Pinehurst Resort's evolution continues
The evolution of Pinehurst Resort will continue this fall with the opening of the Pinehurst Brewing Company, a 10-barrel microbrewery located in a former steam plant.
Lore has it that on New Year’s Eve in 1895, the steam produced by the Village Power House provided both heat and electricity — then considered luxury amenities — to The Holly Inn’s first guests.
The plant was shuttered in the 1990s and headed toward demolition. The plant, though, received by a full renovation by Pinehurst Resort. The new look, which maintains the original facade, will include an observation platform overlooking the brewhouse, a dining room and bar, a beer garden and an all-seasons patio.
“For almost a century, the steam plant provided power to the Village. We hope this next incarnation of the building as the Pinehurst Brewing Company provides a surge of energy for the entire community,” said Tom Pashley, Pinehurst president.
The Pinehurst Brewing Company will operate in the historic building that still reflects its first use. Parts of the brewhouse’s walls remain blackened from the decades it housed massive steam boilers. The unique exterior brick corbeling – rarely seen in architecture today - is preserved, and the vintage arches and windows have been restored. Brick walls that have been standing for over 120 years give way to high ceilings, and the plant’s smokestack will be rebuilt using its original base, returning a lost but defining feature of the Village’s early landscape.
Portions of the plant have been renovated to include a smokehouse for the restaurant and a greenhouse for herbs, which could be used for both the restaurant and for brewing ingredients. A trellis designed to replicate the train track that brought coal into the plant covers seating outside. The trellis is supported by the same pylons that held the track in the early 1900s.
Beer will be brewed by Eric Mitchell, the former head brewer of Heist Brewery in Charlotte. One of the most highly regarded young brewers in the country, while at Heist Mitchell won recognition from the World Beer Cup and others. His IPA, Citraquench’l, consistently ranks among the Top 10 IPAs in the United States, and in February last year, fans braved the winter cold and camped out in line to be among the first to buy a new release of Mitchell’s bourbon barrel-aged stout, Cataclysm.
The brewery is among the most significant of recent additions to the Resort, which includes its new short course, The Cradle, and a redesign of Pinehurst No. 4 by noted golf architect Gil Hanse.