PERSONALITIES: Manchester man hits the trails; Proceeds from Open Trail craft beer go to conservation groups

Feb. 4—MANCHESTER — Maxwell "Max" Dougan has always loved the outdoors, playing in the woods in back of his childhood home that used to border Shady Glen Restaurant and Ice Cream Parlor on East Middle Turnpike. That is, until a life changing event happened at the age of 10.

"Our backyard went to a forest and then when I was 10 years old, they blew it up with dynamite," Dougan said. "Then they built the neighborhood back there. That was an abrupt change for me to understand."

MAX DOUGAN

Who he is: Part of Urban Lodge Brewing Company.

Hometown: Manchester.

Accomplishment: Parlayed his reverence for the outdoors with crafting "Open Trail" beer, a New England Pale Ale. Proceeds are donated to conservation nonprofits.

Dougan grew up in Manchester, playing baseball and going hunting and fishing.

Upon graduating from high school, he said, he had the initial idea of becoming a history teacher, but that quickly changed after getting a job at Woodland Gardens, a garden center at 168 Woodland St.

"I worked in greenhouses for five years and that was very enjoyable," he said. "Great family to work for."

He said he worked there for about five years before he and his wife decided to give the West Coast a try, moving to Washington, where they stayed for a couple of years, where Dougan focused on a different type of horticulture.

"I took care of recreational marijuana plants," he said. For a second job, he worked on a college campus as a grounds maintenance crewmember.

"I love to be outside to work with my hands and to see the start and finish of a physical product, something that you have in front of you and you can see," he said. "It brings people joy, which was another great aspect of that job. You're beatifying the town with all of your efforts."

In 2019, Dougan said, he was contacted by a friend of his, Ryan Fagan, who offered him a job on the ground floor in his new beer-making venture.

"We planned on moving back," he said. "They were building out our original brewery on Purnell Place in downtown Manchester."

Dougan said he loved the idea of joining what would become Urban Lodge Brewing Company.

"He took me under his wing," he said of Fagan. "That was about three, three-and-a-half years ago."

Fagan had been home brewing his own beer, Dougan said, but hadn't done anything this expansive.

"It was great to learn together with him because he had home-brewed for so long and had a great understanding of the principles of brewing," Dougan said. "Then he was dropped into this commercial system, which has such larger implications and is so much more involved. In some ways he relearned everything along the way, but he was still the mentor in this relationship. I love learning new things. When I'm committed to figuring something out, it's a great joy for me to think critically and problem solve."

Success came quick in the last three years and Urban Lodge Brewing has expanded its space from its Purnell Place location to add a larger brewing facility at 2B Progress Drive, expanding production from about 15 kegs of beer a week to 50.

"That's a number to be determined by the market," he said. "You can't just say you're going to brew a certain amount."

"We outgrew that system and we outgrew that space because of demand, even through COVID, which was amazing," Dougan said.

"This is our next step. This is four times bigger than what we have been producing on."

He said they are working on a second location for customers to visit on Pratt Street in Hartford, scheduled to open this spring.

At their Purnell Place location, he said, they keep about 14 beers on tap.

"Over time we've brewed way more than that," he said. "We try to work in some variety while still maintaining your staples that people love and come back for.

"That's a big part of this industry, constantly trying to develop new things, keep people intrigued, keep the interest peaked."

With the success of Urban Lodge, Dougan has been able to direct some of the profits through charitable donations to organizations that support land preservation, something that is dear to him.

"We created a beer called Open Trail," he said. "Open Trail is a New England Pale Ale. It's one of our, if not most popular beers. It's very drinkable. It's very approachable, just a little over 5% in alcohol, so nothing crazy. The hop profile is not over the top, so even people that don't love hoppy beers, they usually get along with something like Open Trail.

"What we decided with it was to essentially keep a portion of proceeds in all sales of Open Trail and donate it through a number of different avenues," he said.

"The main thing being, every quarter we'll choose one or two conservation organizations or outdoor communities and we will donate to them directly," he said.

To bring awareness and to help generate funds for these organizations, Dougan said that Urban Lodge holds events throughout the year, including Pint Nights, about four times a year.

"We'll host a conservation organization to come in, they can table at the event, invite their members, and we'll donate 20% of proceeds from the night," he said.

"Those are extremely fun. Then there's even bigger events, such as Beers and Barbecue, which was a great time. We got about 120 people there, served our beer, served some great food from Chef Corey Rye at The Hollow. It was a wonderful time."

The Beer and Barbecue event raised $2,700 for the Manchester Land Trust.

"Open Trail is sort of my baby, my bread and butter," Dougan said. "I am a lover of the outdoors and hunting and fishing and hiking. This is what I see as our most natural way to give back to our community, no pun intended."

Other events Urban Lodge intends to host this year include an Earth Day event with $5 pints of Open Trail.

"September 1st is the start of Public Lands Month," Dougan said. "That's another day I like to point out to people."

Dougan said he would love to see Open Trail grow as a part of Urban Lodge and become a larger part of the community.

"I feel that as time goes on, younger generations are going to probably put more emphasis on that, they'll understand that supporting people who are choosing to make some sort of effort to give back is important," he said. "I definitely feel that the growth of Open Trail is something that's important to me."

For coverage of local restaurants, cultural events, music, and an extensive range of Connecticut theater reviews, follow Tim Leininger on Twitter: @Tim_E_Leininger, Facebook: Tim Leininger's Journal Inquirer News page, and Instagram: @One_Mans_Opinion77.