On a recent Wednesday evening at Steel String, a craft brewery and taproom in Carrboro, people and dogs press around outdoor tables, while inside, conversations ricochet off distressed brick walls.

Steel String Brewery is not your average bar, employee Isabella House said. “It's weirdly cozy for a place where you would think people come to get drunk,” she said. The brewery is a social hub for ...

I worried at first that the beer I was about to try would taste like a gulp of pickle juice, swallowed straight from the jar. But I was proven pleasantly wrong. A dill-flavored, gose-style beer first ...