​The Way Lift Bridge Tied its IPA Release to Computer Service

Creating new ways to tie your brewery to your local community means thinking outside the box sometimes. For Lift Bridge, they found a creative outlet, teaming with ​a local computer repair company during the release of its Blueberry Double Dry Hopped NEIPA, Understanding Computers.

Creating a quick survey for consumers online to take, Lift Bridge gave someone a prize pack from both the brewery and a computer cleaning package for offering their opinions.

“In general, we enjoy collaborating with other local companies that are not necessarily in the beer industry,” the Stillwater, Minnesota brewery told Brewer in an email. “Why not work with a computer repair company and let people know they’re still out there providing quality service to the community?

“Turns out, these folks were craft beer lovers and we got to make new friends, which is the most rewarding part about brewing beer.”

The name was inspired by the early 1990s infomercial for a Time-Life Book series on “Understanding Computers,” a homage to the cheesy salesmanship of late-night TV.

READ MORE: Breweries Find Ways to Add Unique Twist to Consumer Experience with Local Hops Flavor

The idea for the beer is credited to Lift Bridge brewer Karl Eicher as an homage to growing up in the 90s.

“The marketing lent itself to a funny computer-oriented design,” they wrote. “We wanted to feature something blue on the label, so why not the dreaded ‘blue screen of death?’

“The final result was fun and eye-catching.”

For hop and fruit-forward beers, Lift Bridge’s philosophy is definitely to use comparable flavors that complement and elevate each other rather than clash. In Understanding Computers, they wrote that they used Citra and Mosaic hops, with Mosaic having some blueberry aromas already.

It’s not the first blueberry-forward brand the company has worked on as they did some fruited DIPAs and TIPAs in the past with Batch 1999 specifically being a Blueberry TIPA.

“Understanding Computers is sweeter, inspired by New England IPAs with more pureed fruit,” the brewery explained. “The residual sweetness that is created carries the hop and fruit flavor more prominently than in the past.”