Masters of the IPAiverse: Thin Man Brewery, Other Half Brew Up Hoppy Treat

Introducing Dollar Slice Satellite

It was inevitable really. Buffalo’s Thin Man Brewery and Bloomfield’s Other Half Brewing, two of the top (if not the top two) IPA producers in Western New York, have finally joined forces to brew, what else, a Double IPA brimming with bounteous amounts of hops. Seriously though, what else would you expect of these preeminent purveyors of hoppy liquid? The beer, Dollar Slice Satellite, is a hazy Imperial IPA packed with Simcoe, Belma, Motueka and Hallertau Blanc hops, and was brewed as homage to the pizza satellite dish above the old Casa Di Pizza across from Thin Man’s Elmwood location. Dollar Slice Satellite was brewed in Bloomfield at Other Half’s facility.

Dollar Slice Satellite will be available at Other Half Bloomfield (cans, draft) at noon on March 13 and then at Thin Man Elmwood (11am) and Thin Man Transit (12pm) on March 14 (cans, draft). Thin Man will have approximately 30 cases of cans at each location.

Thin Man Head Brewer Rudy Watkins says that the hoppy collab had been worked on and discussed for some time, and once the stars and planets finally aligned, the busy brewers were able to finally get together and brew up something special.

“We’ve known the folks at OH for a while and had been talking about this for some time, but schedules finally aligned & we were able to get this in the tanks,” Watkins says. “Obviously we’re excited to brew a beer with some of the forefathers of hazy IPA.  It was great to see their brewhouse up close & discuss beer in 2020!”

Inside the brewhouse with Thin Man & Other Half

Other Half COO Andrew Burman calls Dollar Slice Satellite a ‘cute beer,’ and adds that the decision to brew an imperial IPA was made after some consternation between the two breweries. They ultimately went with the style because it falls in each brewery’s wheelhouse.

“Dollar Slice Satellite is one of the cuter beers we’ve had fun with. Those guys at Thin Man are just so great. They are known for a lot of styles of beers, as are we, but I think people just gravitate towards Double IPAs and we wanted to do something that both breweries brew well. We had talked about maybe doing a Berliner [Weisse] or something different, but we ended up feeling that this beer would be the best thing for everybody.”

“In terms of styles, IPA or IIPA seemed to be the obvious choice to brew,” Thin Man Brand Ambassador Mike Shatzel adds. He adds that getting the chance to brew with Other Half was a ‘huge opportunity and experience’ for Thin Man. “Brewing with one of the biggest names In craft beer, not only in the US but the whole world, is a huge step forward for Thin Man.”

Dollar Slice Satellite joins a potent stable of Double / Imperial IPAs from each brewery, including Bliss, one of Thin Man’s core beers, as well as Dank You Easter Bunny and Up Up To the Sky, a collab with Interboro Spirits & Ales and, on the Other Half side, Space Daydream, Space Hallucinations, Vapor Ringz, Citra + Mosaic and High Brightness, just to name a few.

Other Half’s Bloomfield taproom

“Discussions on this happening have been going on quite a while between me and the 3 owners of Other Half,” Shatzel adds. “Over the past few years, I’ve gotten to know & spend some time over pints with Matt Monahan, Sam Richardson and Andrew Burman through many trips to Brooklyn to grab kegs for Moor Pat, ABV and Colter Bay. We also spent a lot of time with the OH crew in Buffalo during the various can releases Other Half held at my locations. Once Thin Man came to fruition, Other Half certainly became one of the big names we hoped to brew with. The Shelton Fest in Buffalo really amped those talks up and we finally figured out a date that would work for both breweries.”

Burman reiterates the long-standing friendship between the breweries, adding that Dollar Slice Satellite is really a beer born out of that relationship Thin Man and Other Half have shared for some time.

“We’ve been friends with Mike for a long time and we [have been] wanting to get together,” Burman says. “Mike has been one of our biggest supporters. I remember seeing him at one of our early anniversary parties before he even had Thin Man and he was always a supporter of us. Before we even started sending kegs of our beer to Western New York, he was always driving down to [Brooklyn] to get them and when we started doing our mobile cans sales, he was one of the first ones we ever worked with.”

If you think that Dollar Slice Satellite is the last we hear from the OH/TM hive mind, you are dead wrong as Burman has already confirmed plans to make the trip to Buffalo and brew another beer together in the coming months, this time at Thin Man.

The new batch of Thin Man’s Diplomatic Immunity IPA

“We are really excited for the release and hope to see a bunch of Western New York beer lovers coming to try it,” Shatzel adds.

In addition to Dollar Slice Satellite, Thin Man will also have fresh cans of a new batch of their Diplomatic Immunity IPA. I had the chance to sample the beer recently and consider it superior to the original batch; noticeably brighter and fruitier with notes of pink grapefruit and citrus capped off by a pleasant, smooth finish. If the first batch turned you off, might I suggest trying it again.

For more information on Dollar Slice Satellite, click here.

Brian Campbell is a co-founder/Brand Manager of the BNBA’s enthusiast arm, Buffalo Beer League, and writes the weekly Buffalo Beer Buzz column. If you have beer news that should be included in the Beer Buzz, Brian can be reached at buffalobeerleague@aol.com, on Twitter (@buffbeerleague), Instagram (@buffalobeerleague), Facebook (@thebuffalobeerleague) and www.buffalobeerleague.com.