As a beer lover, one of the many benefits of traveling to so many exciting places is the chance to sample new and exciting beers. We live in an exciting time of so many options in the realm of craft and micro brews. For this reason, I have decided to create this new section of the site called “Travel Brews” where I will discuss Beers, Brew pubs and Micro breweries that I come across during the course of my travels. So without further ado, here is the inaugural Travel Brews.
Located in the sleepy town of Utica, New York, situated at the foot of the Adirondack Mountains is the F.X. Matt Brewing Company, best known for Saranac Beer. The F.X Matt Brewing Company is the second oldest family owned brewery in the US, behind the Yuengling Brewery in Pennsylvania. Suffice it to say; the Matt family knows a thing or two about brewing beer.
The Tour
If you are interested in seeing how many of the great brews are made at the Matt brewery, then perhaps a brewery tour is for you. Five dollars is all it takes to get out on the brewery floor for a guided tour.
The tour starts with a little bit of history of the Mattfamily and the brewery, along with some artifacts the brewery has collected over the years. One such artifact is a five-gallon stein that was given to F.X. Matt as a gift from a friend in Germany. Other interesting items along this leg of the tour included a collection of cans and bottles from all the brews that the brewery has produced since the beginning.
The next section of the tour took us into the brewery proper where we got to see the brewing process in its entirety. The place smelled lovely!
So much water, being brought to a boil.
Beer, being aged.
This is where they extract all the flavors from the grain.
The Tasting Room
After the tour, we were lead into the tasting room, where our five dollar tour admission, also granted us two whole pints of beer, which I thought was more than generous and had me excited to taste some new brews.
The Tasting room had the feel of a 1930’s era bar. Everything was intricately trimmed in wood, and the tap handles were situated in the center of the bar area. Over in the seating area, they had an old Matt Brewing Company commercial playing that was promoting their Utica Club line of beer.
The Beer
While I was in the tasting room, I had two pints of beer. I had both the High Peaks Chocolate Orange Porter, and the Legacy IPA, but also got to sample the Prism White Ale since Emalee got a draft of that as well.
- High Peaks Chocolate Orange Porter – If you like dark beers with a chocolate flavor and other subtle flavor notes, then give this one a go, it reminded me very much of those chocolate oranges. Very subtle on the orange flavor, but definitely noticeable.
- Prism White Ale – This one would make for a perfect summer beer. Very much a wheat beer in flavor, but with a very recognizable apricot flavor.
- Legacy IPA – A solid IPA, not my favorite, but that’s only because there are so many options out there, and it’s hard to stand out. A tasty bitter none the less.
So those are the beers that I got to try, but I encourage you to check out the rest of their beers over here: http://www.saranac.com/our-beers/
Final Thoughts
I loved this place. They people were friendly, the history was rich and interesting, and above all the beer was great. While you may not find yourself in Utica for any reason, if you do happen to be anywhere nearby, I encourage you to stop by, take the tour an have a beer or two. For five bucks and an hour of your time, you really can’t beat this travel brew.
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