Four Day Ray is one of the finest craft breweries I've visited ... so far

While in Indiana for the birth of a granddaughter on Feb. 12, I had a chance to stop at Four Day Ray Brewing, a craft brewery in Fishers that I'd been itching to to visit for some time.

Actually, it's more than a brewery. It's also a restaurant that serves traditional pub fare, but it does so in a setting that -- at least in my experience visiting craft breweries and pubs -- is one of the nicest and most striking of them around.

Four Day Ray is at 11671 Lantern Road, about two blocks north of East 116th Street in an area that was bottled up in construction activity for what seemed like an eternity when I was still living in Indiana. If you're familiar with 116th Street and know where Greek's Pizzeria is, it's almost two blocks directly north of that.

I had roamed the new mixed-used development area of this portion of downtown Fishers when I was up for a visit in May 2018, and I came very close to Four Day Ray during my walk-around at that time, not realizing I was as close as I was. I went through my May 2018 photos on the drive back to North Carolina on this recent commute, and I could see the brewery in the near background in one of the pictures. At the time, though, I didn't know that's what it was.

Because Four Day Ray has a decent menu and serves food to sit-down crowds, it is open more hours than most craft breweries. In many of my first visits to craft breweries, I strive to indulge a flight so I can sample anywhere from four to six of a brewery's offerings. I wasn't in the mood for a flight, though, when I went there two weeks ago. Instead, I asked the server if I could try small samples of two brews that jumped out at me on the beer menu -- the Afterburner smoked lager and the Air Raid pale ale.

I was pleased that my pallet reacted positively to both, but it forced me to decide between them to wash down my meal of a half-slab of barbecued ribs. I went with the Air Raid, and I was not disappointed.

I so much enjoyed the pale ale -- agreeable to the tongue, just the right amount of hop bitterness (which is not a lot) and almost the exact amount of maltiness I've come to appreciate in the pale ales I really enjoy.

The ribs (above) were cooked pretty well, but I thought they were weak on the spice rub I've come to enjoy in ribs. I asked the server if I could get a side of barbecue sauce, and she kindly complied. I often prefer to eat ribs without sauce if they're prepared with a delectable dry rub (a good example is the Texas rub at Ruby Tuesday's ribs). Thankfully, the sauce made the difference with the ribs at Four Day Ray, so I left a happy diner and imbiber -- so much so that I bought a six-pack of Air Raid to go. While buying the six-pack, I learned that Fridays are $7 growler fill days.

Lee Ann stuck to unsweetened ice tea with her meal, which was a pair of pulled pork sliders (above) and a side of french fries. We both also got a nice-sized green salad with balsamic viniagrette dressing (below). The salad and dressing were very good.

Four Day Ray has a lot of seating space for dining customers. You can find it inside on two floors (levels) and even more outdoors. I roamed the interior after I finished my meal to grab the pictures you see in this post.

As always, to view a larger, sharper version of a photo, simply click on the image. To view a full gallery of photos from my visit to Four Day Ray, follow the link in this sentence.