Tuesday 24th of December 2013 09:07:33 PM

link
Incredible traditional Bavarian Lagers, and the other beers are just as good. The Vienna Lager and the 4 Point are awesome. Probably the best of all is the Smoke Haus Lager. All of these beers are awesome.
The food is a great rendition of German hunting lodge style grub. Friendly pub environment, with knowledgeable and appropriately attentive waitstaff. Bring your growlers. You will want several fills, such as the Baltic Porter, the Dark Abbey, the Wintergreen Weiss and Danzig Porter.

Monday 1st of October 2012 11:27:16 PM

link
Nelson County VA has a wonderful beer and wine trail following Route 151 along the eastern base of the Blue Ridge mountains. For craft beer hunters, there are four major stops including Blue Mountain Brewery, Wild Wolf Brewing, Devil's Backbone Basecamp, and Blue Mountain Barrel House. Along this 31 mile trail there is also Blue Toad Pub, Bold Rock Cidery, and several wineries. I highly recommend exploring this scenic region. A central figure on this trail in Roseland is the popular Devil's Backbone brewpub and event-oriented outdoor facility. The original Roseland location is affectionately called Basecamp, and Devil's Backbone newer site in Lexington is named Outpost, which is their larger production brewery and tasting room.

The name Devil's Backbone is a reference to the nearby Blue Ridge mountains. Cradled at the foot of the mountains, DB Basecamp has a rugged steep-roofed ski lodge architectural design. Visible from the main road, large windows display their 2-story copper and stainless steel brewing equipment. The facility is surrounded by green spaces which includes an outdoor music pavilion. DB is known to host many activities on their grounds, such as bike races and the Virginia Craft Brewers Fest. Upon entering, walk past the greeter's station to the 16 chair wooden and copper top bar. The building construction is all repurposed materials and the walls are adorned with a great variety of stuffed wildlife in active poses. Behind the bar are tall windows that look into the brewhouse. The bar area has several tables, and there is a separate dining room. The food menu is German and English inspired cuisine, a nice variety of entrees and sandwiches. They have 11 house brews on tap, and you can purchase in three-beer sampler flights. DB is respected as a masterful beer crafter, specializing in award winning German style lagers, and the Basecamp pilot brewery will also create experimental beers. Their offering includes Gold Leaf Lager, Tommy 2 Fists Dortmunder Lager, Vienna Lager, Ale of Fergus, Eight Point IPA, and Schwartz Bier. Their stronger and more flavorful beers include Azrael Belgian Golden Ale (8.0% abv), Black Rock Milk Stout, and fantastic Danzig Baltic Porter (8.9%). DB Basecamp is a must visit location.

Wednesday 15th of August 2012 12:33:23 PM

link
Devil’s Backbone is located at the bottom of a 12 mile stretch along Route 151 that includes three above average brewpubs / breweries (Blue Mountain, Wild Wolf and Devil’s Backbone), a beer bar (Blue Toad), a cidery and about half a dozen vineyards. The area is definitely worth a visit.

A dozen brews on tap, among them: Lager, Pale, Vienna, Wiess, IPA, Milk Stout, Wit and a “Techno Wiess Hybrid Sour”. The IPA and Milk Stout were excellent.

We did not eat, but the menu is expanded pub fare with a nod toward the British: fish & chips, bangers & mash, etc.

Interestingly, the entire structure was made from refurbished or local materials. The interior décor is dominated by dead, stuffed local critters.

Saturday 2nd of April 2011 01:38:51 PM

link
This was my second visit to Devil's Backbone. This is a superb brew pub. It is located a bit off the beaten trail but well worth the effort to get there. The Blue Ridge of Virginia provides the mountain scenery seen from the front porch of an impressive log building that serves as the brewery and brew pub. The beers are excellent and this is shown by their medals from the Great American Beer Festival. The food is great and the wait staff is cheerful and knowledgeable about the brew. A great place and well worth the time to visit.

Thursday 17th of September 2009 08:09:28 PM

link
Review is based on a single visit to the area. I was visiting that part of Virginia with the wife mainly to tour the vineyards. I was quite surprised when we were asking for dinner recommendations I was told about this place. Went there and had a ball. Great selection of beers. All draft. Had a big sampler to start. Liked most of the beers. Wheats and "weizens" (yes they had both) were ok, not steller. Others rocked. Full range of selections, with a couple of "unusual" for a brewpub styles. A Scottish 60 shilling was dead on, a pre-prohibition ale was interesting, their oatmeal stout was exceptional. Other more normal styles (IPA and DIPA) were also exceptional. Ended up getting a pint of their standard IPA, wife got their regular german style lager (they called it a Vienna lager.. closer to an O'fest but great IMHO).The menu had a good variety of choices. Lots of "pub" food choices, other higher end choices were available. Ended up ordering an in house made pizza with brewery grains rolled into the dough! Had a peach cobbler for dessert that was ridiculously good. It was mid-week so we got a lot of attention, but the place was still pretty busy. If I make it back to that area I wouldn't hesitate to stop in again..