After working at what became later Rothaus Brewery in the Black Forest region in Baden, Germany, Francis Xavier Matt I immigrated to the United States in 1880.

Matt worked at the Charles Bierbauer Brewery as lead salesman and brewmaster in Utica for a few years before reorganizing it into The West End Brewing Company in 1888.

During Prohibition, the company stayed afloat by producing soft drinks under the label Utica Club, and also made ginger ale and non-alcoholic malt tonics.

Schultz & Dooley were first introduced to television audiences in 1959 and rapidly became the West End Brewing Company's favorite "spokes mugs".

The selection was created for the Matt Brewing Company by one of commercial music's best-credentialed composers, the great Sasha Burland" (Forgotten Buffalo 2014).

[5] The brewery, later renamed Matt Brewing Company, became popular throughout the Northeast based on Utica Club and its current flagship beer, Saranac.

The brewery is served by the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway line next running down the middle of Schuyler Street.

Canning operations temporarily moved to the High Falls Brewing Company (makers of Genesee beer) in Rochester, NY, until the damaged equipment could be replaced.

After the fire, brewery officials focused on procuring state grants to mount a rebuilding effort that restored their brewing operations.

Brewery chairman Nick Matt told the Utica Observer Dispatch in May 2009:We have had an opportunity to upgrade equipment.

[13] Francis Xavier Matt acquired his brewing expertise as a student of the Duke of Baden, and was considered a proficient brewer upon his arrival in the city of Utica in 1880.

"[14] Combining his talents with Charles Bierbauer, who was additionally skillful in old world brewing techniques, Matt nurtured a reputation in Utica's westside that resulted in his role as brewmaster, superintendent, and treasurer of a newly organized West End Brewing Company in 1888.

We're not very big compared to you But we love our beer and know how to brew— A great light beer—with malt and hops Shove over guys—your monopoly stops[16] Competition with larger brewers, within the context of staying afloat in a Rust Belt city such as Utica, was a continual theme for the Matt Brewery throughout the 1980s.

[17] LaPolla and Matt II moved on to build a more positive relationship,[18] and Matt Brewing Company continued to be a business anchor in the city, spurred particularly by the popularity of its Saranac line of beers among the growing market of microbrew or craft beer enthusiasts.

as it has for the past eleven years, Saranac Thursday Night, a weekly social event during the summer featuring beer, food, and live music, drawing thousands of people to Utica's Varick Street.

During the spring of 2007, the Washington Post provided a unique perspective on both the Saranac Pale Ale and on the Matt Brewery itself.

Saranac Pale Ale was named a finalist in the newspaper's "Beer Madness" tasting, a competition that playfully mimics the NCAA Men's College Basketball Tournament.

[22] Subsequently, authorities such as the Washington Post have dubbed the Pale Ale (first introduced in 1994) as the brewery's "flagship brand".

Utica Club's most famous campaign icons were a pair of talking beer steins, "Schultz and Dooley", who appeared in several popular television commercials that ran from 1959 to 1964.

DDB (Doyle Dane Bernbach) copywriter David Reider created the characters and comedian Jonathan Winters supplied the voices of Schultz, Dooley, and the other beer steins that appeared in the commercials.

The original Schultz and Dooley steins in the commercials were actually made of wood by famous puppeteer Bil Baird.

The original character steins were Shultz, a German with a mustache and a bright chrome pickelhaube, and Dooley, an Irishman, with red hair and a shamrock.