What are your favorite summertime mood boosters? Do you love spending time outside, listening to music, and drinking craft beer? If so, you’re in luck! The Beerwerks Trail can provide all three, usually together! Most of our breweries boast outdoor spaces to sip your suds, and many offer chances to listen to live music. All of them, of course, stand out in the beer department. Don’t waste this perfect weather. Here’s a guide to patios, decks, beer gardens, and picnic spaces as well as breweries hosting live music this summer along the Beerwerks Trail!
Zone A
Zone A is located at the northern end of the Beerwerks Trail and includes the breweries in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County.
- Elkton Brewing Co has a nice porch and a patio space with a pavilion for shade. Each weekend, they host live music and a food truck on Friday and Saturday nights. Elkton Brewing won the 2023 Best of the Valley awards for Best Brewery and Best Live Music Venue.
- Cave Hill Farms Brewery’s outside seating area has tables with umbrellas and views of the farm and mountains. The Feedlot serves tasty bar food and has a kids’ menu. Catch live music on Fridays, Saturdays, and occasional Sundays.
- Pale Fire Brewing Co’s. 2000-square-foot industrial-style taproom opens onto a spacious patio. Come for live music each Saturday night, and music bingo on Thursdays. Pale Fire serves Za Spot Detroit-style pizza and welcomes outside food.
- Brothers Craft Brewing’s family-friendly covered patio is hung with string lights and served by regular local food trucks. Check the schedule for a wide variety of events including weekly live Bluegrass Sunday Jams.
- Restless Moons Brewing Company features big garage doors that open wide on warm days. There’s also a big beer garden with tables and string lights. There’s an onsite food truck, and guests may bring their own food. Check the schedule for live music.
- Three Notch’d Valley Collab House has an outside patio where you can sit to enjoy your beer, including each week’s new, small-batch brew. They also host live music – see social media for the schedule.
Zone B
Zone B is located at the center of the Beerwerks Trail and includes the breweries in Staunton, Waynesboro, and Augusta County.
- Queen City Brewing’s large patio is a laid-back space that’s convenient to Gypsy Hill Park and downtown Staunton. Acoustic open mic events happen on Wednesdays. Check the schedule for other live music. If you’re hungry, the brewery has bottomless popcorn, regular food trucks, and the option to order food to be delivered to the brewery.
- Redbeard Brewing Company has a beer garden behind the newly renovated taproom. This is the location of the Summer Concert Series, which brings area favorite bands to the stage along with food trucks every other weekend. Redbeard also hosts regular live Music in the Taproom sessions as well as Monday Music Bingo.
- Basic City Beer Co. has an extensive kid and pet-friendly outdoor seating area with picnic tables, umbrellas, and a grid of sparkling string lights. Order some pints and a Billy Pie brick-oven pizza and stay awhile. This space schedules live bands on Saturday nights. The new Foundry music venue brings monthly big-name concerts to Basic City.
- Seven Arrows Brewing’s outdoor seating ranges from open and shaded tables on the deck to seats around a fire pit and picnic tables in the graveled beer garden. Seven Arrows hosts live music each Saturday night in the taproom. If you have the urge to sing, stop by on a Tuesday night for the open mic session. Onsite Nobos Kitchen serves up lunch, dinner, and late-night fare emphasizing locally sourced ingredients.
- Stable Craft Brewing’s extensive outdoor space includes a shaded patio, picnic tables, and Adirondack chairs surrounding fire pits. Play lawn games, volleyball, and cornhole golf, or stroll the property for views of the mountains. Stable Craft’s Friday Night Love series combines live music and cider releases. Regular Saturday music events include live music and salsa dancing on the patio. Stable Craft also dishes up a chef-inspired menu with appetizers, sandwiches, salads, and entrees.
Zone C
Zone C is located at the southern end of the Beerwerks Trail and includes the breweries in Lexington and Rockbridge County.
- Rockbridge Vineyard & Brewery offers plenty of outdoor space with excellent views. Take a seat at one of the picnic tables or spread out your blankets and chairs. Enjoy live “Uncorked” music on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, and grab a snack of local cheeses from the tasting room or from a scheduled food truck.
- Devils Backbone Outpost Tap Room & Kitchen sits high on a hill, and you can’t beat the mountain views from the enormous deck. There’s even more outdoor space in the separate beer garden with picnic tables and umbrellas. The exceptional menu includes appetizers, salads, delicious burgers, sandwiches, and entrees as well as a menu for kids. Check the schedule for opportunities to catch live music!
- Great Valley Farm Brewery and Winery boasts incredible mountain views and lots of room for kids to run and have fun. Plan a picnic, or grab something from a Saturday food truck. Check the schedule for live music events.
- Heliotrope Brewery’s patio overlooks Lexington’s bustling Main Street. A second outdoor space includes picnic tables, string lights, and shade created by brick-walled buildings. This space hosts July’s weekly disc golf putting league. Heliotrope’s kitchen creates traditional and specialty pizzas, salads, and antipasto.
