It is part of Anheuser-Busch InBev, a holdings company based in Leuven, Belgium, which owns over 400 beer brands globally.

The brewery was founded in 1820 by Alexander Keith who had immigrated from Scotland three years previously.

[2] Since 1928, parent companies kept the brand alive, and by the 1990s Alexander Keith's India Pale Ale (IPA) was the most popular beer in Nova Scotia.

Archived recipes for beer made by the Alexander Keith's Brewery in the early 1900s show high levels of hopping, with large all-malt mash ingredients and no use of corn, typical for beers of that time.

[4] In contrast, the modern beer marketed as Alexander Keith's IPA is only 5% alcohol by volume and lightly hopped, which does not meet the accepted criteria for an India pale ale.