It’s been a while since this post, fourteen years in fact, which in turn was close to a decade after I first started seeking good beer on Hilton Head. That’s almost 25 years of thinking about, drinking, and writing pieces about beer on the island.

Since that 2012 post, Hilton Head Brewing Co. has moved, Jump & Phil’s has closed, The Lodge came and went, World of Beer and Growlers are distant memories, and countless disappointing runs to the old Reilley’s store (Now Patel’s Liquor) to try to pick up 3 Monts (which used to be one of the great staples in that store), have passed.

So, where does that leave us on the island right now? What follows doesn’t include a bunch of beer reviews (although one particular beer will get a shout out as we’ll see), nor is it an in-depth analysis and review of each place that I would have written back in the day, but rather it’s a 30,000-ft view of things as they stand in July of 2026.

On this visit both Side Hustle Brewing Co. and Lincoln and South Brewing Co. were new to me. Both have been around on the island for a few years, and I’ve been to Hilton Head since each has been open, but for various reasons they’ve had to wait until now. Local Legend Brewing Co. and Hilton Head Brewing Co. are two spots that I’ve been to multiple times in the past.

There are various vibes to be found at each of these places, and your drinking pleasure & experience are going to be tied to each ambience. Of course your own preferences and needs will vary, but as we all know we are long past the halcyon days of the contemporary, American brewery experience, regardless of the energy of each or your own circumstances. Additionally, you’re on HHI which has its own parameters that aren’t the same as many other places. That said, I think that there’s a decent amount of objectivity that you’ll be able to draw from these notes. So let’s take the four breweries in turn, and give you a quick pen-portrait of what’s going on at each.

Hilton Head Brewing Co.

OK, I have to admit that I have a soft spot for the OG, but we are of course a million miles away from those OG days. That’s OK, but the current location – which I call “almost off island” (and yes, I know that it isn’t) – has a distinctly different vibe than sitting in Reilley’s Bar-Muda triangle back in the day. In truth, the newer spot offers a far more brewery/brewpub feel than the old dark restaurant with the DJ booth ever did. In that regard it’s ‘better’. The beer is infinitely more consistent than it once was. Derek Britton is the latest brewer, and he has a pedigree of brewing in Minnesota and Wisconsin, although I almost fell out of my chair when he mentioned that he worked at Thomas Creek! Happily that was eons after TC were producing a slew of undrinkable beers.

Small bar, a couple of rooms and an outside seating area. Being where it is, it’s now a drive or a few mile bike journey to get there, and set in a pseudo-strip mall, and with a parking lot for a view, it doesn’t feel like you’re at the beach. I suppose that’s because you’re not! Don’t get me wrong, the overheads in the old location would have been totally unmanageable I suspect, and this place makes infinitely more sense, but it feels a little removed from the island. Maybe that’s just me.

The beer list is better than I was expecting. I was delighted to see a Witbier and an Altbier that they had on! Altbiers are rare enough in the US anyway, and a surprising find here. It was competent, and I was quite content given that I wasn’t in Düsseldorf. A couple of Pale Ales and one or two other things that I might try giving me a few options out of the 16 taps.

Of all of the brewery options, Hilton Head Brewing feels most like an old(er) school pub than the others, and I think that’s why I favor it the most.

Lincoln and South Brewing Co.

Ignoring the OG above, this is definitely the pick of the remainder that exist in 2026. They had the single best beer that I drank on the island on this visit too, but I’ll come to that in a moment.

L-shaped bar which is only half dedicated to seating, the taproom has the usual high-tops that you would expect plus an outdoor seating area. I made multiple visits on my most recent stay, and I got some varying experiences. A relatively quiet Sunday lunchtime where I chatted with the barman for a while, and other times when the place turned into a noisy daycare. Now, that is definitely not my preference, but one has to take into account the nature of the crowd, and the fact that young families are going to be here. I have no issue with that per se, but it was a bit pronounced and quite annoying, perhaps because the music is cranked pretty loud, which in turn creates the need for children and their parents to yell at one another. I particularly enjoyed the giant connect four set that the kids persistently took great joy in violently emptying which created a miserable, crashing of plastic on wood. That aside, this place could be a decent spot when less invaded.

Around 18 taps, with the usual catastrophic selection for a legacy drinker. On my visit the following non-events were present; a kombucha, a guest cider, a chocolate stout (that I might have tried but the barman told me was VERY chocolatey), no less than FIVE NEIPAs, two fake sours, a seltzer, and a CBD/THC offering. That left me with a Red Ale that drank more like an English Bitter/ESB (good), two ‘pilsners’ which are frankly not much more than macro substitutes but were OK, two ‘West Coast’ IPAs (that I would at least try but that had ABVs that are a bit much for lunchtime hot weather drinking), and the pick of the whole trip, a Kristallweizen called Krystalweizen. Thank GOD for it! It was excellent, and a diamond in the rough given the remainder of the board. I’ve written about the problems with modern taprooms over and over and over again, but that beer basically saved the day here.

Side Hustle Brewing Co.

Well, this was kinda interesting. Not good, but interesting.

In the past they had a stand-alone place on Arrow Road. They are also in Bluffton. However, on the island they are located in the old Bank of America building on Pope Road known appropriately as The Bank. The thing about that location is that it is so close to the epicenter of Coligny that you’re gonna get what you get. The best way I can describe the experience is that it’s a little like a motorway service station that you might find in the UK or Canada. The inside of The Bank is more like a food court than a drinking establishment, with a fast-food type grill outlet next to the bar area. There’s a large outside seating area with a small stage for live music. Kids running around all over the place too (again, to be expected), but to call this a “brewery” is misleading. It’s a bar, in a “food court”, despite the fact that the brewing equipment can be seen at the rear of the building. Again, a billion NEIPAs and fake sours, and perhaps one or two beers that I would drink. I had some of their Amber Lager that was acceptable.

This is a spot for – well, I’m not sure who – it seems like a place to re-fuel with the kids briefly before moving on with the rest of your day. It’s not a restaurant, it’s not a bar, it’s not a play place, rather it’s some weird combo of none of them! In the evening when a band is playing, Side Hustle obviously simply acts as ‘the bar’ for the venue,  but this is a LONG, LONG way from a brewery location. I suppose I get it on one level, but if you think this is a brewpub then you’re going to be disappointed.

Local Legend Brewing Co.

I first visited this place with a couple of weeks of it opening around Spring Break 2025. Let’s be clear about what this place is and why. Because of its location it will inevitably attract families looking for a food and somewhere to entertain the kids. More than one person described it as a “Dave and Busters” vibe, and that’s pretty accurate. Games for the kids, and a large outdoor seating area at the back. It’s at the heart of the island, and that means it has to be what it is. I mean this is another place for kids, and for entertaining them while the Moms & Dads grab a couple of well-deserved beers. The beer list, at least on the face of things, isn’t bad. A Dunkel, a Maibock (the pick), an Amber, a Kölsch, a beer that was labeled as a session beer (not a style) was ACTUALLY a session beer at 4%, and then the usual suspects. In pure percentage terms of the beers that I would at least try, I think it’s above average. However, you are drinking in a Dave and Busters! What worried me more than anything is that a couple of people that I spoke to who ought to have more than a just a passing knowledge of such things, said that if and when they go there they drink Miller Lite. Yinzer (the Amber got a mention) but that was about it. I’ll always make up my own mind about beer so no sweat, but I didn’t get a great vibe from them on that.

To their credit I had a really rather good grilled chicken salad there. I mean nothing that you couldn’t imagine, but something that I would describe as above average. That’s about the best that one can expect, and I was cool with it and is absolutely consistent with LLBC being a SERG establishment. That comes with both the good and the bad. Efficiency and well-run, but of course in the context of a brewery it’s bound to be a little cold and soulless. Years ago when Tony Arcuri and I spoke about the beer list that The Lodge would have prior to it opening, the whole landscape was so different. The first time I drank Westbrook’s Mexican Cake was at The Lodge, and I even brought a Dark Lord vertical to the bar there once. I had my first Hill Farmstead there on a bottle share too, and I once cracked a bottle of the original batch of Coast’s Blackbeard with folk there as well. Halcyon days, and we didn’t know it.

Summary and where else to find good beer*

So, in summary it is what it is, and there’s not much to report. Of the four I’d probably drink most often at Hilton Head Brewing (at least partly for nostalgic reasons) but the Kristalweizen alone would bring me back to Lincoln and South. Hopefully there would be other beers to attract me too, but as you see from the lists above the usual issues still exist. Oddly, Local Legend had perhaps the highest potential in terms of traditional styles for the legacy drinker, but I’m not sure how good the beer is there yet. On top of that you’ve got to be able to deal with the atmosphere. Side Hustle’s Pope Avenue location I just can’t recommend if what you want is a brewery experience. It really doesn’t count.

In all four locations people that don’t want beverages that taste like beer were asking about fake fruited sours, seltzers and hazies, but that’s hardly worth mentioning these days. Hilton Head Island is just reflecting the world outside as one would expect. Like everywhere, you gotta work damn hard to find a few gems among the mess.

The pick of the bars in terms of selection is still Mellow Mushroom. Still 40 taps, some of which are OK, but it’s a long way from the greatest days. To be fair, the reduction in quality is a function of the larger scene, and not HHI or Mellow Mushroom specifically. Hilton Head Tavern is a loud sports bar with 32 taps. I’ve been there a few times, and this week they had 6 lines empty, and another 6 “off” making 32 actually 20. Of those, two were of interest. Big Bamboo has always had a nice vibe, and I do like the bar in there, but was never as good as Mellow in terms of beer, and like the Mushroom it’s a reflection of the greater demise of beer in the US. I thought it was also staggeringly expensive; $9.81 for a pint of Side Hustle Mexican Lager? Simply bad value, even at the beach. Also in Coligny The Carolina Tasting Room with its few local taps offers better value, and might be worth checking out just to see what’s on.

*There are obviously other places to drink such as Reilley’s, Callahan’s, Hinchey’s, The Frosty Frog, and the Salty Dog and the Beach Bars in Sea Pines and Palmetto, and they all have their place and I occasionally enjoy each of them, but they aren’t places that I go when I’m seeking better beer.