Crosstown Brewing Co. and Hampline Brewing Co. have teamed up on a new collaboration beer that combines Crosstown’s base sour recipe with a sour culture supplied by Hampline.
The result is Hamp-Town Throwdown, a 5.5%-ABV kettle sour brewed with peach and strawberry puree.
The beer will be released Saturday, May 23, 2026, at Crosstown Brewing’s taproom, where it will be available on draft and in cans, along with some limited local distribution.
According to Crosstown head brewer Shane Ramsey, the collaboration grew out of conversations following the brewery’s collaboration with Flyway Brewing on The Witching Hour last fall.
Ramsey said he and assistant brewer Jonathan Bass began discussing another collaboration beer earlier this year and quickly identified Hampline as a potential partner.
After reaching out to Hampline head brewer Wes Osier, the two breweries began discussing ideas and eventually settled on a fruited kettle sour designed for warmer weather.
“I love Hampline’s sours. I think they do a really great job over there,” Ramsey said. “If I wanted to do a collab sour, it was going to be with Wes.”
Hampline’s sour culture helped shape the beer
The breweries brewed the beer on Crosstown’s 20-barrel system using Crosstown’s standard base sour recipe of roughly 80% two-row malt and 20% white wheat, while Hampline contributed the sour culture used to produce it.
“It’s a fairly standard lacto brevis/plantarum culture that just gives a nice, really soft sour,” Osier said. “Our culture with their base… I think it worked pretty well.”
Ramsey said contributions like that are what make collaboration beers meaningful.
“It’s always fun when you do a collab and then they can bring something that makes it a true collab,” he said.
The beer was brewed in April and finished with approximately 400 pounds of fruit puree.
Ramsey and Osier said the breweries opted for a heavier peach addition because the flavor can be more difficult to express in beer than strawberry.
“The peach is much more difficult to get peach-infused flavor into beer,” Osier said. “We agreed that we’d go heavier on the peach.”
According to Ramsey, strawberry is most noticeable in the aroma, while peach plays a larger role in the flavor.
The finished beer delivers a softer sour profile than some of Crosstown’s previous kettle sours.
“Our sours are usually pretty tart, and I feel like this one is a little mellower,” Ramsey said. “It’s not as in-your-face tart. It’s really smooth, and there’s a lot of sweetness to it.”
Cultivating the brewing community
For Osier, collaborations offer an opportunity to connect with fellow brewers and share ideas.
“It’s kind of fun to see how the other half’s doing it,” Osier said, adding: “It’s just a good community. It’s just enjoyable to get out there.”
Ramsey said he hopes Crosstown will continue partnering with other breweries in the future.
“I love it,” he said. “I want to see more of this in Memphis.”
“I’m glad we’re able to do our second one in a pretty short amount of time, so I’m hoping that we get another one going in the next few months with somebody else.”