Crosstown Brewing Co. is bringing back a familiar name from its early days: Malfunction Junction.
The juicy, dry-hopped 9%-ABV Double IPA is getting a second life, returning on Friday, June 6, for the first time since 2019.
“It’s one of our original beers,” Will Goodwin, co-founder of Crosstown Brewing, told Memphis Beer Blog, noting that the beer once had a permanent sign on Crosstown’s old menu board.
Defying the Hazy IPA trend
While Malfunction Junction was popular, the palates of IPA drinkers changed over time.
“The world went hazy,” Clark Ortkiese, Goodwin’s partner at Crosstown, said. “That’s why it was fun to brew it again this time. The first time that I brewed it, I was still kind of clinging to my non-hazy roots. And in the intervening six years, the hazy revolution has come and somewhat gone.”
“It’ll have some haze to it. It’s a heavily dry-hopped beer. But we’re not hazing that beer for haze’s sake,” he added. “That always bothered me.”
Clark described Malfunction Junction as a San Diego-style IPA, similar to Crosstown’s core Traffic IPA.
What’s in Malfunction Junction?
Crosstown used both Trident and Belma hops in the beer.
“The star of the show is a hop blend called Trident, and the hallmark of Trident is that it tastes like Hawaiian Punch,” Clark said. “I think that really came through in the beer.”
Belma, meanwhile, brings notes of strawberry and melon.
At 9%, Malfunction Junction will be a big beer — something Goodwin and Ortkiese have been getting requests for lately.
“We’ve seen a recent interest in the taproom for higher-gravity beers, which is really interesting because session-strength beers have been the kings for a very long time,” Ortkiese said.
Added Goodwin: “Even in a sea of people who are deciding to drink less alcohol and maybe pursue other things, there’s still a set that … goes straight for the Boris,” referring to Crosstown’s 9.5%-ABV Imperial Stout.
A more intentional pace
Over the last year, Crosstown has slowed down from its twice-a-month taproom beer release cadence as it opened a kitchen in the taproom, added cocktails and wine to the bar offerings, and rolled out a line of THC-infused seltzers called Orbit.
Those special beer releases had become a bit of a chore, Goodwin and Ortkiese admit.
Taking a step back has allowed them to really focus on special releases like Malfunction Junction.
“Instead of that beer being a chore … now that beer is fun,” Ortkiese said. “It’s an escape, and it’s a return to our roots, rather than being a thing we had to do for the next event.”
Malfunction Junction will available on draft in Crosstown Brewing’s taproom, 1264 Concourse Ave., and in four-packs of 16-oz. cans to go.
The beer will also be sold in liquor stores around Memphis, with limited draft availability in select restaurants and bars.
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