. For beer geeks, these are all good reasons to be excited. As the press release from Creature reads, “Jackie O’s signature lemon meringue flavor pairs perfectly with our stone fruit notes.”

“By inoculating the barrels with each of our mixed-cultures separately, we were able to allow our house cultures to develop the flavors they would on their own and then blend the beer to create a unique voice together,” said Wood Cellar and Specialty Brand Manager Blake Tyers. “I have such a huge respect for Brad and the work he’s done at Jackie O’s. I favored the Jackie O’s character in the blend to present something different than what we typically offer, and to present a distinct saison that is truly representative of the collaboration.”