Staff photo by Fritz Busch Nathan, Doug and Caleb Fenske open Lost Sanity Brewing at 12 W. Main, in downtown Madelia, today. A grand opening is planned in May. The business, in a former pharmacy, will be open Thursday through Sunday.

MADELIA — Caleb Fenske of Madelia got a beer-making kit in 2002 and began making beer at home.

“I just thought it was cool to make my own beer. I tried making it in the basement, but learned it was better to do it in the garage,” said Fenske, who works as a project controller at the District 7 Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) office in Mankato.

“I was a Miller Lite beer guy until I started making different kinds of beer. It didn’t hurt to have a good friend, John Whalen, who was doing the same thing as a hobby,” Fenske said.

Caleb continued perfecting his home brewing skills. At one point, he had an all-electric home brewery in his garage. His friends told him he should open his own brewery.

Caleb said he thought about opening a microbrewery in Mankato but decided he wanted to be part of the downtown Madelia resurgence after a fire destroyed much of the downtown business district in early 2016.

The Fenskes decided to remodel a downtown business space that housed a pharmacy owned by the Bill family from 1892 to 2014. The renovation included putting in complete remodeling of the business space. The microbrewery includes four fermentation tanks, a walk-in cooler, and lots of other equipment.

Caleb, his brother Nathan, who deployed to Iraq twice with the Minnesota National Guard, and their father Doug, who directs printing, graphics and photocopy services at Minnesota State University, Mankato, all took vacation from their day jobs this week to prepare Lost Sanity Brewing for a soft opening for Madelia Chamber of Commerce members March 29.

The microbrewery, located at 12 W. Main St., opens to the public at 5 p.m., March 30. A grand opening is planned for May 12. Business hours are 5 to 9 p.m. Thursdays, 5 to 10 p.m. Fridays, noon to 10 p.m. Saturdays and noon to 6 p.m. Sundays. They are closed Easter Sunday.

Four grain bags used to make the first batches of beer hail from Rahr Malting of Shakopee, Bamberg, Germany, and two brands from Great Britain are framed on the wall.

The business will sell beer, soft drinks and snacks. It will allow customers to bring in their own food, but not beverages. Nearby Fox’s Pizza Den will deliver to the microbrewery. La Plaza Fiesta, which is also nearby, sells takeout food.

The microbrewery had a beer naming contest. The winners were Botched Lobotomy Brown Ale, Catatonic Cream Ale, Hopzophrenia IPA, and Personality Disorder Porter. Beers coming soon include a double IPA. Other seasonal beer types include sours, Belgians and Russian stouts.

“Our beer is crazy good,” Doug Fenske said. They have 16 barrels of beer ready to use and a barrel and half on tap.

“We will distribute,” Caleb said. “We want to sell growlers and growlerettes.”

In addition, the microbrewery sells sweatshirts, t-shirts, work shirts, glasses and cups signifying its name.

There are no concerts scheduled yet, but Caleb said they plan to host open microphone nights.

For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/LostSanityBrewing/.

Fritz Busch can be emailed at fbusch@nujournal.com.