Lost Tavern Brewing
Lost Tavern Brewing first opened its doors in 2016, welcoming a mostly local crowd to its cozy taproom in Hellertown, PA, and self-distributing their beer to local bars and country club venues.
By 2019, they had added a canning line, opened a second taproom inside the historic Moravia Book Store in nearby Bethlehem—home to many out-of-town visitors traveling their way through U.S. history—and were beginning to draw up plans for a larger production facility.
“We’ve been with Prairie Malt since day one,” says Anthony Gangi, co-president and head of operations at Lost Tavern. “It’s been great.”
When Brewing, Consistency and Quality Matters
The initial relationship was based largely on geography—Prairie Malt had a distribution warehouse located in the Lehigh Valley—but Gangi has long been impressed with the quality and consistency of the product Prairie Malt delivers.
His brewhouse largely uses Prairie Pils and Prairie Malt Two-Row Pale as well as Maris Otter from Pauls Malt.
“We don’t see fluctuation,” he says, explaining that the extraction his team gets from mash to mash is typically right on the mark. “The consistency of the product is great.”
Flexibility Breeds Creativity
He has also appreciated the support he has received from Prairie Malt, particularly when trying out new malts.
“I’ve got to do several different batches with it—with several different styles—to get a real feel for that malt,” says Gangi. “That could easily be a two, three thousand dollar hit to us just to see if this substitution works."
“They’re willing to say, ‘Hey, we’re going to send you a full pallet to try it out.’ It allows us to have a little bit more flexibility to see how a malt performs.”
Eyes on the Future
The future looks bright for Lost Tavern.
Like many brewhouses, COVID-19 forced a shift in how its brewpub and tap room operated due to restrictions on indoor seating, capacity, etc.
But Gangi credits his team with showing great resiliency and ingenuity. Lost Tavern found unique ways to grow even in the midst of a pandemic, including the development of a beer garden and offering crowlers to go.
And the beer itself, of course, remains central to its vision.
While Lost Tavern initially focused on traditional styles, the brewery has since expanded its rotation to include some truly unique styles and profiles. Thus the ethos, Honor the Past, Craft the Future.
