USA, MN: Lost Saint Brewery delays opening in Blue Earth

Ever since a sign was painted on the south wall of the Three Sisters buildings in downtown Blue Earth, and another sign was hung up in the window of the north Sisters building, Mike Lahti has been getting questioned a lot, the Faribault County Register reported on March 13.

The signs announce the Sisters as the home of the new Lost Saint Brewery. The question Lahti keeps hearing is, “When is it going to open so I can get a beer?”

He said last week he wishes he had a good answer to that question.

“I had hoped to be open this month or next, but there have been a lot of delays, in construction, licensing and other things,” Lahti says. “Let’s just say I also want it open just as soon as it can be.”

Lahti says he has explored a few other options, but he really feels the north and middle buildings of the Three Sisters, right in the heart of downtown Blue Earth, are the perfect place for his new brewery.

Why a brewery in Blue Earth? Lahti says he would not have it anywhere else.

He moved to Blue Earth in 1975 with his family, and is a 1989 Blue Earth Area High School grad.

After attending college in Ely for wildlife biology for a while, Lahti began a 20-year career in the beer brewing industry that took him from Superior, Wisconsin, to a tiny town in Vermont, to Valparaiso, Indiana, to Bakersfield, California, and back to New Ulm, Mankato and Rochester in Minnesota.

Currently Lahti is the head brewer at Lake Time Brewery in Clear Lake, Iowa. He had been working four 10-hour days a week there, but now is down to three.

“I moved back here after my father died, to be by my mother who lives in Albert Lea and help take care of the family land,” he says. “And I have also been busy working on getting the brewery going.”

He says he has several investors, both local and from other places, and feels he is fully capitalized and ready to create the new beers he wants to and get the brewery open.

“I will have 12 beers on tap, with five that are always on tap and the rest ones that will rotate in and out,” he says. “The regulars will be a pale ale, Belgium wheat ale, a stout, pilsner and IPA, while the others will be fruit style, Belgium and American style, and other types of beers.”

He even plans to brew a non-alcohol root beer, and eventually have seltzer, cider and some wine available – as well as food items.

“My goal is to have a party of say, 10, come in and everyone can have something they like,” Lahti says.

Right now, Lahti is working on opening a bar/beer tasting room, which will be located in the Edward Jones Mini-Mall building in downtown Blue Earth.

“I’m working on the insurance and licensing for that right now,” he says. “I hope to have that open real soon.”

He says to watch for future announcements.

Once he gets rolling, Lahti says he has a lot of ideas for the Lost Saint Brewery, including live music, a type of restaurant, a membership club for discounts and much more.

“I want to make it a destination, with art as a focus,” Lahti says. “I want to create a good culture around beer, but I also want it to have a family friendly atmosphere.”

And, he adds one more time, he wants it to be in Blue Earth and nowhere else.

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