| Notes |
Francis Xavier Matt I emigrated from Germany’s Black Forest region, where he had worked in the Duke of Baden brewery. After a few stints at breweries in upstate New York, he ended up at Utica’s Charles Bierbauer brewery, which was founded in 1853. In 1888, at age 28, he reorganized the facility as the West End Brewing Co., which was renamed in his honor in 1980. “When he started out, it was by far the smallest brewery in Utica,” Nick Matt says with pride. “Ten years later, we were the biggest brewery in Utica, and today, we’re the only brewery in the city.” |