Lonerider
The headshots wall: the Lonerider cast of characters

The Band of Outlaws: the Lonerider story

Lonerider has been one name on a lot of cans and bottles since 2009. It has never been one person. It's the crew that brews it, the crew behind the bourbon, the crew that pours it at the Hideouts, the crew that gets it into the hands of the people who drink it, and the artists who gave every beer a face.
The Hideout menu cover with the cast

The promise

Lonerider was born in Raleigh in January 2009, with a beer and a promise. A promise to be the best version of ourselves. To think differently, challenge convention and live the outlaw life. Being an outlaw is a state of being: unapologetic, decisive and a little self-deprecating, with a twinkle in the eye. It's a handshake with someone in the know. Whether we're shaking up a social norm or doing a small kindness for someone who needs it, we end the day with the same promise. We're here to stay.

Lonerider at a glance

  • Lonerider Brewing Company was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, in January 2009.
  • The beer: Sweet Josie, Shotgun Betty, Hoppy Ki Yay, Peacemaker, Kolsch for Outlaws, Cerveza para los Bandidos, IPA for Outlaws and Imperial Light, in 16 oz cans and on draft.
  • The spirits: Lonerider Spirits, bourbon whiskey finished in casks, plus a few other bottles.
  • Sweet Josie won Raleigh's first Great American Beer Festival gold medal in 2010. The beer has won 50+ awards since.
  • The Hideouts: Wake Forest (opened 2019) and Oak Island (opened 2022). Lonerider at RDU International Airport opens in 2027.
  • Where to find it: stores, bars and restaurants across North Carolina. Use Find Lonerider for the closest one.

The Timeline

  1. 2009
    Brewing tanks under the Lonerider outlaw, painted on the wall

    Born in Raleigh: the first Lonerider beer. The crew is small enough to fit around one table.

  2. 2010
    Sweet Josie poster art

    Sweet Josie wins gold at the Great American Beer Festival.

  3. 2012
    Deadeye Jack, Shotgun Betty and Peacemaker in the first bottles

    Lonerider goes into bottles, and rides into Georgia.

  4. 2013
    Sweet Josie and Shotgun Betty tap handles in Georgia, the first state over the line

    South Carolina and Tennessee.

  5. 2014
    Shotgun Betty poured with roasted corn, paprika, lime and chevre at a food pairing in Washington DC

    Virginia, Washington DC and Maryland.

  6. 2015
    The first Lonerider cans, in the snow

    Into cans, early, before most craft breweries made the jump.

  7. 2016
    Best in Show, American IPA, Craft Beer Rising London 2016, next to a can of Hoppy Ki Yay

    Pennsylvania. Hoppy Ki Yay is named Best American IPA at Craft Beer Rising in London, and Lonerider lands in the UK.

  8. 2017
    Raising Lonerider cans in Amsterdam

    The Netherlands. A German-style hefeweizen from North Carolina, poured in Amsterdam.

  9. 2018
    A bottle of Sherry Cask Finish

    Lonerider Spirits pours its first bottle, Sherry Cask Finish: bourbon whiskey finished in sherry casks.

  10. 2019
    Guests posing with Hoppy Ki Yay and Shotgun Betty cutouts under the Lonerider sign at the Wake Forest Hideout

    Ten years in. The Wake Forest Hideout opens on May 25.

  11. 2020

    COVID. Bars closed, festivals vanished and the business took a beating. The crew held on.

  12. 2022
    The deck at the Oak Island Hideout

    The Oak Island Hideout opens on the Intracoastal on May 27.

  13. 2025

    An 87-year-old named Doug hand-delivers invitations to his winter party and the video goes viral. Lonerider throws a North Carolina edition of Doug's Winter Party, watches the original on a live feed, and raises money for Western North Carolina's recovery after Hurricane Helene.

  14. 2027
    Design rendering of the RDU HideoutDesign rendering

    A Hideout at RDU. Fly International. Drink Local.

The cast

Every Lonerider beer and bottle has a character. Sweet Josie, Shotgun Betty, Deadeye Jack, Hoppy Ki Yay and the rest of the cast were drawn by artists who treated a label like the cover of a comic, and the crew wrote the stories behind them. More than fifty characters later, the cast keeps growing, and every new beer still gets a face and a story.

  • Sweet Josie
  • Shotgun Betty
  • Deadeye Jack
Meet the Legends

The crew

Brewers and blenders, bartenders and cooks, sales reps and delivery drivers, the folks who fix the coolers and the folks who book the bands. Some have been here since the first batch, some just poured their first Hideout pint. All of them are outlaws.

The Lonerider crew behind the bar at the Wake Forest Hideout
  • The early crew, around one table, a few years in
    The early crew, around one table, a few years in
  • Setting up the merch tent before the gates open
    Setting up the merch tent before the gates open
  • Festival day with the Band of Outlaws
    Festival day with the Band of Outlaws
  • The Lonerider truck, out on a delivery
    The Lonerider truck, out on a delivery

The medals

50+ awards for our beer, including Raleigh's first GABF gold medal, for Sweet Josie in 2010. Our spirits picked up their own: NC Bourbon Distillery of the Year in 2019 and Whiskey of the Year, North Carolina in 2020 at the New York International Spirits Competition. Every one of them belongs to the crew that was there that year.

See the beerSee the spirits

The best way to meet the Band of Outlaws is across a bar. Come find us at a Hideout.

The HideoutsFind Lonerider