Archive record · Brewery
Alley Kat Brewing Company
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
- Founded
- 1995
- Archive ID
- TB-AG314TQN
- Last checked
- 2026-08-07
Who owns this brewery?
Independent ownership is recorded. No parent company is held in the archive.
Tally Answers Beta
- Who owns this brewery?
- Zane Christensen and Cameron French (individuals)Verified
- Is this brewery independent?
- YesVerified
- Who ultimately owns this brewery?
- No parent; the brewery is independently ownedVerified
From the record
Summary
Edmonton's oldest craft brewery, known for the long-running 'Dragon Series' double IPAs and strong community ties.
A summary written during research. The sourced facts are in the sections below.
Tally’s Take
Edmonton's oldest craft brewery, and it got there by surviving the two decades when Alberta craft beer was not a thing anybody believed in.
The founding thesisEdmonton's oldest craft brewery — opened in 1995, two decades before Alberta had a craft scene to belong to, and still locally and independently owned.
Ownership & corporate history
- Owned by Neil Herbst1994 – 2020
Sources disagreeSources disagree — both are recorded below.
What the sources say
Official brewery states founder passed the brewery to Cameron French in 2020. Pass source id: SRC-CA-0019 Contested start date: 1995 and 1994 are both claimed for this relationship by different sources. Neither is asserted; the period is recorded as ending 2020. First-party 2020 sale announcement identifies Neil and Lavonne Herbst as selling founders/owners after 25 years.
- Owned by Lavonne Herbst1994 – 2020
Partly settledCurrent evidence supports this, but the record is not fully resolved.
What the sources say
First-party 2020 sale announcement identifies Neil and Lavonne Herbst as selling founders/owners after 25 years.
- Founded by Neil Herbst1995
What the sources say
Resolves held claim HOC-0001 ("Prior owner/founder"). Edmonton's first craft brewery, born 1995; Herbst founded it with then-business partner Richard Cholon (a research lead — no held claim exists for him) and later ran it with Lavonne Herbst.
- Owned by Cameron French2020
Open questionRecorded, not yet proven. It stays open until a source settles it.
What the sources say
Official brewery identifies Cameron French as current owner operator. Current first-party About page identifies Cameron French as Owner Operator and says founder Neil Herbst passed the torch in 2020 to keep Alley Kat locally and independently owned.
- Owned by Zane Christensen2020
Partly settledCurrent evidence supports this, but the record is not fully resolved.
What the sources say
First-party sale announcement states Zane Christensen and Cameron French assumed ownership in 2020. Current first-party page lists only Cameron French; exact end/transfer of Christensen interest remains UNKNOWN.
- Sold to Zane Christensen and Cameron FrenchFebruary 2020
What the sources say
Resolves held claim HOC-0001 ("Prior owner/founder"). February 2020: the Herbsts sold to two childhood friends from St. Albert, explicitly to keep Alley Kat independent and locally owned. Two named persons acting together — the pair is the source's own framing and is kept whole rather than split into two sales.
Ownership history is kept as dated events, so a change of owner never overwrites the one before it.
Where it is
53.49526, -113.48820
Supplied by the research pass; method not recorded
Open on a mapThe Museum
Timeline
- 1995Edmonton's first
Alley Kat opens on 60 Ave NW, becoming — and remaining — Edmonton's oldest craft brewery.
- 2019Brewery of the Year
Takes Brewery of the Year at the Alberta Craft Brewing Awards, 24 years in.
- 2020Passed on, not sold up
Founder Neil Herbst handed the brewery to Cameron French. The brewery's own wording: to ensure Edmonton's oldest craft brewery remained locally and independently owned.
The People
Behind the beer
Founded Alley Kat in 1995 and handed the brewery to Cameron French in 2020.
Took ownership in 2020, keeping Edmonton's oldest craft brewery locally owned.
First-party 2020 sale announcement identifies Neil and Lavonne as sellers/long-term owners.
First-party 2020 sale announcement says Christensen and French assumed ownership; current page now names only French.
Original co-founder with Neil Herbst; Lavonne Herbst later acquired his interest.
The Beer Library
Beers
Full Moon
Year-RoundAmerican Pale Ale
The long-running flagship.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Aprikat
Year-RoundApricot Wheat Ale
The beer most Edmontonians name first.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →New Moon
CURRENTTravel Guide
Plan a visit
- Dog friendly indoors and on the patio
- Brewery tours
- Food truck
- Outside food delivery allowed
- Board games
- Bike racks
- RV parking
- Family friendly
- Reservations
- Breastfeeding area
- Gender-inclusive bathrooms
One of the few Alberta taprooms with RV parking and indoor dogs — worth knowing if the trip is a camper trip.
On the record
Awards
- 2025
Silver — German & Belgian Wheat — Blood Orange Wit
Alberta Beer Awards
- 2025
Bronze — Double/Imperial IPA — Hazy Dragon 4.0
Alberta Beer Awards
- 2024
Gold — Best in Show — Pollinator
Alberta Beer Awards
- 2024
Gold — German and Belgian-Style Wheat Beer — My Name's Hefe
Alberta Beer Awards
- 2024
Bronze — Double/Imperial IPA — Hazy 3.0
Alberta Beer Awards
- 2024
Gold — Other Flavoured Beer — Pollinator
Alberta Beer Awards
Only awards we could attribute to a named body and year appear here. An empty section means unresearched, not unawarded.
Show your working
Sources
- foundedConfirmed
Alley Kat Brewing Company was founded in 1995 in Edmonton, Alberta.
Alley Kat Brewing — About · Alley Kat Brewing Company
BreweryMedium reliabilitySource accessed 2026-08-23Brewery-statedClaim last checked 2026-08-07 - peopleConfirmed
Neil and Lavonne Herbst sold Alley Kat Brewing Company to Zane Christensen and Cameron French in February 2020. The brewery's current About page names only Cameron French as owner-operator; whether Christensen still holds an interest is unknown.
PrimaryMedium reliabilitySource accessed 2026-08-14Claim last checked 2026-09-23
Only the claims above are sourced. Everything else on this page is the archive's own research and has not yet been tied to a document — which is worth knowing rather than hiding.
Straight answers
Common questions about Alley Kat Brewing Company
- Who owns Alley Kat Brewing Company?
- Alley Kat Brewing Company is independently owned — there is no parent company above it on record. It is based in Edmonton, Canada.
- Is Alley Kat Brewing Company independent?
- Yes. Alley Kat Brewing Company is recorded as independent, with no parent company. Independence is recorded as the brewery states it; where a stake is a minority holding or joint venture, this archive leaves it unmapped rather than calling it ownership.
- When was Alley Kat Brewing Company founded?
- Alley Kat Brewing Company was founded in 1995 in Edmonton, Canada.
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