LoneRider Stands Alone

Get in your car, get to Glenwood Avenue and drive past Crabtree Valley Mall.  Keep going.  
Drive past CarMax.  Keep going.  
When you're almost to Brier Creek, you have almost arrived at LoneRider Brewing Company.  (And I thought Big Boss was hidden). 
When the side street turns to gravel:  you are there.


Positioned in the warehouse used for brewing, the LoneRider tap room seems almost too simple.


And, not to sound trite, but simple is better.

Jackie Nelson tends the smallest functioning bar I've ever encountered to perfection.  Don't order a flight here, they don't do them, but she will serve you up a taste of each beer on tap.

Shotgun Betty, the hefeweizen, can be found outside the tap room, and is a favorite among Maggie Hussey and her friends. "It's just so seductively good," Hussey said, "even the label is sexy."








Andrew Townley, a Sweet Josie drinker, said he wished it was offered at more of his favorite downtown Raleigh bars instead of Shotgun Betty. 
"It's the darkest brown ale I've ever had that was enjoyable enough to drink more than one," he said of Sweet Josie.


Peacemaker, the pale ale, is a favorite of Shawn Hank a regular who lives nearby.  Of his Peacemaker preference he said, "it's hoppy and delicious, it has the perfect balance, it's a great beer."

Deadeye Jack, the seasonal porter, had run dry when I visited. Luckily Jeff A., a regular who knows his LoneRider beers, filled me in.  

"It's a real good winter beer, it tastes a lot like coffee," he said.

Currently, the brewery is not offering tours, but you almost don't need one.
With a rope dividing the two rooms, you can sit at a table with a pint (or Pale Ale Poppers from the Valentinos food truck) and enjoy the view of the brewery.  

The experience is worth the ride.