In the past five years, Downtown Cary has become a destination for craft beer lovers. With four major breweries or bottle shops within a square mile of each other, there are literally hundreds of flavors to choose from. Whether you’re looking for a hoppy IPA, a bright kettle sour, or a specialty flavor like cherry-limeade or orange creamsicle, you can find them all within walking distance of each other.
For the sake of science, we visited each of these craft beer wonderlands on a quest to find the best beer in downtown. It’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it.
Here are some of the best, most flavorful, and most artful brews we discovered on our craft beer journey through downtown.
Bond Brothers Beer Company
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The Atmosphere
Jay and Jeremy Bond can be celebrated as the duo who first brought a brewery to Downtown Cary. Their spacious deck is perfect for sipping craft beer on a warm summer night, or a crisp autumn afternoon. Tucked away between Chatham and Cedar Street, it occupies a cozy nook that feels private and intimate, despite being in the heart of downtown.
Bond Brothers Beer Company is known for its wide variety of brews, making it ideal for large group gatherings and events. Even dogs enjoy lazing or playing on the wide open deck. If you want to meet new people, join one of their social events.
Community Events
- Tuesday night Run Club, hosting around 200 people each time.
- Thursday Climbing Club, partnering with Triangle Rock Club in Morrisville.
- Yoga and Beer on Sundays, suggested $5 donation.
- Bond Brothers 5k on September 28th, raising funds for Captrust Community Foundation, who provides grants for Kid’s Notes, Read and Feed, and the Corral Riding Academy. This USTAF-certified course offers plenty of craft beer!
- NC Beer Mile, involving drinking four 12oz beers and running a mile.
- Flip-Flop 1k, partering with Tir’na’nog’s Run Club to break the Guiness World Record for most people running with flip-flops.
- For a full list of events, check the Bond Brothers Beer Company event page.
The Craft Brews
- The Helles Lager is a popular brew, especially if you have a friend who is new to beer. It has a light, crisp taste. It hits the tongue bright, and has a refreshing finish. The bright, clean flavor makes it ideal for people who aren’t a fan of bitter or hoppy brews.
- Chatham Street Stop is a kettle sour, representative of a Greyhound Style sour beer. With flavors of lime and grapefruit, the tart citrus leaves a refreshing finish — almost like a glass of lemonade. It’s sweetness and crispness make it another good entry beer.
- The Blonde Roast is a coffee strong ale — a fan favorite at Bond Brothers. A light amber color, it has a rich coffee flavor but drinks smooth and light, with residual sweetness and creaminess coming from the vanilla and coffee. They work with Black & White Roasters to blend a special coffee made specifically to bring out the best flavors in the beer.
- Bond Brothers also offers limited runs of sour bottlings. Aged in wine barrels from 8 months to 2 years, they offer more complex flavors. They pick up the oak and wood character from the barrels, and have a bit of a wine character as well. The brewers take multiple barrels and blend them together to get a perfect harmonious mixture.
Cotton House Craft Brewers
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The Atmosphere
Located in the historic Pasmore House on Academy Street, Cotton House Craft Brewers recalls the era of classic taverns, and founder Brent Webb has taken enormous care to preserve the house’s historic charm. Handcrafted wooden tables and stools decorate the rustic porch; the back deck feels like a cozy log cabin. Inside, three wooden mountain bears greet customers, and the classic bar top and leather stools feel like an old-timey tavern.
The hearths of two original fireplaces still decorate the area behind the bar. Rows of bar glasses sparkle across the wooden mantle. The ceilings and floors and door frames are all original — around 120 years old.
With an old photo of Downtown Cary hanging on their wall, and several drinks named after historic Cary people or events, founder Brent Webb explains, “We want to represent history in the community and the culture.”
Community Events
- Monday night cornhole tournaments.
- Wednesday night Bike Club, enjoying the sights of Downtown Cary.
- Thursday night Run Club, beginning in mid-August
- Sunday morning Yoga on the beautiful wooden deck. Includes a pint of beer or a mimosa.
- Regular Cotton House Gravel Rides.
- Regular food trucks and vendor markets.
- For a full list of events, check Cotton House Craft Brewers’ event page.
The Craft Brews
While the atmosphere is classic, the brews are definitively creative and new.
- The Cherry Limeade Goza is one of their most popular brews. Created with real maraschino cherries and lime juice, one sip of this kettle sour creates a delicious pucker. Its flavor is tart, refreshing, and fruit forward; and the rose coloring is bright and summery, glowing pinkish as the sunlight goes through.
- The Hazy Daze, named after the Town of Cary’s annual Lazy Daze Arts & Crafts Festival, is their best seller. This New England style IPA goes along with the haze craze, with a super juicy, bright flavor that makes it a refreshing sip. It’s a beer for everybody — even people who don’t typically enjoy IPA beers. “We filled it with juicy citra hops and mosaic,” shares Sunny Dehn-Gurbacki, who works behind the bar at Cotton House.
- The Orange Cream is another favorite, brewed with fresh oranges, lactose, and a hint of vanilla. The sweet milky flavor hits the front of the palate, followed by a bright citrus flavor. Dehn-Gurbacki explains, “Our brewmaster studied brewing in Germany, so we do a lot of wheat beers, with the proportion of wheat higher than the malted barley.”
Jordan Lake Brewing Company
Website – Facebook – Instagram
The Atmosphere
When founders Luke Carter and Charny Mitchell launched Jordan Lake Brewing Company, they wanted to capture the spirit of their days spent on the lake–laid back, casual, and with a sense of community. The best friends had years of sweet memories from camping, fishing, and leisurely boating on Jordan Lake.
The bar feels like home, built with grassroots grit. Carter constructed the wooden bar himself, with reclaimed barn wood they found while driving.
A majority of beers are named after places or things related to the lake — with names like Oaks around the Lake, Vista Point, Osprey, Ebenezer, and Sandy Beach. With cornhole, pool tables, darts, wide-open seating, and dozens of board games, the goal of this bar is to encourage meeting random strangers and being comfortable.
Community Events
- Live local music every other Friday; the bar manager is a musician in Cary and Apex and loves supporting local musicians.
- Pickin’ on the Patio, an acoustic open mic every other Wednesday.
- Dog-friendly events and adoption events.
- Tuesday Luck of the Draw Dart Night.
- For a full list of Jordan Lake Brewing Company’s events, check their event page.
The Craft Brews
- The Orange Weizen is their number one best seller. It’s a wheat beer with hand zested oranges, giving it a citrusy zip on the front of the pallet. This “cloudy summertime quencher” is a refreshing start to your day at the “lake.”
- The Acorn Brown is a brown ale with a smooth, sweetish caramel flavor on the first sip, and a warm nuttiness at the finish.
- The Nova Anglia is a New England IPA. Its citrusy open has flavors of grapefruit, pineapple, and orange. The brightness shifts into a hazy mouthfeel, and has a hoppy finish.
- The Roze Raspberry Belgian Ale has a tart, puckery opening, with flavors of bright raspberries. The Belgian yeast brings in a smooth, mild pear-like flavor. Then, it finishes with a sudden warmth in your tummy. It’s also known as the “velvet hammer” due to its strong 9.7% ABV.
BottleDog Bites & Brews
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The Atmosphere
While most of the breweries in Downtown Cary are dog-friendly, BottleDog Bites & Brews offers a patio specifically for your canine friends. Dog-friendly amenities include soft dog beds, fresh water, and leash-hooks to ensure your doggy pals are safely secured and comfortable. This hybrid bottle shop has 12 taps and over 100 different bottles from across the country. Plus, they offer a full menu, featuring unique hot dog flavors, sandwiches, dips, desserts, and bacon-themed goodness. They even have a poutine challenge with ample reward — if you’re brave enough to try it.
For entertainment, BottleDog offers a pool table, dart board, multiple sets of Cards Against Humanity, and even a retro Super Nintendo hooked up to a television set. Between the games, food, beer, and dogs, there’s plenty to keep guests entertained.
The Craft Brews
- Owners Ram Sharan Thapa and Niruja Thakuri have won several awards, including the News & Observer’s award for Best Beer Selection.
- Craft bottles from breweries across the nation, regularly rotated for seasonal favorites
- Specially curated beer and food pairings, as update beer selection to match with food
- Over 100 different bottles and 12 taps
- While the tap is regularly rotated, it’s carefully curated to always offer a blend of stouts, sours, IPA, and Lagar
Pharmacy Bottle + Beverage
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The Atmosphere
As Downtown Cary’s first bottle shop, Pharmacy Bottle + Beverage has brought a new vibe to Chatham Street. In fact, they were one of the first businesses in Cary to have private outdoor seating on public property, a petition which changed the culture of downtown.
The atmosphere is “Old Cary meets New Cary,” with modern style and rows of craft beer in bold, vibrant cans contrasting against historic remnants from the building’s past.
Built inside the old Mitchell’s Pharmacy building, the design harkens back to the 1950’s when Cary was a small town with only two neighborhood pharmacies — in an era when soda fountains and hot dog stands created classic childhood memories. When Tyler Watt opened the new bottle shop, he wanted to preserve that era. In fact, he sometimes serves up patio hot dogs, and has a fridge full of award winning NC pimento cheese. A large black and white photo of the original pharmacy is a centerpiece on his wall, and the original ceilings and floor are intact. The tables are made of reclaimed wood from the building. This mix of old and new has created an eclectic new social scene for downtown.
Community Events
- Saturday morning yoga, donation suggested.
- Candle workshops with Oxford Green Candle Co.
- Patio dogs, hotdogs and beer.
- Dog-friendly inside and outside.
- For more event updates, check the Pharmacy Bottle + Beverage Instagram.
The Craft Brews
- Hundreds of colorful, artistic craft cans stock the shelves, and 16 taps are on rotation.
- Pharmacy rotates beer, wine, and cider, continuously bringing new things to the market, so our customers can try everything.
- Pharmacy highlights North Carolina craft brews from all over the state. With over a hundred breweries across NC, this bottle shop does its best to bring in all the newest, best brews — as well as beloved classics. Look for NC favorites like Deep River, Bold Rock Carolina, Duck Rabbit, Crank Arm, Bombshell, Twin Leaf, Fullsteam, and dozens and dozens more.
A Brewery Renaissance in Downtown Cary
With breweries and bottle shops bringing community events like run clubs, morning yoga, concerts, and events into downtown, the rest of the businesses are flourishing as well. Whether your idea of a perfect day is beer and music, yoga and mimosas, coffee and books, or ice cream and a stroll in the park — the business owners of downtown are building a strong sense of community.
That’s the beauty of Downtown Cary — a small town sense of community, with the flavors and hangouts of a larger city.
And as for the best brew in downtown — there’s honestly a flavor for everyone. Let this guide help as you start your own craft beer quest through Downtown Cary.