Mortal Wombat IPA is a collaboration between Thin Man and Australia’s KAIJU Beer. (Photo courtesy of KAIJU!)

Thin Man’s Wombat Family, of which Trail By Wombat serves as the hazy patriarch, is set to welcome a new member to the fold. After the head of household was double dry hopped (Citra, Galaxy), passed out (Sleeping Wombat Imperial NEIPA (Good Word Brewing & Public House collab)), and taken to Belgium (Belgian Wombat) and Brooklyn (Trial By Wombat at the Behest of the Double Windsor), they now head Down Under with Mortal Wombat, a collaboration with KAIJU! Beer of Australia, the natural habitat of the wombat. The newest member of the family will be released on August 8 at all Thin Man locations in can and draft form (Chandler, 12pm, Elmwood, 11am, Transit, 12pm).

Mortal Wombat is dry hopped with Australian Galaxy and Enigma hops for notes of tropical fruit, bubblegum and white grape with low bitterness. It clocks in at a healthy 7% ABV.

“We’re incredibly excited to announce this next collaboration. From the other side of the globe, hails KAIJU! Beer, born and operating in South VIC, Australia, the home of the mighty wombat. We reached out to them to plan a new take on one of our own brews, Trial by Wombat,” the brewery says. “But what the hell is a Kaiju anyways? As they say, ‘Kaiju means ‘strange creature’ in Japanese – think Godzilla, Mothra, and all the baddies from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.’ So it seemed perfect to add our very own wombat to their roster of monsters.”

The virtual collaboration (thanks for being a total dick COVID-19) featured both Thin Man and KAIJU! Beer brewing Mortal Wombat at the same time on opposite ends of the planet. Yay for technology, right?

Thin Man’s Mortal Wombat can

Mortal Wombat stems from a chance meeting, over beer naturally, between KAIJU! owners Nat and Callum Reeves and Thin Man Ambassador Mike Shatzel in Brooklyn. After drinking their way through the borough, they decided that they must brew a beer together. Fast forward to pandemic times, and Mortal Wombat was brewed on a virtual plane.

KAIJU! Beer does a better job themselves explaining how this all came about, so I’ll just let them do it.

“Nat and Cal were in New York a couple of years ago, and after checking in on socials at a bar in Brooklyn, they got a call out of the blue from their old mate Dan Johnston, who had moved back to Canada after a few years working at Melbourne’s best craft beer venues,” the brewery explains on Instagram. “Dan was also in Brooklyn and they arranged to meet up later that day at a Thin Man tasting. Dan was mates with Mike from Thin Man and introduced him to Cal and Nat. They all got along really well and ended up spending the next couple of days checking out some of the more hype-worthy breweries of Brooklyn together. By the end of the trip, it was all but decided that someday a collaboration brew would have to happen between KAIJU! and Thin Man. Fast forward to 2020 and with the prospect of an in-person collaboration looking pretty unlikely for the foreseeable future, Mike suggested a virtual collaboration – both breweries would brew exactly the same beer at the same time. Cal loved the idea and Mortal Wombat was born.”

Photo courtesy of KAIJU!

And if one IPA isn’t enough, Thin Man is also releasing Listen Here Pal IPA, which highlights Riwaka hops. Listen Here Pale is full of dank pineapple, sweet orange and dark berry notes with a round finish.

***Listen to our WNY Brews podcast with Thin Man Head Brewer Rudy Watkins here.

For more information on Mortal Wombat or the release, click here. For more info on KAIJU! Beer, go here.

Brian Campbell is co-founder and Brand Manager of the 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), and Facebook (@thebuffalobeerleague).