New brewery on tap for Crosstown
Crosstown Brewing Co. will open in the next 12-18 months in the Crosstown District of Memphis, operated by business partners Clark Ortkiese and Will Goodwin.
Clark Ortkiese and Will Goodwin plan to open the brewery in the revitalized Crosstown District by early 2017. A definitive location has not yet been determined.
Ortkiese and Goodwin, both Christian Brothers High School graduates, have been involved in the homebrewing scene for about 11 years. The business partners also are President and Vice President of the local homebrew club, Memphis Brewers Association.
To put it plainly, the pair is obsessed with beer.
“We are so immersed in beer culture,” Ortkiese told MemphisCraftBeer.com. “We’ve been to the National Homebrewers Conference a couple times. [Beer is] all we talk about. We have fairly sophisticated homebrewing rigs. My wife is horrified that I’m going to bring home yet another chest freezer, because I just keep buying stuff.
“Obsessed is putting it mildly. I’m the president, Will’s the vice president of our home brewing club–the Memphis Brewers Association–we’re just 100 percent beer. That’s all there is.”
Ortkiese and Goodwin share a similar passion for Memphis.
“We believe in the potential of this city,” Ortkiese told Choose901.com. “No one can deny that Memphis has seen its share of trouble, but we feel like it is a city on the rise. Crosstown is a fantastic symbol of this revival, and it is our hope that our company can help that community, and the city as a whole, realize its full potential.”
Crosstown Brewing Co. will be Memphis’ fifth brewing operation, joining the likes of Ghost River, High Cotton, Wiseacre and Memphis Made in the burgeoning beer scene. Even though the industry has grown, Ortkiese said Memphis’ number of local brewing operations lags behind when compared to similar cities.
Crosstown Brewing plans to open an on-site tasting room in the Crosstown District to accompany the brewery.
Both Ortkiese and Goodwin served their own homebrews at the Crosstown groundbreaking party last weekend.
Related Articles
Americans vote for scandal-plagued candidates just so the other party won’t win
Americans are increasingly making voting decisions based not on who should win elections but stopping the opposing party at all costs.
Relationships with law enforcement and community organizations central to rural mental health services
For Sanilac County Community Health, tech supports help but collaborations make the difference.
Renewable energy means rethinking land use for agriculture and conservation
Making difficult choices in how land is used is the issue that New York and other states, and the U.S. as a whole, are facing as they seek to shift electricity generation from fossil fuels to renewable sources, such as wind and solar.
