Tourism for Good: Half Hitch Brewery

Half Hitch and The Mash: serving up sustainable beer and pizza

After a day of adventure, there’s nothing more satisfying than quality comfort food. Family-owned and operated Half Hitch Brewing Company is the perfect spot to quench your appetite. In addition to serving top-notch food and having a dog-friendly patio, this Cochrane brewery is also passionate about food sustainability. Let’s dive into their story.

A full-family affair

Half Hitch started after Chris Heier and his family began brainstorming ideas for a family business. When the idea of a microbrewery piqued everyone’s interest, Chris started homebrewing. 

“I didn’t want to make and present a consumer product to the public unless I could be sure I was offering something fantastic,” he says.

And fantastic it is. Many brewing awards later, Chris was confident enough in his product to launch it. With Chris at the helm as Co-Founder and President, in 2013, the family opened Half Hitch in Cochrane. 

In 2020, they answered a new call to adventure. Driven by a commitment to food waste reduction, they opened The Mash — a restaurant that serves artisanal pizza made from spent brewery grain. 

No grain wasted

Brewing beer naturally results in spent grain — but there are a lot of opportunities for reuse that support food sustainability. This is critical, considering that Canadians create 50 million tonnes of food waste every year, which equates to 2.1 million cars and 9.8 million tonnes of CO2.

On a global scale, the tourism industry contributes significantly to the 40% of annual food production wasted. For instance, “airlines incinerate or landfill approximately $4 billion worth of untouched food and beverages annually,” according to International Air Transport Association data cited in Travel Weekly.

The teams at Half Hitch and The Mash are committed to doing their part to tackle this issue. They’re contributing to the circular economy in food waste management. This involves redesigning systems to minimize waste by repurposing food by-products.

“Most of our spent grain waste goes into agriculture,” says Chris, who is involved with a Regenerative Agriculture Lab that’s also seeking ways to prevent food waste. “But we saw an opportunity to reuse it in our own operations. It adds a unique flavour and texture that’s not in your typical pizza.”

The Mash’s pizza also has naturally reduced gluten and carbohydrates. “There are some carbohydrates and gluten proteins left over, but the majority goes into actually producing the beer,” Chris says.

Made with care

Half Hitch is dedicated to producing high quality beer. With The Mash, they’ve brought that same commitment to quality to their pizzas. Hungry yet? Stop in at the Half Hitch Cochrane brewery for an awarding-winning beer and burger, and check out The Mash next time you’re in Calgary. 

Download the Explore Cochrane app and find other restaurants to try. Foodies, adventure awaits!