High Wire Hops

David Warren 

Farm Owner & Manager

In the spring of 2011, David broke ground and planted an acre of hops on some beautiful river bottom soil that had been in pasture for decades. Each spring since then, he has planted an additional 2 1/2 acres. For the 2016 season, 8 acres will be in production.

David has over 14 years of growing experience. He owned and operated a successful organic medicinal herb farm for four years and grew more than 25 different Western and Chinese botanicals. The majority of herbs were sold fresh and shipped to both small and large scale extract manufacturers throughout the country. In addition, David has worked on a number of organic vegetable and herb farms in Washington, Oregon and Colorado.

Hal Brill 

Investor & Advisor

Hal is the Founding Partner of Natural Investments LLC, a national investment advisory firm registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He is the co-author of 2 books, “The Resilient Investor: A Plan for your Life, Not Just your Money“(2015) and “Investing with Your Values: Making Money and Making a Difference”, (1999). He and his wife Allison Elliot developed Paonia’s only “green neighborhood”, with over 20 home sites and common land protected with conservation easements.

We Enjoy Drinking Colorado Craft Beer And Good Conversation

The idea to start a hop farm came about around a poker table during the winter of 2010. Our group of good friends had been gathering for years. Sure, we liked playing cards, but what we enjoyed most was drinking Colorado craft beer and good conversation…

We were a fortunate group. We lived in a beautiful state with over 100 craft breweries. No other state could even come close to boasting such impressive numbers. And as if that wasn’t good enough, about a dozen new breweries were opening each year. At some point during the evening the conversation shifted from beer to agriculture, which our valley was well known for. One of our friends was a specialty crop extension agent with Colorado State University. He had been conducting hops growing trials at CSU’s research station in our valley for a number of years. His story was impressive. A handful of varieties grew well and Colorado brewers were using them in their recipes. In addition, many of the state’s breweries were surveyed to gauge their interest in purchasing Colorado grown hops. The majority said they wanted to support local growers and were willing to pay a premium for quality hops.

Planting hops at High Wire Hops Farm

A seed was planted. I was an experienced grower looking for a new venture. Two close friends had a beautiful piece of agricultural land with fertile, river bottom soil, senior water rights and sweeping views of the West Elk mountains. The following spring we planted an acre to assess the viability. The results were encouraging. The plants were healthy, vibrant and grew incredibly well.

We’re pleased to announce that for the 2017 season we will have 8 acres in production and four hop varieties available.