Right Turns
Lakefront Brewery turns the FOUR TIMES A YEAR, keys to the brewhouse over to a single employee to create the next beer in what has become its engine of innovation: the My Turn series.
Each staffer – turns come in order of seniority – designs the beer that takes his or her name and gets a party in their honor upon its release. The current Turn, a Mexican ale named after Beer Hall sous chef Arturo, is No. 27 in the series.
The burly, affable Terrance Toliver began working at Lakefront 12 years ago and has worked his way up the ranks to logistics coordinator. He gave us the scoop on how the series works from the inside.
Your beer was the sixth My Turn, back in 2013.
I was the first generation, I guess you’d say. At that time we didn’t have half as many employees as we have now.
Does it feel like it’s getting a little more routine at this point?
No, it’s still fun. Now you get to see other people get excited about it. At my release, my party, people were thinking “Oh, it’ll never get to me,” and then here we are on that day.
How does the process begin?
You fill out a questionnaire that includes label colors or design. They ask you what’s your favorite style of beer, what are your hobbies, what you do at the brewery, things like that. Then they just piece it together.
You made a kölsch. How did you decide on that?
I grew up drinking Bud Light, so I was gonna do a rice ale. You sit down and talk to Luther (Paul), the head brewer, and he said, “Well, that’s kind of boring.” He gave me some beer books and I started reading through them and comparing what
I like to drink, a lighter beer, versus what I could make that would make sense for a craft brewery.
Are there people who say, “Dude, I want to make a New England IPA with mango”?
Yeah. Now there are.
Is there a throttle on that from management? I mean, it still has to be a Lakefront beer.
No, it’s pretty much [anything goes]. I haven’t heard about anybody’s beer getting turned down.