Underground Beer Lab hires brewer Ben Maeso

Former Prison City head brewer will join East Syracuse in a part-time role

During the last 15 months, Ben Maeso questioned if he even wanted to brew beer again.

He had just left Prison City Brewing in Auburn, Cayuga County, after an award-winning eight-year run that put the Cayuga County brewery on the national map. He was tired after pouring so much of himself into the brewpub.

But a trip to Belgium last year provided a spark. (He recommends anyone needing a recharge spending some time in Belgium btw.)

Maeso is ready to “dip his toe back in” and will be brewing part time at Underground Beer Lab in East Syracuse, Onondaga County, starting next month.

“I was kinda jaded by the whole thing, the whole industry,” Maeso said. “As well as just being burnt out, just needed a reset. Did a lot of traveling. And honestly going to Belgium sort of re-ignited the fire a little bit. For the longest time, I was debating if I really wanted to get back into craft brewing.”

It’s really a perfect fit — in terms of both UBL’s brewing philosophy, its pending expansion, and the freedom it’ll provide. UBL co-owner/head brewer Keith Lindner is excited to give Maeso an empty palette to create.

“It’s nothing major,” Maeso demured. “I’m not sure how big of news it is.” (Editorial aside: It’s massive news, Ben.)

“It’s a couple days a week. I need to get back into the groove.”

Maeso’s run at Prison City included multiple medals at Great American Beer Fest, the country’s largest and most prestigious competition, the Governor’s Cup for the best beer in the state at the New York Craft Beer Competition (for his Wham Whams imperial stout), and recognition for the best IPA in America (for Mass Riot) in the Paste Magazine blind taste test in 2016. (And that’s not even mentioning Maeso’s mountain of medals and wins as a lauded homebrewer while living in suburban Rochester.)

UBL is gearing up to celebrate its third anniversary in April and its proposed expansion will triple its capacity. The brewery opened as one of the smallest in the region and has garnered a devoted following for its weekly hazy IPA releases.

There is already a sense of familiarity and a strong friendship between Maeso and Lindner. They teamed to brew an excellent hazy IPA collab called Secret Lab Work in late 2021 for Central New York Beer Week. Lindner said the experience only improved UBL’s beers.

And this news aligns perfectly with expansion plans at UBL’s current space. Pending local town approval there, the plan is to expand inside its warehouse space and install a new 10-barrel brewhouse produced by Rochester-based Ultimate Brew Service. It’ll also allow UBL to expand its taproom, too.

“Keith reached out just about when I was ready to do something part time,” Maeso said. “He reached out at the right time. I like Keith. I like their beers. The Prison City collaboration was honestly one of my favorites. Those guys are cool.

“Keith and I share a lot of the same principles, the same feelings toward craft beer.”

Maeso excels in just about every area of beer. He has received awards for his sours, Belgian pale ale, hazy IPAs, imperial stouts, and mixed fermentation creations. Nothing will be off limits at UBL. At first, he said he will just help Lindner wherever needed. But the transition shouldn’t be too difficult as UBL utilizes a similar Psycho Brew system. The original Prison City system (pre-expansion) was a 5-barrel brewhouse, while the system at UBL is a bit smaller and is powered by electric.

Lindner said it wasn’t difficult to coax Maeso out of retirement. The two were already friends and Lindner frequently checked in with Maeso for brewing insight.

“I don’t think I did a whole lot,” Lindner said. “It was right place, right time. …If I had questions about the minutiae of process stuff, what’s going on at UBL, he’s on the short list of people I’m reaching out to. I think he was ready to come back.

“I just want to drink what he makes, whether that’s for us or somebody else. Pretty exciting for me as a beer drinker.”

Maeso adds an incredible amount of versatility to UBL. The brewery already produces wonderfully expressive hazy IPAs and it doesn’t get enough credit for some of its lagers and its Belgian table beer. But Maeso can do it all.

“He does so many styles so well,” Lindner said. “And we’ve been so narrowly focused on pale hoppy beers that his approach will make us better. His approach is different than mine. His excellence across so many different styles, that’s a game-changer for us.”

Maeso is happy to defer to Lindner for the time being.

“I am cool with doing whatever he wants me to do and he mentioned that he’s interested in brewing a broader range of styles,” Maeso said. “It’s something I tried to do the whole time (at Prison City). I like to play around with a bunch of different beer styles. Probably do a little bit of recipe development. Going from there. Nothing profound. Basically, whatever he wants me to do, I’m ready. Hopefully we can collaborate and make some cool beers.”

Lindner said there haven’t been any talks about what the future might hold for Maeso at UBL. The focus is on the present. And for his part, Maeso said he hasn’t stopped exploring his options, including opening his own brewery (probably with some sort of restaurant element, I’d guess).

“We’re excited to welcome him,” Lindner said. “Obviously, I’m going to give him all the leeway he wants. I am so stoked to just hang out and chat with him. The dude has got quite the track record.”

But the future remains cloudy.

“I am just exploring opportunities still,” Maeso said. “Looking at spaces, nothing has jumped out.”

I am just happy Ben is gonna be making beer in this region again. Like Keith said, it’s really a win for all of us.

And as a reminder, UBL will again be pouring beer at the Rochester Real Beer Expo on Saturday, June 8, at Innovative Field. If you’re in the Rochester area, you can often find UBL beers at places like One Stop Brew Shop in Greece and AJ’s Beer Warehouse in Henrietta.

Pay attention to this space for future Maeso and UBL news.