A romantic Sparky

The Lantern Tap House is back in the collaboration beer business, again in support of a good cause.

It’s hosting a release party Thursday starting at 5 for Sparky Red, a hoppy red ale developed with and brewed by River City. The project benefits Spark Central , a nonprofit education center in the West Central neighborhood.

The Lantern previously collaborated with Portland’s Alameda Brewing for a pair of “PDA” ales to benefit a local girl battling leukemia. “It’s a play on Perry District Ale and also on PDA (slang for public display of affection), giving love back to the community,” Lantern owner Mike Dolmage explains.

Dolmage decided to do something similar with a local brewery and approached River City, known for its own charitable activities including Riverkeeper IPA in support of the Spokane Riverkeeper water protection program.

They started brainstorming beer styles with an eye toward something on the drinkable side for spring weather. There was talk of a pale ale, which evolved into a lighter variation on a red IPA.

“River City Red is our number one selling beer, but some people say, ‘I would really like this beer if it was a lot hoppier,’ ” says River City co-owner Gage Stromberg.

Sparky Red (5.5 percent alcohol by volume, 30 International Bitterness Units) isn’t just a tweaked River City Red, but a brand-new recipe. It uses different malts, is dry-hopped like an IPA for aroma (with Amarillo and Ekuanot) and fermented with the cleaner West Coast that River City uses for its IPAs, not the fruitier English-style house yeast used for its regular red.

“I’m really happy with the way it turned out,” Stromberg says.

While the beer was taking shape, Stromberg attended an event put on by Spark Central. It provides free programs for youth in the high-poverty neighborhood in such areas as visual and literary arts, engineering and robotics, along with community events for all ages.

“I had heard about Spark Central but really didn’t know what they were doing,” he says. “It’s a great little nonprofit that deserves some more recognition.”

Dolmage agrees. “It provides access to technology for young people and gives them that foundation moving forward in their lives,” he says.

The Lantern and River City each have made a donation to Spark Central, and people ordering the beer will receive a postcard with information about the program.

Sparky Red is available exclusively at The Lantern for now (there’s live music by Milonga for the release party starting at 8), and also will pour later in River City’s taproom.

“If it sells well, we’ll do another batch and make another donation,” Stromberg says. ”Hopefully it will carry through the year and people will have a good time with it.”

Dolmage already is thinking about similar projects with other local breweries, to support other causes.

“We feel strongly that we don’t just want to brew beer,” he says. “We want to brew beer and give back to the community.”