Fortnight Brewing Company is fully funded and ready to purchase a property on the western side of town, its owners say.

The facility would finally put Cary on the beer-drinker’s map, joining Raleigh, Wake Forest, Holly Springs and Fuquay-Varina in boasting a brew.

So, what took so long for the overflowing craft beer industry to find its way here?

Expense.

Fortnight has searched for years in Cary, but most properties were “prohibitively expensive,” said co-owner Stuart Arnold. He’s hoping that high barrier to entrance will be an asset for Fortnight, whose backers include local entrepreneur David Gardner.

“I’ve been looking for years, always wanting to be in Cary, because it’s going to separate us from the rest of the breweries,” Arnold said.

The business will also be set apart by its authentic English beer. Stuart first picked up the craft in his native England, where he saw his grandfather bottle wine and his father brew beer.

“I particularly know the English beer style, and I think it’s missing over here,” said the 46-year-old Arnold, who lives in Cary and works in information technology.

The new Cary brewery would start small, putting out a fraction of the amount of beer as an established business such as Big Boss Brewing Company or Aviator Brewing Company.

But if Fortnight puts out 750 barrels per year, it could soon “exceed that by a magnitude,” Arnold said.

The company’s already buying up commercial brewing equipment, and the partners are in negotiations on a contract to buy the potential site of the brewery.

“If the planets align, it’ll be summer,” Arnold said. “If they don’t, which they never do, we’re looking at fall.”