Devils Backbone Brewing Company

One of my favorite breweries, out of the 20ish we’ve been to. Great beer and friendly people, we came 3 years ago when they weren’t quite as well know it’s been nice to see them grow. Beer tasted even better this time haha

Random location and just happened to be driving by on the way to Richmond. Grabbed a sample of everything they had and split with my sis. We really enjoyed them and the bartender was great.

We love the half price growler fill on Wednesdays, live music, Biergarten and especially the beer. Always interesting seasonal varieties on tap. Knowledgeable and friendly staff make it fun to sit at the bar, or bring your own food. It’s casual and not snooty, in fact my mother in law brought a mason jar with her white wine and no one minded.

GREAT food. GREAT beer. Wonderful atmosphere. Very welcoming. I will return as often as possible.

My husband, a friend and I visited Devil’s this last weekend, and we had a delightful time! Each of us had a flight so that sampling of everything was possible. All of the beers were enjoyable. A real standout for me was the Dark Abby. Absolutely delicious! Smooth and flavor-​packed. Definitely a «slow-​down-​and-​enjoy beer», as opposed to a «drinking» beer. Make sense? You can check out a bit more about Dark Abby at this link —
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We always wanted to stop here in our travels and made the time yesterday and glad we did. The brewery is a beautiful building and you can tell they put a lot of thought into the design. We took the tour of the brewery and our tour guide Claire was very friendly and informative. If you are looking for a detailed tour with lots of information about the DB beers then this is for you. We learned a ton and there was plenty of time for questions. Afterwards we got a flight of beers that were delicious and well priced. Will definitely come back.

Great tour! Claire was very detailed and gave lots of interesting facts — enjoyable even for this non beer drinker!

The atmosphere was nice and relaxed, bar tenders were pleasant, beer was great. There were a couple of TVs on for background entertainment/​keep tabs on sports. Apparently one can have food delivered there (2 men had dominoes delivered while we were there). It might be nice if they got a food truck because I could see wanting to hang out there with friends for a few hours.

If you like beer and don’t care about service, go for it.
I went there today with my boyfriend to grab a good lunch. My boyfriend had been there before and said the food was great so we made a day trip out of it. We went it and a lot had changed since he had been there. Mainly the venue. So we sat down and the waitress came up and said «do you have a beverage menu? What do you want?» We didn’t want to drink since it was lunch time and we had a long drive home so we simply said oh we aren’t getting any beer today and she clapped at us and said «okay so what do you want? Water, coke, what do you want?» She was literally frothing at the mouth. You could tell Labor Day had stressed her out, which I understand but don’t take it out on the customer.
Okay. I work in the food service too and I’m pretty sure you greet people nicely and tell them your name and ask what they would like to drink. We immediately left after we told her water. We weren’t going to pay a 30 – 40 dollar lunch for a rude woman as a server. I don’t get that bad of service at a McDonald’s. But I guess I’m mistaken. Is the location beautiful? Yes! Stunning! Is the beer good? I wouldn’t know we left. Is the food good? Well the last time my boyfriend went there he said it was amazing but the menu has changed now and also is very expensive. I was very disappointed that we didn’t get to eat there, we stopped at a small grocery store and got some food and headed home (2 hour drive back)

One of Virginia’s most awarded breweries shows off their stuff in a rustic, true to character atmosphere in a more easily accessible location off I-​81.
College towns have many distinctive characteristics, but Lexington sets itself apart from the crowd with a top-​notch production brewery. Like Terrapin in Athens (UGA) or Jolly Pumpkin in Ann Arbor (Michigan), Devil’s Backbone’s Outpost Brewery and Taproom sets a high bar for consistently quality lagers and ales. While the flagship Vienna Lager remains the start of the show and a big crowd pleaser, their seasonal and brewery-​only offerings keep locals like me coming back time and again.
It should be noted that the staff does a great job in providing events, big and small, to provide some variety. The annual hop harvest festival, live music on Friday nights, trivia, women’s events, and specialty cask tappings are some of the events to consider. While the space inside is limited, the big windows provide easy viewing of the brewing equipment and picnic tables and umbrellas outside provide a bit of a bier garden feel while allowing visitors to watch cars roll by on Route 11 while drinking in the view and their favorite selection, be it an honest pint or sampler paddle.
No prepared food is for sale, but there is a nice variety of Route 11 chips for purchase and you can always bring something in or have it delivered. Keep in mind, this is first and foremost a production brewery, so they don’t stay open late, but it is still a nice, relaxing place to meet friends or make new ones. You can fill up growlers of any of their rotating 8 – 10 taps and on Wednesday the growler fills are half price! Plenty of merchandise to purchase and cold six-​packs are available too. Regular tours (remember closed-​toe shoes) on the weekends bring in more visitors who might also be in town for the Virginia Horse Center or the two schools, Washington and Lee University or Virginia Military Institute.
Devil’s Backbone is a bit different than many other craft breweries in the fact that they feature a disproportionate amount of quality lagers. While the original brewpub and meadows in Nelson County really is a must visit, this Rockbridge County favorite is a bit easier to access and certainly worth a stop for any craft beer fan or soon-​to-​be convert.

The Vienna Lager is awesome! I almost got a sampler of just it. Great microbrew. Wish I lived closer so I could go back more often.

Great beers

This is mainly a brewing facility but also has a large tasting room. I love these BYOF concepts. You get the immediate feeling that you’re in the most storied Virginia brewery because of the formidable array of medals adorning the walls. The ceilings are super high because the space is meant mainly for brewing.
Good prices, delicious beers. I’m surprised this place doesn’t have over 100 review already.

I had a great time at this brewery! FYI ladies: not recommended to wear a dress (unless you are wearing shorts underneath) and please wear closed toed shoes guys and girls! This expanding brewery is a lot of fun! You can try 4 samples was like $ 5.45. You can bring your own food! Burger King was right up the street so that burger soaked up my beer just great. A Saturday tour doesn’t start until 2pm. The tour was very informative! I am happy they are successful and they are doing their craft brews! Well worth the trip to Lexington!

I’ve always loved DB and had to take a trip up to the brewery. As a normal Vienna lager drinker, I was surprised to see the wide variety of beer selection. The Dark abbey was excellent and of course their IPA never disappoints. I only wish they had some food to order, nothing big just something eat. But regardless awesome beer and friendly brewery!

I stopped at this brewery on the way up I-​81.
Inside is your standard taproom with a bar and several tables around.
As usual, I started out with a flight. The beer consists of various styles. I am not a Belgian fan but their Dark Abby is outstanding and enough to convert any of my red wine drinking friends to this beer. That was the only beer that was memorable to me that I tasted there. I ended up bringing home a 6-​pack which has been shared with friends who also loved it.
The knowledge of the two ladies behind the bar is what impressed me here. They know their beer and beer making processes. They are the ones that give the Saturday tours of the brewery.
They also sell 4-​packs of a collaboration beer with Green Flash of California. This is an India Pale Lager and this is worth taking home.
Thanks DB. I will be back for the Dark Abby and the hospitality on my trips through Virginia.

first time to visit the brewery i tried a flight of 4 beers recommended by the bartender. the lagers were both good, as was the striped bass, but the whisper biscuit was over the top. so good i picked up a growler to take home. will definitely be back.

Have had their beer before but never went to the brewery. Was excited to go until the bartender told me she couldn’t accept my license.
She tried to break it in half. Also I am 26 years old and have never had a problem with my driver’s license before. Being punished for being from a southern state with a palmetto tree in the background?
It might be a great brewery, but I’ll never know. Not trying to discourage anyone, just relaying that I had a very poor experience.

Good beer sampling in a nice facility. Indoor and outdoor seating opportunities make for a great place to hang out. Since you cant get food there, they allow for food to be brought in or deliveries from the outside. The beer is tasty and they have a wide variety to choose from to either drink there or fill your growler and go. A great stop in Lexington!

We took a bachelor party here of 10 people and it was a great time. Casey hooked us up we were on the back Bier Garden. When we came in the beer samplers were ready and they were super helpful in finding food to get delivered there. They have corn hole outback which is great. Views from the bier garden are excellent of the mountains.
Inside isn’t very large so something to think about if you come in the cold weather months. Can fit an RV in the parking lot.
Everyone raves about vienna lager but we raved about the dark abbey beer they had which was excellent. Nice to sample, but just go in and order the Abbey beer if you like dark beers.
Remember to bring growlers to fill up to take home. Take home prices aren’t bad if you have a growler to fill.
Thanks for taking care of us, great service.