Back in the late ‘50s and ‘60s, talking beer stein characters Schultz and Dooley promoted the mellow taste and naturalness of Utica Club lager in TV commercials. At the time, the brand was a strong regional competitor produced in Utica, N.Y., by West End Brewing Co., which is known today as F.X. Matt Brewing Co.
If those mugs could talk today, they’d have 125 years’ worth of new stories to tell as well as a new flagship brand to tout: Saranac. Although the family-owned brewery still sells Utica Club, albeit with very limited distribution, the Saranac brand family now makes up more than half of its sales throughout its distribution territories on the East Coast.