Archive record · Brewery
Half Hitch Brewing Company
Cochrane, Alberta, Canada
- Founded
- 2016
- Archive ID
- TB-76C1C16R
- Last checked
- Not yet checked
Who owns this brewery?
Independent ownership is recorded. No parent company is held in the archive.
From the record
Summary
⚠ The Alberta compendium reports this brewery as having entered receivership and ceased operations. That does not check out: the website, listings and check-in activity are all current as of 2026. Recorded as ACTIVE. Family owned and operated by the Heier and Kozloski families.
A summary written during research. The sourced facts are in the sections below.
Tally’s Take
A family operation in Cochrane — the Heier and Kozloski families — sitting between Calgary and the mountains on the road everyone takes to Banff.
Ownership & corporate history
- Founded by Chris HeierDate unknown
What the sources say
Resolves held claim HOC-0315 ("undefined"). Co-founder and President; the family business idea began at a Sunday dinner in 2011. No date asserted — sources disagree on when the brewery actually opened.
- Founded by Kyle HeierDate unknown
What the sources say
Resolves held claim HOC-0315 ("undefined"). Co-founder and CEO.
- Owned by Heier and Kozloski familiesDate unknown
What the sources say
Resolves held claim HOC-0315 ("undefined"). The 'names unresolved' family now has names: family owned and operated by the Heier and Kozloski families, with parents Lisa (Kozloski) Heier and Michael Heier as major shareholders. The compound is the source's wording, kept whole.
Ownership history is kept as dated events, so a change of owner never overwrites the one before it.
Where it brewed
- Unit 1, 10 Griffin Industrial Point2016-Cochrane, Alberta
BREWERY / RESTAURANT / TAPROOM
Operated by Half Hitch Brewing Company
Site detail
Current family brewery/restaurant; onsite brewing corroborated by Cochrane Tourism.
Where it is
51.18352, -114.45367
Supplied by the research pass; method not recorded
Open on a mapEvents
- Half Hitch opens in Cochrane2016
Opening
The Museum
Timeline
- 2013Half Hitch opens in Cochrane
Family (Chris as co-founder and president) opened Half Hitch in Cochrane. Source says 2013; record says 2016. See the disputed founding-year claim. Source: "With Chris at the helm as Co-Founder and President, in 2013, the family opened Half Hitch in Cochrane."
- 2020Opens The Mash restaurant
Opened The Mash, a pizza restaurant using spent brewery grain. Source: "In 2020, they answered a new call to adventure."
The People
Behind the beer
Cochrane Tourism identifies Chris Heier as co-founder and President of the family brewery.
The Beer Library
Beers
Farmer's Daughter
Year-RoundUNKNOWN
Cochrane Tourism identifies it among the regular onsite-brewed line. (CURRENT / CORE) [Canada Pass 44]
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Shotgun Wedding
Year-RoundUNKNOWN
Cochrane Tourism identifies it among the regular onsite-brewed line. (CURRENT / CORE) [Canada Pass 44]
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Farmer's Daughter Pale Ale
American Pale Ale
Cochrane Tourism identifies onsite brewed core beer; Alberta brewery database provides ABV. (CURRENT/HISTORICAL LINEAGE) [Canada Pass 102]
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Fire N' Fury
Amber / Red Ale
Cochrane Tourism identifies core beer; Alberta brewery database provides ABV. (CURRENT/HISTORICAL LINEAGE) [Canada Pass 102]
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Papa Bear Prairie Ale
Kölsch
Cochrane Tourism identifies core beer and charity program; Alberta brewery database provides ABV. (CURRENT/HISTORICAL LINEAGE) [Canada Pass 102]
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Travel Guide
Plan a visit
- Taproom
- Restaurant
On the record
Awards
- 2018
Gold — Canadian Cereal Beer — Papa Bear Prairie Ale
Alberta Beer Awards
Only awards we could attribute to a named body and year appear here. An empty section means unresearched, not unawarded.
What the archive does not know yet
Open questions
- UnknownmediaWebsite not established. On 2026-10-01 halfhitchbrewing.com redirected to a domain-for-sale page, while halfhitchbrewing.ca was live with daily hours and an event dated 2 October 2026. Which is the brewery's own is not recorded, and no status change follows from the lapsed domain.
- DisputedfoundedFounding year DISPUTED. This record gives 2016. Cochrane Tourism says "in 2013, the family opened Half Hitch in Cochrane." Neither year is chosen.
Know the answer? Write to [email protected] with a source, and the record is corrected and credited to you.
Show your working
Sources
- mediaUnknown
Website not established. On 2026-10-01 halfhitchbrewing.com redirected to a domain-for-sale page, while halfhitchbrewing.ca was live with daily hours and an event dated 2 October 2026. Which is the brewery's own is not recorded, and no status change follows from the lapsed domain.
Half Hitch Brewing — Official site
BreweryMedium reliabilitySource accessed 2026-08-23Brewery-statedClaim last checked 2026-10-01 - mediaConfirmed
Website: halfhitchbrewing.ca. Checked 2026-10-02: the site is live with hours "11:00 am – 10:00 pm Every Day", promotes Cochrane Oktoberfest 2026 on Friday 2 October, and calls Half Hitch "a family-owned and operated brewery"; halfhitchbrewing.com is a parked domain offered for sale. This settles the Unknown website claim of 2026-10-01 and is evidence the brewery is open; no website field is written.
Half Hitch Brewing — Official site
BreweryMedium reliabilitySource accessed 2026-08-23Brewery-statedClaim last checked 2026-10-02 - foundedDisputed
Founding year DISPUTED. This record gives 2016. Cochrane Tourism says "in 2013, the family opened Half Hitch in Cochrane." Neither year is chosen.
Tourism for Good: Half Hitch Brewery · Cochrane Tourism
Secondary reliabilitySource accessed 2026-09-08Claim last checked 2026-10-02
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 Half Hitch Brewing Company
- Who owns Half Hitch Brewing Company?
- Half Hitch Brewing Company is independently owned — there is no parent company above it on record. It is based in Cochrane, Canada.
- Is Half Hitch Brewing Company independent?
- Yes. Half Hitch 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 Half Hitch Brewing Company founded?
- Half Hitch Brewing Company was founded in 2016 in Cochrane, Canada.
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