Don't expect to find Jordan Lake brewery by the water; look in downtown Cary

If you lived in the Triangle area of Raleigh, N.C., and heard of the Jordan Lake Brewing Company, you might expect to find it somewhere near Jordan Lake Recreation Area -- a huge body of water between Cary and Chapel Hill. I did.

Instead, the one and a half year-old craft brewery is in downtown Cary, and just a short distance from Bond Brothers Beer Co., the craft brewery I wrote about in my previous post. Both breweries are not far from Chatham Hill Winery on Chapel Hill Road.

Jordan Lake has a variety of brews on tap, and in its favor (and unlike Bond Brothers) it offers customers an option to buy a flight (4-ounce samples of any four brews) or globe fills of 10- or 16-ounces or fill crawlers (32 oz.) or growlers (64 oz.) to go. The prices vary, depending on the brew; ale staples are $3 and $5, respectively, for the globes, crawlers are $9-12 and growlers $17-24.

I opted to start with a flight (photo above) of the Parker's Creek Pale Ale, Ebeneezer Amber Ale, Loch Jordan Scotch Ale and Crosswinds IPA. The amber and scotch ales were what I expected -- darker, heavy and rich. The Scotch ale had the bourbonesque notes you'd expect. The pale ale was also no surprise, and I would finish off my visit with a 10-ounce globe fill of this (photo below). The Crosswinds surprised me a little; it was extremely thin for an IPA, the citrus flavors on the high side but not offensive.

I arrived very early -- right after the 2 p.m. opening, and for the first 15 minutes, I had the lone bartender to myself to question about the brewery and its menu. She confided that she hadn't been a beer drinker for long. Until she started working at Jordan Lake shortly after its opening, she said if she had an alcoholic beverage it was usually wine (she favored moscato) or an occasional mixed drink. Of the beers she has sampled, she said she doesn't care for the pale ales or IPAs; her pick from the Jordan Lake menu is the Orange Weizen.

So in a quest to try something different, I asked to sample the Orange Weizen and the Seaforth ESB (when I asked her what the ESB stood for, she said extra special bitterness). I could see why she liked the Weizen; in fact, a couple that eventually came in and sat at the bar with me asked to sample that and ordered a globe. You certainly taste the orange citrus, but it's light ... and the brew is refreshing. (Blue Moon lovers will most likely take a liking to it).

Views of the brewery's front facade (above) and outdoor seating area (below). 

Above and below: Different views of the interior seating. In the background of the photo below, you see the four drums, which I show in closer views in the second and third photos below.

The brewery's menu (above) and vat room (below).