Hillsborough Has Two Places Called Regulator. Only One of Them Pours a Pint Downtown.

"What started out as a pandemic side project has become something I hope will turn into a lasting legacy for myself and my family in my hometown."

That is D.L. Brown talking about the brewpub he spent nearly two years building inside one of downtown Hillsborough's oldest buildings, at the corner of West King and South Churton. He named it The Regulator. If you have lived in Hillsborough for more than a decade, that name might ring a bell for a reason that has nothing to do with Brown's new pub, and everything to do with a small nanobrewery that predates it by eleven years.

More on that in a minute, because it is the kind of mix-up that only shows up if you are actually paying attention to this town's drinking scene, not just skimming a listicle about it.

Five Years With Nothing Pouring Downtown

Hillsborough went without a hometown brewery for longer than most residents probably remember. Mystery Brewing closed its doors in 2018, and nothing filled that gap until Eno River Brewing opened along the Riverwalk in August 2023. Five years is a long stretch for a town this size and this walkable to go without a local tap.

Eno River Brewing picked its spot for a reason. The building sits along the banks of the Eno River, close enough to the Mountain-to-Sea Trail that hikers and paddlers show up as regulars, not tourists. In March 2026, Frog Hollow Outdoors ran a guided paddle-and-beer outing that launched and ended at the brewery, and the taproom pairs with The Cheese Shop for grab-and-go boxes built around crackers, fig jam, and pickles, the kind of pairing that only makes sense if your customers are walking in off a river trail rather than driving over from Durham.

The Award Arrived Before the Second Taproom Did

Here is the part that surprised even people who follow Hillsborough's beer scene closely. In November 2025, Eno River Brewing was named North Carolina New Brewery of the Year at the state's Brewers Cup competition, run by the NC Craft Brewers Guild. The brewery walked away with two gold medals, a silver, and an honorable mention, all credited to brewmaster Alex Leonard and his assistant Reverdy Nicholson.

That statewide recognition landed a little over two years after the brewery opened, and months before Hillsborough got a second place to drink downtown. The sequence matters if you are trying to read the town's momentum correctly. Eno River Brewing did not ride a wave of new competition into that award. It built a reputation on its own, one collaboration beer at a time, including a pilsner made with the Eno River Association to mark the nonprofit's 60th anniversary of protecting the river basin that gave the brewery its name.

Two Businesses Have Answered to the Name Regulator

Back to the mix-up. In 2015, a group of Hillsborough locals, Dustin, Stephanie, Ryan, and Anna, funded a nanobrewery through Kickstarter and called it Regulator Brewing Company, a nod to the pre-Revolutionary Regulator Movement that fought for small farmers in the North Carolina Piedmont. That brewery contract-brewed its beer and served it at Hillsborough BBQ Company rather than running its own taproom. It never built a storefront of its own, and the industry trade press lists no recent news on the company at all.

The Regulator that just started soft-opening hours this year is a different operation entirely, owned and largely hand-built by D.L. Brown, who has lived in Orange County for close to half a century. His version spans three floors of a historic building across from the old courthouse: a basement brewhouse, a main-floor taproom, and an upstairs level with a boardroom available for meetings and events. Brown built the backbar, tap systems, tables, and cabinetry himself in his garage woodshop. Supply chain shortages pushed the project back nearly two years before he finally opened the doors.

If you search for "Regulator Brewing Hillsborough" right now, you could land on either one. Only one of them has a pint waiting for you at the bar.

Regulator Brewing Company (2015): contract-brewed, no dedicated taproom of its own, beer historically served at Hillsborough BBQ Company.

The Regulator (2026): new three-floor brewpub and event space at West King and South Churton, currently in soft-open hours, no kitchen yet but working toward pub food from local partners.

The One Thing on Churton Street That Has Not Changed

While the town sorts out its brewery lineup, one thing has stayed exactly where it has been since December 31, 2003. Wooden Nickel Pub, now at 113 N. Churton Street after moving three doors up from its original spot, remains Hillsborough's version of a neighborhood bar where the staff knows your order. It also holds a distinction that has nothing to do with local charm: it is the only North Carolina location taking part in Zwanze Day, the once-a-year global beer release coordinated by Cantillon Brewery in Belgium. When Zwanze Day rolls around, part of the King Street parking lot closes to make room for the crowd.

If you are looking for a cocktail rather than a pint, Yonder: Southern Cocktails and Brew sits nearby on the same downtown strip, another option for an evening that does not require driving out toward Durham or Chapel Hill.

What This Actually Says About Downtown Right Now

Add it up and Hillsborough's drinking scene has gone from a five-year gap to three distinct identities within about three years: a Riverwalk brewery with a state title, a historic building turned three-floor brewpub still finding its footing, and a two-decade pub that never stopped being the town's living room. That is a lot of change for a downtown this size to absorb at once, and it is still shaking out. The Regulator does not have a kitchen yet. Eno River Brewing is leaning into its award momentum with new releases like Easy Peasy Eno Squeezy. Wooden Nickel keeps doing what it has always done.

None of this requires a decision from you. It is just what is actually happening on the two blocks most Hillsborough residents already walk through every week, told with the names attached instead of the vague version you have probably already read somewhere else.

If you are the kind of person who tracks these small shifts in a town because you care about where you live, that instinct tends to carry over when the conversation eventually turns to buying or selling here. Pat Dillon Real Estate spends as much time learning which brewery just won an award as which street just got a sidewalk upgrade, because both tell you something true about a neighborhood's direction. If you ever want to talk through what any of that means for your own plans in Hillsborough, schedule a free 30-minute consultation whenever the timing is right for you.