The sentiment of collaboration resonates throughout the craft beer industry. From check-in warriors eager to be the first to taste what’s new, to production teams, social media folks and retailers, everyone loves a solid team effort. It’s especially true when the beer is innovative, tasty and brewed for good.
Collaborative Effort, Innovative Product
Creature Comforts Brewing Co. in Athens, Georgia, is widely known and recognized throughout the Southeastern—and now West Coast—beer scenes. One of the brewery’s annual efforts, Brew for One has been a major contribution to the craft beer industry since its inception in 2017.
This year’s Brew for One effort was a collaboration between Our Culture Brewing Co. and Creature Comforts for a beer that’s the first of its kind in the Southeast. That’s impressive for craft beer in 2025. Proceeds of the Fonio Lager collaboration beer support the Michael James Jackson Foundation for Brewing and Distilling, which advances technical education and facilitates career opportunities for people of color within the U.S. brewing and distilling industries.
“Fonio Lager is more than a beer; it’s a celebration of heritage and ingenuity,” said Garrett Oliver, Michael James Jackson Foundation founder.
Fonio: What is it?
Don’t feel bad if you haven’t heard of fonio. Even though it is used in less than 1% of all beers brewed in the U.S., it has a rich history in West African cultures and cuisines dating back some 4,000 to 5,000 years.
Drought-resistant and nutrient-rich, fonio supports sustainable agriculture and empowers West African farmers by driving economic opportunity, according to the Creature Comforts press release. As a grain, it has a delicate nuttiness that comes forward in both the aroma and flavor when tasted raw or prepared in a variety of dishes. Fonio Lager shows the utility of the grain—it flawlessly stretches beyond the kitchen and into the mash tun.
The Beer
From the beginning of the pour, there’s a sweet herbal aroma that adds a layer of dimension to the glass compared with standard pils malt, for instance. There is an enticingly strong fruity, almost bright, nutty fragrance. One sip reveals Fonio Lager’s incredibly refreshing and clean flavor. It finishes nice and dry, with a soft mouthfeel that guarantees you take another sip almost immediately.
Our Culture Brewing, as of right now, is a brewery-in-planning located in metro Atlanta. Its team has participated in more than a dozen collabs with breweries and businesses and is working on contracting beers and opening a taproom. Our Culture is owned and operated by twins Isaac and Isaiah Smith, their childhood friend, Shakeel Radford, and Jossette Footmon-Smith.
In a world of adjunct stouts and how-many-times dry-hopped IPAs, next time you want something interesting and new, grab a Fonio Lager.
