HighSide Brewery

Amanda and Pat Weakland began their business journey in 1991 with Plant-A-Scape, a small, seasonal greenhouse in Windsor, Colorado. Both have a history in growing plants: Pat represents the third generation of growers in his family, and Amanda grew up helping on her family’s farm and has nurtured her love for gardening since then. The small Plant-A-Scape business is now The Windsor Gardener, home of High Hops Brewery. A growing beer culture in Northern Colorado caught the attention of Pat, who became interested in brewing his own beer. Before long, he started home-brewing every Sunday with his son, Zach. In 2006, a massive hop shortage created trouble for brewers everywhere, raising prices exponentially. Just a year later, the Weakland family planted their hop farm on-site at The Windsor Gardener to lessen the effects of the shortage. At one time, they were growing and selling 54 different varieties of hop plants in their garden center and across the US, with 14 varieties in their field to be used for beer production.