On May 29th, a fire broke out at Matt Brewing Company in Utica, NY. The fire spared the brewhouse but dealt a significant blow to the bottling operation and completely destroying the canning facilities. While there is little presence here on the West Coast, their Saranac line is quite popular back East. So what’s going on with Matt Brewing since the fire? Well, I’ll tell you.
Following the fire, Matt Brewing began outsourcing the use of tanks with another brewery. while I have not seen a name of said brewery, MAtt focused on using one brewery, and not multiple breweries for this purpose.
There has been a date of June 30th set for the resumption of bottling at the Utica location. There is no date set for canning at this point, but High falls Brewing company in Rochester, NY will be canning Saranac beers for the foreseeable future, with Matt Brewing employees overseeing the brewing process. Matt Brewing President Nicholas Matt said “It’ll look just the same and taste just the same because it’s our beer.” Good news for fans of Saranac.
While there are additional costs in outsourcing the canning as well as recovering from the fire, there is no word at the moment of rising prices for Saranac beers. Matt Brewing’s ability to bounce back from a $10 million fire is nothing short of remarkable. let’s hope the recovery continues in such a positive manner.
Post-Standard – Fire strikes historic Matt Brewing Co.
Utica Observer-Dispatch – Beer bottling to resume June 30 at Matt brewery
