Minkey Day at Thin Man celebrates WNY's favorite fruited sour

Buffalo-based brewery has garnered a huge following for its flagship sour and its seemingly never-ending string of collaborations

Update: Minkey Day has been moved and will now be held at Cole’s, 1104 Elmwood Ave. It'll take place on the back patio.

Note: This content is part of a paid sponsorship deal between Thin Man Brewery and the Cleveland Prost.

When it was released seven years ago, there was really no way to predict or expect Thin Man Brewery’s Minkey Boodle would become one of the most recognizable and iconic craft beer brands in western New York.

But the raspberry fruited sour not only became one of the Buffalo-based brewery’s most requested beers, it also became one of it’s best-selling ones. And now the sour with the goofy name, the one named after an obscure Space Ghost cartoon reference, has its own day.

The second annual Minkey Day is slated for noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 14. The ticketed event sold out last year and will surely be bigger, weirder, and tastier this year, especially since it’ll feature four new Minkey-inspired collaboration beers. (Tickets, which cost $45, are available online here. Don’t delay if you wanna attend!)

“Minkey Boodle, the amount of traction that brand has, it’s shocking to us,” said Thin Man brand manager Cameron Frank. “People are obsessed with Minkey Boodle. It has taken on a life of its own. I don’t think anyone at Thin Man ever anticipated the brand would pop off the way it did. Part of it probably has to do with the name itself. It’s just fun to say.”

Frank started as a busser at Thin Man’s original Elmwood Avenue location and has steadily worked his way up over the last 7.5 years. He pointed out that he began at the brewery about two weeks after it opened. So needless to say, he has seen the rise of Minkey Boodle. And that makes Minkey Day a complete no-brainer. It’s not an understatement to call Thin Man the kings of collaboration as they’ve worked with breweries from across the country and world. It’s almost easier to name breweries Thin Man hasn’t collaborated with.

Why do people love Minkey so much?

Minkey Boodle is just fun. People love to say the name and love to drink the beer. It’s not complicated at all. The tasting notes, according to the Thin Man website, “Our flagship sour ale brewed with a ridiculous amount of raspberries. Raspberries, raspberries, raspberries. More raspberries!” Again, it’s not complicated. It’s basically an imperial Berliner weisse. And unlike many modern or smoothie sours, Minkey finishes beautifully dry.

The name, like stated earlier, comes from Space Ghost. (“I’ve got a doodle in my noodle, and it’s name is Minkey Boodle, Minkey Boodle! Minkey Boodle! I got my mojo risin,’ there’s a poodle in my strudel. Minkey Boodle! Minkey Boodle!”) There doesn’t need to be any rhyme or reason to it, because it’s just a fun thing to say.

What Minkey variants are on tap this year?

Minkey Day started last year with three collaborative brews with the likes of Toronto’s Bellwoods Brewery, Other Half FLX, and Oklahoma-based Prairie Brewing. The beers included Boodle Berry Pie (Bellwoods collab with raspberry, blueberry, vanilla, and pie crust), Oodles of Boodles (Other Half collab with ice cream and toasted granola), and Minkey Stardust (Prairie collab with pink Starbursts).

Minkey Day was wildly successful last year, so it made complete sense to bring it back and it made even more sense to make it bigger this time around. This year’s edition kicks it up a notch as Thin Man is collaborating with four breweries — Grimm Artisan Ales (Brooklyn), RAR Brewing (Cambridge, Maryland), Tripping Animals Brewing (Miami, Florida), and Atrium Brewing (Louisville, Kentucky). Each of the new Minkey variants is a mashup of well-known sour series from the participating breweries. Stay tuned for more details on those. (They all, obviously, feature raspberry.)

And for the first time, the collaborative beers will be packaged and available for purchase to take home.

What does a ticket get you?

Tickets cost $45 each and $5 from each one sold will be donated to the American Cancer Society’s Real Men Wear Pink campaign. And it all coincides with Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It doesn’t hurt that Minkey Boodle is pink.

Attendees will get a special glass, as well as pours of each of the collabs. From noon to 1 p.m., there will be a Minkey-mosa bar featuring Buffalo’s favorite brunch-inspired concoction — Minkey Boodle and Champagne. Frank said there will also be a number of beers on draft from each of the participating collab breweries, many of which have never been poured in western New York.

In addition to the beverages, there will be live music for the duration of the event. Frank said there will also be raffles and prizes during the event.

And there’s a lot more planned and a lot more to be announced. Make sure to pay attention to Thin Man’s social media accounts for more details.

Note: This article is sponsored content. It came from a partnership between Thin Man and the Cleveland Prost.