My wanders recently took me on a trip down the 90 to the F.X. Matt Brewery in Utica, New York. The home of the legendary workingman’s beer Utica Club and more recently the trendy Saranac family of beers was well worth the three hour ride from Buffalo. The Matt family operates the oldest brewery in the state and the second-oldest family-owned brewery in the country, behind Pennsylvania's Yuengling Brewery.
The brewery is located in Utica’s West End, a dusty part of town filled with wood timber homes, corner gin mills and train tracks down the center of tightly packed streets. The F.X. Matt complex is a collection of classic 1900s industrial buildings that have been lovingly cared for by five generations of family brewers. The tour begins in the lavishly decorated "tour center" which includes a desk once owned by P.T. Barnum that has drawers and room for chairs on both sides; a 51/2-gallon stein designed for FX Matt II with an inscription in German that reads something like, "A real man can drink this full"; and a rosewood grandfather clock with bull's-eye glass and a three-disk symphonium appraised at upward of $1 million.
The highlight of the tour is the final stop at the 1888 Tavern. This classic American-style tavern was transplanted from the old Ulster Hotel in Kingston, NY when it closed in 1959. On tap…plenty of samples of Saranac beers and sodas. If you want the true experience…ask for a UC!
