E-Malt.com News article: USA, TN: Crosstown Brewing Company formally launches its brand in Memphis

Ahead of the opening of its taproom in a few weeks, Crosstown Brewing Company has started sending its beers to bars and restaurants in Memphis as the new brand formally launches in the market, the Memphis Daily News reported on February 2.

The brand has been in the works in some form or fashion since the beginning of 2015. That’s when co-founders Will Goodwin and Clark Ortkiese launched a Facebook page for their craft beer brewery, the first post for which was simply the brand’s logo. It generated a flood of interest, which then translated into support for a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds - more than $28,000.

Those Kickstarter backers - who gave $50 or more - are getting an early look at Crosstown Brewing’s taproom at an event on Feb. 10, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. It will be a gathering for checking out the space, tasting the beers and meeting other early supporters in advance of the grand opening on Feb. 16.

“Our taproom is nearly finished - we’re close, and every day we get closer,” Ortkiese said. “We promised when we did our Kickstarter two years ago that the Kickstarter party would be the first event we have at the taproom, so we’re fulfilling our promise. The people that gave $50 or more to that campaign all got invites to that party.”

The co-founders told the Kickstarter backers that Crosstown Brewing Company, at 1264 Concourse Ave., sits at the intersection of their love for the city of Memphis and “our burning passion” for quality craft beer.

The brand - the flagship beers of which are Traffic IPA and Siren Blonde Ale - saw the first of its taphandles going up this week at Midtown Crossing Grill.

The Siren Blonde has a moderate malt character and subtle floral notes, and the Traffic IPA has flavors that include citrus, pine, mango and pineapple.

Crosstown Brewing’s beers are going to about 20 accounts first. The brand’s origins go back years, back to when the pair of founders would brew beer in Ortkiese’s backyard and look in the direction of Crosstown. Something like a brewery would be perfect for the Crosstown neighborhood, they imagined.

“There’s been so much positive feelings toward Concourse in general and even the neighborhood beyond,” Ortkiese said. “I live right across the street, right across Cleveland, so I’d felt even before we tossed around the idea of the brewery there’s so much support for everything going on around here.”

The founders have been home brewers who grew up here and have more than a decade of combined home brewing experience between them. When they first started talking up the concept, they put it within the context of history - throughout history, in fact, when every village tended to have its own brewery.

Residents would go down to the local pub, have a beer and connect with people. Goodwin and Ortkiese wanted to bring a modern twist on that, also in recognition that towns today like Memphis often have have a dozen such brewers, at least.


01 February, 2018