Blast from my past
Apparently I’m not the only one hoping to promote a healthy understanding of beer with my kids, as the good friar deomonstrates in this week’s Hopfen und Malz
Last week I continued my inter-generational quest to share my love of beer with my kids. In the course of visiting old friends we found ourselves in Utica, NY. Now Utica does not boats many genuine tourists attractions and so I managed to convince my wife to stop by the F.X. Matts brewery. The brewery and its products played a large role in defining my college education (at nearby Hamilton College) and in creating and nurturing a love of beer.
Many of you will have little to no clue of this brewery unless, and only unless you read your labels carefully. They are first and foremost the brewers of the Saranac line of beers. For a college boy who was regularly served Old Milwaukee (or Old Swill in the parlance of the day) Saranac was a lifeline for my nascent palate. Those of you who read your labels very carefully indeed will have noticed that old Matts has its name attached to some of the better beers of the northeast. They are a major contract producer of such notables as Harpoon, Pete’s Wicked, Dock Street and Brooklyn (they were bottling the Brooklyn Oktoberfest while we were there).
Anyway, it was a great joy both for me to revist my past and walk the tour I had so often walked many years before and even more so to watch the excitement and curiosity on my kid’s faces as they learned about the science and art of beer. Their favorite part was the bottling which is very cool to watch. They also put away their share of root beer, orange cremecicle and sparkling lemonade back in the 1888 Tavern that awaited us at tour’s end.
I tied two new Saranac brews… the Pomegranate Wheat and the Imperial IPA. The Wheat was tart and definitely better than what I feared it might be (I am NOT a fruit beer guy)… my wife liked it so much she bought some to take home. The IPA on the other hand was quite good indeed. I also benefited from the fact that I stuck up a conversation with the assistant brewmaster (who had knocked off for the day) and after 10 minutes of what I hope were fairly good questions about their beers, he proceeded to keep my glass filled even though my two beer vouchers were long since spent. This beer carried all the kick and IBU’s one would expect but went down with remarkable ease. Some imperials really lend themselves much more to sipping as opposed to gulping but this new Saranac product was not only delicious but also very drinkable. So if you ever find yourself near Utica take the time to check out the FX Matts brewery.
We’ve also been drinking a lot of the Saranac Ginger Beer, both as a soft drink and as a mixer for my wife’s occasional Moscow Mules. If you’re a fan of Saranac or other FX Matt brews, let us know!
Tags: beer, Brewery, brooklyn, Dock-Street, F.X.-Matt, Harpoon, Moscow-Mule, Petes, pomegranate, Saranac, Utica
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