Ale Sharpton’s Piano Keys Stout Returns with Creature Comforts
by David Nilsen
Piano Keys, a chocolate vanilla Imperial Stout developed by legendary Atlanta beer writer Ale Sharpton, is returning in 2026 with a new brewing partner. Ale originally released Piano Keys with Colorado’s New Belgium Brewing seven years ago. The new edition of the beer is being brewed in Creature Comforts in Ale’s home state of Georgia.
“I conceptualized this beer originally when New Belgium reached out to me and they said they wanted me to help them diversify not only their team and their staff, but also their audience,” says Ale. “I came up with the idea of creating a beer that brings White people, Black people, and everybody together. So there's your chocolate and vanilla, your ebony and ivory. I had a great seven years with them, and I took some time to move on. Creature Comforts made the most sense. Their stouts are already fire.”
This new version of Piano Keys again features cacao nibs and vanilla, and weighs in at 9.6% ABV. 2026 is Ale’s 30th anniversary covering the beer scene, and the beer’s strength is a nod to the year he got started, 1996. He wants to beer to not only be delicious and bring people together to celebrate flavor, but also to speak to the continuing need for greater equity and inclusion in the craft beer world.
“In the beer industry, there's only 1% [of breweries] in the nation that are owned by Black people, and that's alarming” he says. “Doing these collaborations brings some definite awareness to those factors, but also the fact that I'm a person of creativity and a person who loves flavors.”
Ale worked with Creature Comforts brewer Blake Tyers to develop this new edition of Piano Keys.
“Blake, he's a beast,” says Ale. “I'm not going to team up with somebody whose brewing skills are ass, or shaky at best. We're not doing that.”
Ale and Blake worked together to select the cacao and vanilla for the beer. The original version at New Belgium used cacao nibs from Atlanta-based XocolATL Small Batch Chocolate. For this version, Blake reached out to Condor Chocolate in Athens, just around the corner from the brewery.
“They have a beautiful, intentional story about their heritage coming from Ecuador and their grandmother being from there,” says Blake. “That's where they source all of their [cacao]. So we love working with them and pulling their chocolate in, and it's awesome that we can get those nibs freshly roasted going into the beer. We feel like cutting down on that time between roast and going into the beer actually brings a lot more depth to the flavor.”
To complement the chocolatey flavors from the cacao nibs, the beer also features vanilla beans, and Ale and Blake worked together to find the origins that would best play with the other flavors in the beer.
“Ale and I got together and we got a group of vanilla beans from multiple species of vanilla and multiple locations of vanilla,” says Blake. “We selected three different vanillas that we're putting together: Peruvian, Cook Islands, and Ugandan. This mix give us this really rich, deep character that not only gives us some of that classic floral and sweet vanilla flavor, but also really nice, almost brownie notes and some more dark leather and interesting flavors that really add to the depth and complexity of the beer.”
Piano Keys is also brewed with a portion of fonio, an African grain that has been getting some attention in the brewing industry over the past couple years. Fonio is a type of millet, and it can be grown with little to no agricultural inputs like irrigation, fertilizer, or pesticides. This makes it a very sustainable brewing option, and also helps tell the story of African agriculture. The grain is high in protein, so contributes to the body of a beer, and can lend a lightly nutty or fruity note as well. The grain was brought to the attention of American brewers by the great Garrett Oliver, brewmaster at Brooklyn Brewery and inspiration to many over the years, Ale included.
When asked about the story he believes Piano Keys is telling, Ale reflects back on his time doing what he loves.
“This is a story of being grateful to be in the beer industry for so long,” he says. “Just the people and the experience and the journey. I'm thankful for it. And Piano Keys is just one of those things that keeps the fire lit.”
Piano Keys will be released on February 6, and the beer will be distributed to Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Several release parties are planned around the Southeast, so keep an eye on social media and makes plans to get your hands on this beautiful beer.
All photos by Creature Comforts.