I love the Big Boss Taproom. The atmosphere is fantastic. They don't serve food, but let you bring yours (or order in), and they have couches and board games and free ping-pong, pool, darts, and shuffleboard. And of course the beer they make downstairs. They have five year-round beers and rotate the other every two months.
It's in Raleigh, right off 440, probably 30 minutes from Chapel Hill.
Also, I'll totally vouch for Highland's Gaelic Ale (and Oatmeal Porter) and Duck-Rabbit's Milk Stout. But both are farther away from Chapel Hill, so you wouldn't be able to see the breweries themselves unless you were coming in from the West on I-40.