The purveyors of Lonerider brews work hard to cultivate a virtual Old West atmosphere - note their
website, with its frontier motif and the Deadwood-themed names of their concoctions (Peacemaker, Deadeye Jack, etc.). A quick trip to west Raleigh last weekend to the tasting room, however, delivered the best of the saloon experience (no frills, wooden stools, undiluted spirits) without the pesky knifefights and lack of sanitation endemic to knocking back a few cold ones in 1849 (I would also note the lack of syphillis, but we weren't really there that long).
Ladies and gentlemen, the beer is excellent. Yes, the lovely wife is fiercely attached to Shotgun Betty, Lonerider's Hefeweizen - I know, I know...you don't like "fruity beers" - Betty does not fit that description. I know a few serious Guinness devotees that will steal one or two bottles from the wife's Shotgun six-pack if she doesn't pay attention. In a moderately-sized offering, Lonerider covers a lot of ground. A serviceable pale ale (Peacemaker) and the recent Great American Beer Festival (the big one) brown ale gold medal winner Sweet Josie would be enough to make the trip worthwhile - but the star of the show in October, at least, is the unique and spectacular Grave Robber Black IPA.
You didn't leave the comfy confines of your sofa on Saturday afternoon watching college football to drive into a labyrinth of storage facilities to sip a half-assed, low-calorie, Lance Armstrong-endorsed wine cooler, did you? No! You came to find sustenance that reminds you why you were excited when the Flying Saucer opened in Raleigh and when Pop the Cap burst through the Bible Belt - and why you peruse high-quality beer journalism such as this blog. I had never tasted a Black IPA, but it won't be the last time. Imagine the freshest, best-drawn Guinness you've had blended perfectly with the freshest Dogfish 90-Minute you've tasted. That's what I thought. The only problem with this amazing brew is that it is what Lonerider refers to as its "Home Brew Winner", which means two things; first, the Lonerider guys may have had nothing to do with the recipe, and, secondly, that it will most likely only be available at the brewery. Those of you who always go for the Double IPA at the bar or smirk at the dude that orders a Blue Moon in November (only slightly less OK than doing so in July) need to get your behind to Lonerider off Westgate Road in Raleigh (just east of the retail hellhole that is Brier Creek) and test your manhood with a Grave Robber before the rest of us knock it out.
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