Matt's Utica Club Premium Lager Beer 12 Oz Tab Top Can

Utica Club Premium Lager History

The Matt's Utica Club Premium Lager Beer tab top can represents one of upstate New York's most storied regional brewing operations. Produced by the West End Brewing Company in Utica, New York, this can reflects a significant era in the development of a company originally founded in 1888 by German immigrant Francis Xavier Matt.

The Utica Club name holds an exceptional place in American brewing history. During Prohibition, the brewery stayed in operation by manufacturing soft drinks, ginger ale, near beer, and malt tonics under the Utica Club label. When the 21st Amendment repealed Prohibition in December 1933, the West End Brewing Company secured the very first federal license issued in the United States, famously delivering the first legally sold beer at midnight following the repeal.

During the mid-twentieth century, the brewery cemented its cultural legacy through pioneering marketing campaigns, most notably introducing the comedic "spokesmugs" Schultz and Dooley, voiced by Jonathan Winters. The can's design prominently highlights both the Matt family name and the classic Utica Club banner.

For breweriana collectors, this can serves as a vital artifact of historic New York brewing culture. Different text and graphic variations are documented across manufacturing production runs, reflecting minor shifts in packaging layout and corporate branding.