Have You Even Been to Pinehurst If You Haven’t Had These Beers?

There’s a certain kind of beer that has nothing to do with what’s in the glass. You know the one. The cold one after a long round when you didn’t want to stop playing. The one at the outdoor bar when the band starts and the sun goes down and you think, yeah, this is it. The last night beer where someone says “we should do this every year” and actually means it.

That’s what this is about. Not the best breweries in the Sandhills — though a couple of those are on here. The best beer moments. The spontaneous stop at the local bar after a long day. The afternoon you planned around a brewery visit and ended up staying three hours. That’s where the memories actually get made.

Seven spots. Seven scenes. Go find your own.

1. Red’s Corner — The Saturday Afternoon Beer

901 SW Broad Street, Southern Pines

You don’t choose what you’re drinking at Red’s Corner. You walk up to the porch, look at the 12 taps, and pick something cold. Then you find a spot in the grass, the live band starts up, the food truck smells hit you from across the lawn, and you realize this is exactly what a Saturday afternoon is supposed to feel like.

Red’s is a two-acre beer garden and food truck park right at the edge of downtown Southern Pines. Six-ish food trucks on rotation — Korean BBQ, wood-fired pizza, tacos, whatever’s parked that day. Full bar. Kids’ play area. Live music Thursday through Sunday in the warmer months, Friday and Saturday in the cooler ones.

The beer is fine. The setting makes it great. Bring a blanket, stay a while.

2. The Deuce — The Post-Round Beer

Pinehurst No. 2 Clubhouse, 1 Carolina Vista Drive, Pinehurst

You just played The Cradle. Eighteen par-3s on the grounds of the most famous golf club in America, and you’re still buzzing a little from that last putt. Walk inside. Find a seat on the terrace. Order a cold NC microbrew and watch the groups finishing up on the 18th hole of No. 2 below you.

The Deuce sits overlooking one of the most photographed finishing holes in golf. Golf Inc. Magazine called it the best new restaurant in golf. The view does most of the heavy lifting, but don’t sleep on the wings — they’re the move here.

You don’t need a tee time on No. 2 to drink here. You just need to show up.

3. BHAWK — The Sunny Patio Beer

175 Yadkin Road, Southern Pines

Brad Halling American Whiskey Ko. is technically a distillery, and technically you should probably be drinking the Sergeant’s Valor bourbon. But on a sunny afternoon on the BHAWK back patio, a cold beer or a cocktail hits differently.

Brad Halling is a retired Special Forces soldier who lost his left leg in the Battle of Mogadishu — the mission behind the movie Black Hawk Down. He and his wife Jessica, also a retired Army officer, built this place from the ground up on Yadkin Road. The campus includes a distillery, a restaurant, a cocktail bar, and the Gratitude Room — a living museum honoring military service.

The patio is shaded and unhurried. The bar menu is serious. The food is casual-upscale — the burger and the BLT both get high marks. Order a Madam Colonel cocktail if you’re feeling it, or just get a cold one and sit in the sun for a while. Either way, you’re in the right place.

4. The Sly Fox — The Rainy Afternoon Beer

795 SW Broad St, Southern Pines

Some beers are best when the weather turns. When the round got rained out, or the morning was longer than expected, or you just want to sit somewhere warm and low-key with something good in your hand.

The Sly Fox is a British-style gastropub on a Southern Pines side street with a dog-friendly patio and the kind of interior that makes you feel like you’ve been coming here for years. Order a Guinness. Get the shepherd’s pie or the poutine. Let the afternoon sort itself out.

The tap list runs 16 deep. The crowd is local and unpretentious. The patio has heat in the winter. There’s no wrong time to be at The Sly Fox, but a drizzly afternoon with nowhere to be is the right time.

5. Railhouse Brewery — The Flight

105 E South Street, Aberdeen

Railhouse has been brewing in Aberdeen since 2010, which makes it one of the originals in Moore County. Founded by Navy and Army veterans, it’s now owned and operated by a crew spanning the Army, Navy, and Air Force. The flagship is an English Brown Ale co-branded with KA-BAR — yes, the military knife company — and it’s the only beer of its kind in the country.

Order a flight. Try the brown ale first. Work through whatever else is on that day. The pub food is straightforward and good — the cheese curds and soft pretzel are the move. The outdoor space is family and dog-friendly, live music is regular, and music bingo nights have become a local institution.

It’s five minutes from Pinehurst. It deserves more than a quick stop.

6. Pinehurst Brewing Company — The Last Night Beer

300 Magnolia Road, Pinehurst

There’s a specific kind of beer that only exists on the last night of a good trip. You’re not ready for it to be over. The week was better than expected. Somebody’s already talking about coming back.

Pinehurst Brewing Company is right in the village, which is where you want to be on the last night anyway. Order a local pint. Sit with your group. Let the conversation go wherever it goes. The beer is brewed on-site, the setting is easy, and you’re already making a list of everything you didn’t get to do.

You’ll be back.

7. O’Donnell’s Pub — The Late Night Beer

133 E New Hampshire Ave, Southern Pines

It’s getting late. Someone ordered another round. The LeBron vs. MJ debate started twenty minutes ago and isn’t close to over. The pool table just opened up.

O’Donnell’s has been the late-night anchor of Southern Pines since 2000 — 25 years of proper pints served out of a building that used to be the town fire station. You can still see photos of it above the bar. Sixteen rotating taps, no food (this is a bar, not a restaurant — a distinction Pat O’Donnell is clear about), live bands on Saturday nights, karaoke on Thursdays, open mic the first Wednesday of the month. Open until 2am every night of the week.

Get whatever’s cold. Settle the debate. Nobody’s leaving yet.