On any given day of the week, a local brewmaster can be found conceptualizing and creating fresh brews at Lion Bridge Brewing Co. in Cedar Rapids’ Czech Village.
That is how it has been for almost a decade at Lion Bridge, since husband and wife duo Quinton and Ana McClain opened the brewery and restaurant in 2004.
In addition to a plethora of mainstay, seasonal, and limited release beers on tap and in cans, Lion Bridge has been venturing into the world of custom orders. Creating custom labels and beers as collaborations between the brewery and local businesses or groups.
“We started out doing collaborations,” Mr. McClain said. “We didn’t have any cans in the beginning but we’d collaborate with local farmers or coffee roasters to create new beers… What we do today is an extension of that.”
One of the first custom, and seasonal brews, created by Lion Bridge is still in annual production today. Zombie Awakening, a black ale with coffee from Dash Coffee Roasters in Cedar Rapids, is released each fall in collaboration with Scream Acres Park at Bloomsbury Farm.
“We didn’t start canning until the middle of 2018… That might have been one of the first custom beers we did in a package, with full-blown branding and labels,” Mr. McClain said.
Since then, the brewery has developed many ways for businesses and patrons to customize Lion Bridge’s locally-made beers to fit their needs.
“We can do everything from 20 cases and a few kegs all the way up to thousands of cases and thousands of kegs,” Mr. McClain said. “We have the ability to upgrade a specific brand, like a private label of a beer we already make, or we can do an entire recipe that we build from scratch.”
One such flavor is called Chipper Gold, a golden ale developed exclusively for Cedar Rapids’ DoubleTree hotel. With hints of chocolate, cookie and vanilla, Mr. McClain said this beer is a nod to the hotel’s iconic chocolate chip cookies. It is distributed in cans and served on tap at the hotel bar.
Creating a new beer from scratch can take a few months, Mr. McClain said, which is why Lion Bridge also offers private labeling on already tried-and-true staples from their lineup.
One of brewery’s most popular beers received this treatment in April 2023, with a special edition Bridge Beer private label featuring King’s Materials.
Rolled out at the company’s annual conference, Build It, the custom labels were made to shine a spotlight on King’s Materials history and its role as the original builders of the Bridge of Lions, 16th Avenue SW.
“Bridge Beer was created as an ode to the designs on that bridge. We use the imagery of the cross hatch pattern that is on that bridge pretty frequently in our own branding,” Mr. McClain said. “It was a full-circle moment to design that label for King’s.”
Yet another way to customize an experience with Lion Bridge comes in the form of mix-packs. Mr. McClain said this is a fun way to curate a selection of beers for event guests to take home. Mix-packs can include a varied selection of cans from Lion Bridge’s lineup and can be tailored to the tastes of the crowd.
Mr. McClain is the main consultant when it comes to custom orders and said he tries to work with any budget and timeline. He has helped local companies and organizations create flavors, conceptualize label designs, and curate a selection of brews for a multitude of events and promotions.
“I try to really think about who the audience is,” he said. “We want their experience to be unique to them.”
