Last week BizSense brought its Hard Hat Happy Hour to Manchester for the first time, and among the merriment, some breaking news slipped out.

Michael Hild and Laura Dyer Hild, the husband-and-wife duo redeveloping the former Thalhimers department store at 1209 Hull St., announced the name and concept for the building’s commercial tenant: Dogtown Brewing Co.

Michael Hild said the brewpub will have around 20 beers on draft running straight from the tanks to the taps.

“We won’t have to use kegs … We want to have ultimate flexibility to brew all sorts of different styles of beer instead of pigeonholing ourselves into one type,” Hild said.

Dogtown will can some of its beers on a small scale but doesn’t have plans to distribute widely. Hild said the food menu is under development and will include “approachable, classic beer hall-type food.”

The top floors of the building are being converted into a dozen one-bedroom apartments, and the roof will feature added seating, where dim sum carts will make the rounds.

Hild said they’ll look to open Dogtown in late 2018 or early 2019.

The Hilds, through their Church Hill Ventures LLC, are among the most heavily invested developers in Manchester, having spent $4 million on around 30 properties in the neighborhood and the adjacent Swansboro section. Most of the duo’s holdings are along Hull Street.

Across from Dogtown Brewing, the Hilds are developing Butterbean Market and Cafe and Hot Diggity Donuts.

The Hilds have hired Daniel Scherotter from San Francisco as culinary director to oversee the food at all three ventures.

Campfire & Co. is handling interior design and branding for Dogtown Brewing, Butterbean and Hot Diggity. UrbanCore and Joseph F. Yates Architects have been tapped as the general contractor and designer, respectively.

The Hilds announced Dogtown in front of a crowd of more than 200 last Wednesday evening. Below you can enjoy some scenes from the evening: