The building was the Salvation Army's first permanent temple in Halifax, and was constructed on the site of the Mackenzie Temperance Reform Club, a group that promoted abstinence from alcohol.

[citation needed] Bands who have played the Alehouse include Satori, The Frequency, Shameless, Ten Mile House, Kapyr (10 years of Wednesdays), The Persuaders, The Morning After, "The Legendary" Frankie Deuce, Frisky Biscuit, UP, Green with Envy, Merimac.

[citation needed] The Halifax Alehouse is owned by Michel and Marcel Khoury, while Peter Zed is the recognized agent of the business under Nova Scotian law.

[3] The Halifax Alehouse was the subject of a human rights complaint in relation to a 2010 incident in which a 32-year-old black patron, Dino Gilpin, was asked to leave after the bar refused to accept his citizenship card as a valid form of identification for the purpose of purchasing an alcoholic drink.

[6] Following a December 2022 homicide (see below), The Coast reported on a man who said he was beaten by multiple Halifax Alehouse staff on 25 June 2022 in the venue's back stairwell, out of view of other patrons, after being escorted out of the bar by three bouncers.

[8][9] A notice of action filed against the Alehouse in relation to this incident alleged that multiple bouncers inflected physical injury and psychological trauma on the man.

[14] A complaint filed on 25 December 2022 with the provincial Alcohol, Gaming, Fuel and Tobacco Division alleged that staff of the Halifax Alehouse have been, for the past several years, "overly eager to resort to violence".

[15] CBC News reported that Nova Scotia justice minister Brad Johns requested a review of the regulations governing bar security following the death of Ryan Sawyer.

Service Nova Scotia minister Colton LeBlanc, who oversees the Alcohol, Gaming, Fuel and Tobacco Division, stated, "we've taken the acts of violence that we've seen very seriously".