Collaborations in craft beer have long been a strategic tool for growth, innovation, and brand building. The partnership between Athens, Georgia-based Creature Comforts and Atlanta’s Tip Top Proper Cocktails is an example of how a shared vision and complementary expertise can create something special in both flavor and business impact.
Their latest release, (A Beer Known As) Jungle Bird, inspired by Tip Top’s canned version of the classic cocktail, showcases how aligning two brands can amplify creative potential while engaging consumers in fresh ways.
Creature Comforts’ Curious Collection, a platform for exploring unique and innovative beer styles, set the stage for this collaboration explained Blake Tyers.
Tyers, who leads the brewery’s special projects, shared with Brewer the importance of curiosity as a driving force.
“Because of our strong relationships with the team at Tip Top and admiration for their products, we thought they would be a perfect collaborator to explore flavor with,” Tyers said.
The collaboration not only leveraged Tip Top’s established reputation in the cocktail space but also showcased Creature Comforts’ ability to adapt cocktail-inspired profiles into a craft beer context.
“After being friends first, then students, we felt like we could put our Creature filter on it and add to the conversation rather than copy what already existed,” Tyers said.
The brewery shares that (A Beer Known As) Jungle Bird delivers a funky and flamboyant mix of tropical fruits, bitters, and a touch of molasses for a rum-inspired depth. It features pineapple, lime, and cherry flavors with an herbal bitterness — elements that were meticulously developed to emulate the classic Jungle Bird cocktail.
This wasn’t just a shot in the dark. The Creature Comforts team built on its previous Neon Cylinders beer series, adapting key elements like acidity, fermentation complexity, and fruit-forward profiles to nail the cocktail’s essence. New ingredients, including molasses, were incorporated to mimic the blackstrap rum notes, a technique the brewery now considers for future releases.
“I don’t think anything has tasted quite like this but the bones were there,” Tyers said.
The initial small-batch release for this collab during Creature Comforts’ 10th anniversary served as a valuable proof of concept. The success of the release deepened relationships between the companies while testing the feasibility of translating a complex cocktail into a beer.
Tyers noted the dual importance of the product’s success and the strengthened bonds between both teams.
“Collaborations for us are not just about flavor developers getting together; it’s about building a relationship that permeates throughout both organizations,” he said. “I wouldn’t say we monitored any strict business metrics from the initial release, the beers in our Curious Collection most often come from a place of passion or curiosity.”
To make one-off releases stand out, Creature Comforts uses a mixed strategy, beginning with B2B storytelling for its retail partners, ensuring they understand the beer’s concept and can effectively communicate it to consumers. Limited-edition cans, a highlight of the Curious Collection, also play a key role in consumer engagement.
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“Cans attach a visual element to the brand that enhances its connection with our audience,” Tyers said. Social media, tasting room promotions, and point-of-sale materials further work to bolster awareness.
The value of collaboration as a business tool: from leveraging shared brand equity to fostering innovation and strengthening relationships, can lead to products that can be successful on the market as they are in the taproom.
Breweries that focus on building authentic connections with collaborators, aligning on creative goals, and effectively marketing the end product can unlock new opportunities while engaging consumers with unique experiences.
The release, distributed through Savannah Distributing, shows how to bring the best of two brands together.
“I think just creating a beer that gets to the flavor profile of a complex cocktail like the jungle bird was a pretty great achievement for our brewing team. Hats off to them,” Tyers said. “Critically thinking of how the flavor elements come together in the cocktail and then transferring that to a beer really unlocks a full understanding of flavor composition and is part of mastering the craft.”
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