Beer and pizza. For many, it’s the perfect marriage. Just ask the team at Half Hitch Brewing Company. A business that started out as a brewery, and one that has evolved and grown through its craft beer and pizza operation, the Mash. With close to ten sites open by the end of 2022, that’s just the start.

Calgary loves its beer. Since Alberta’s craft beer golden age started a little under a decade ago, the city has seen the opening of dozens of breweries, turning beer drinking into a bit of a local sport. Craft beer enthusiasts love to applaud the “grain-to-glass” philosophy, celebrating the use of local grains in beer production. Beer, quite obviously, contains the essence of grain without any actual cereal solids, but those solids have to end up somewhere.

This will be the fourth YYC location and sixth in Alberta. The Mash is growing quickly with one also in Airdrie and one recently opened in St. Albert. Integrated with Half Hitch Brewing, this newest location is opening this Friday on Calgary’s iconic 17th Avenue. Originally announced back in January for a March opening, this long-awaited outpost is finally opening Friday, August 19.

This will be the fourth YYC location and sixth in Alberta. The Mash is growing quickly with one also in Airdrie and one recently opened in St. Albert. Integrated with Half Hitch Brewing, this newest location is opening this Friday on Calgary’s iconic 17th Avenue. Originally announced back in January for a March opening, this long-awaited outpost is finally opening Friday, August 19.

What started as Half Hitch Brewing Co. in 2016 has become a regional chain that will have more locations by the end of the summer. Pizzas here are cooked with the grains left over from beer production. Options include the familiar, such as pepperoni and wild mushroom, and the eccentric, such as Nashville hot chicken or dill pickle and bacon. Open Monday through Wednesday, 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., and Thursday through Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Pizzas from about $12; beer from about $5 for 16 ounces.

But while brainstorming with his dad (also a brewery co-founder), Heier began to think about the compelling combination of beer and pizza. An on-site restaurant at Half Hitch Brewery was already operating, and staff had been experimenting with dishes made with spent grain. Heier decided to incorporate the ingredient into pizza dough. Three years later, Half Hitch owns two pizza parlours called The Mash, one in Airdrie and another in Calgary’s Kensington neighbourhood. Both restaurants opened during the pandemic and have been busy ever since, with a third location planned for Calgary’s Mahogany district.

Another favourite on 17th Avenue is a crowd-pleasing craft-beer hall that churns out one of the most beloved and odd pizzas you’ll encounter. The dill pickle and bacon pie ($18.75 for 10 inches; $27.50 for 14 inches) is wildly popular in Calgary. The crust is the key to the pizza’s distinctiveness. It’s made with upcycled spent grain from the beer distillation process.