Lakefront Brewery’s quarterly My Turn series of beers always has a lot of human touch. The personalities of the people who make, package, market and sell Lakefront’s beers come through in a beer they design.
The next My Turn, though, is a bittersweet one. It’s namesake, Alexander Kluth II, isn’t here to enjoy it.
Kluth, the warehouse manager of Lakefront’s distribution center in Riverwest, died last September of pancreatic cancer at age 61, just months before his “turn,” based on seniority, came up.
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“Not only was he my supervisor, he was a better friend,” said Juvarr Glaspy, warehouse lead at Lakefront, who authored his own My Turn beer last fall.
My Turn: Al is an American stout with ample roasted malt and caramel flavor and a 6.7% ABV. It’s hitting shelves in the Milwaukee area this week. Though he was not able to design the beer as is the practice with other My Turn beers, Kluth was a fan of the style. Members of his family were on hand at Lakefront recently to assist with the brewing and packaging of this liquid tribute.
“The beer we brewed for Al reflects the man he was,” says Russ Klisch, Lakefront’s founder and president. “Well-balanced, flavorful, but doesn’t get out of line with bold statements. Something that everyone can like.”
That aligns with the early buzz on My Turn: Al from at least one brewery employee:
It’s like the 8th most important thing about this beer but I think Al is one of the best beers we’ve ever made. https://t.co/lYZPvKg08W
— Ryan Hillesland (@Hillesland358) March 16, 2021
Best of all, though, Lakefront is donating $1 from every Al six-pack sold to the American Cancer Society.
