Blue 5 and Devils Backbone Brewing To Create A Delicious Downtown Beer Garden This Saturday
First, Blue 5 Restaurant expanded their almost completely craft beer selection from sixteen to a mouth watering forty six taps on hand. This was almost immediately followed by bringing in some of the most buzz worthy craft beer from across the country, such as Avery’s Maharaja Imperial IPA and annual releases like Foothills’ Sexual Chocolate stout. So what’s next on the chalkboard of beer related projects for the restaurant? Did someone say “beer garden”?
Yes, this Saturday, April 21st, Blue 5 will create, in the words of manager Chris Coleman, a “pseudo” outdoor beer garden which will coincide with the second annual Roanoke Twilight Criterium bike race, once again running through the streets of downtown. According to Coleman, it will be located directly in front of the restaurant, from which turn one in the .60 mile race will be easily within sight. Making the event even more enticing, race sponsor and regional brewery Devils Backbone (Nelson, Rockbridge Counties) will be the featured brewery. Along with their popular Vienna lager, the brewery is apparently bringing a few of their other fine brews, none have appeared in Roanoke so far. The list includes their Gold Leaf lager, Maibock, White Stag IPA, and possible first choice for their upcoming “Trailblazer” limited release series, their delicious Begian Congo pale ale.
While the thought of bike races and beer gardens may cause visions of a vacation abroad, if you live in or near Roanoke, you only have to make it down to the corner of Kirk Avenue and Second Street on Saturday to enjoy both. The former will hopefully be another success for downtown Roanoke, as last year’s event was. The latter sounds like it will be the latest in a series of trademark events for Blue 5, which are solidifying the restaurant’s reputation as a craft beer destination. Of course, on Saturday, you may be less interested in their reputation than the fact that there’s simply going to be quite a bit of darn good craft beer there. As I mentioned before…did someone say “beer garden”?
Check out the Devils Backbone Brewing Company main site here
The Beer Road 