High Hops Brewery - The Honeyed One

The Honeyed One presents a richly colored reddish amber color in the glass, topped by a head of light beige foam. It’s quite a malty experience in the aroma which delivers loads of caramel and toffee along with a bready and lightly honeyed character. Amber ale can be a bit of a catch-all category, with some tending towards hop expression while the majority embrace a malt-forward approach. This one is certainly on the malty side as the hops stay more to the periphery, adding lightly woody and herbal tones to the deep malts. The bready side of the malt character really takes center stage in the flavor as the beer’s rich core explodes across the palate. The prominent use of honey malt delivers a characteristic dash of honey-like sweetness augmented by the rest of the malt bill to deliver big caramel, toffee, toasted bread crust, and significant depth and roundness. Hops add some contrasting herbal tones along with a low level of bitter bite which is augmented by the carbonation, a sturdy ABV, and a hint of tartness to add balance to this malty brew. For pairing options, we’d steer toward roasted pork and fowl, meat pies, mac & cheese, creamy risottos, grilled sausages, pizzas, and rich stews. Fresh and warm soft pretzels with sweet mustard sound really good too. Cheers!

Among all the breweries we’ve featured in the club over the last almost three decades, High Hops Brewery is unique, being located inside a garden center. While that may seem odd at first, it all makes sense given the path the founders took to get where they are today. It all started in 1991 when Pat and Amanda Weakland opened a small seasonal greenhouse known as Plant-A-Scape in Windsor, CO. In 2001, the business expanded into a garden center known as The Windsor Gardener. Then, fatefully, in 2007 a national hop shortage spurred Pat – a homebrewer – into planting his own hop farm on the 15-acre property, boasting 14 different varieties. Why worry about finding hops to buy when you can simply grow your own? The hop farm led to the establishment of a homebrew supply shop, which morphed into an actual 10-barrel brewery and a 6-tap tasting room. Opening in October of 2012, High Hops (perhaps the greatest name possible for a Colorado hop farm turned brewery) hit the ground running and quickly added a bottling line, beer garden, and ultimately a canning line.

Today, High Hops has matured into a 30-barrel brewery with 40 taps, and they’ve taken home a coveted GABF Gold Medal (for a gluten-free sour ale). They produce several year-round brews as well as a rotating selection of seasonals. Additionally, in 2018 they opened The Heart Distillery, which produces a line of gin, whiskey, rum, vodka, and absinthe which have won a large multitude of awards, including Double Platinum & Best in Category at the 2022 ASCOT Awards for their 123-proof cask strength Small Batch Bourbon. Hard seltzers and canned cocktails have followed. And, it’s all a family affair as Pat and Amanda’s grown children are also key figures in the trio of businesses, with son Zach serving as head brewer/distiller and daughter Rachel handling bookkeeping and marketing. For more info on High Hops Brewery and this dynamic family enterprise, check them out at www.highhopsbrewery.com.