After immigrating to the United States in 1851, he lived in Philadelphia, Cincinnati, St. Louis, and Sacramento before settling in the Portland area.

Born in the Kingdom of Württemberg (now part of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany),[1] Weinhard was raised in Lindenbronn, and later moved to nearby Stuttgart, where he was an apprentice in the brewing trade.

[2] In 1856, Weinhard moved to California and settled briefly, in Sacramento  next year in March, he relocated to Vancouver in the Washington Territory, where he began working at a brewery owned by John Meunich; and, helped him construct a new brewery.

[1][2] Weinhard worked there for six months, and; then, founded a brewery with George Bottler,[3] across the Columbia River in Portland, Oregon.

[1] That year he also moved permanently to Portland;[2] he sold his Vancouver operations in 1864 and bought out Bottler of his share of the business in 1866.