Memphis beer lovers rejoice: plans are in the works for the city's newest craft brewery, Crosstown Brewing Co.
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.