Bottling resumes at F.X. Matt Brewery

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Bottling resumes at F.X. Matt Brewery

By EVAN WHITE

Story Created: Jun 30, 2008 at 3:48 PM EST

Story Updated: Jun 30, 2008 at 5:13 PM EST

UTICA - Utica's F.X. Matt Brewing Company began bottling operations early Monday morning - just one month after a major fire destroyed an entire floor of the canning and bottling facility.

The welding accident sparking the fire turned amber into ember, but early Monday morning the conveyors for bottling started started up again.

"The month of June, if you could pick a bad time to keep from producing...this would be it," said Nick Matt, President of the Brewing Company.

And even though brewers are working double shifts, packaging ale's and lagers, production won't be in full swing until weeks' end, and the company says it's taking a competitive hit.

"People have lots of choices, and they move onto another brand," Matt said. "We don't want that to be the case, and we want to continue to make Utica Club."

That Utica Club beer and others once canned at the brewery have been outsourced to a Rochester Brewery.

When canning returns to Utica, the Brew House setup could look a lot different.

"We'll have an opportunity to upgrade that, but who knows whether we'll put it in the place we were originally going to put it which is on the second floor of this building or whether we'll put it on the first floor some place," Matt said.

Wherever they decide to put it, canning is expected to commence within a month. Brewery officials say they will begin shipping newly bottled beer locally just in time for the Fourth of July.

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