2017 Orange Sunshine Release, New Blood & More!

There's a lot going on in IBW's underground bunker these days and we're excited to share almost all of it with you!

First and foremost, we are incredibly happy to welcome two new members to our little cult:

Jim Myers joins Wally as our second full-time sales representative. He brings with him years of experience of sales in the healthcare industry and is looking to make a shift to a life more satisfying slinging beers with our fine-feathered crew at IBW.

Mellow Lucas comes at us as a pony-tailed swiss army knife for IBW. Our accounts in the south and west suburbs will get to know Lucas quite well over the coming months as he is handling our suburban roll-out. Lucas will be managing suburban accounts and will also be in the field shaking babies and giving you fine people of suburban Chicago the first tastes of our healthy elixirs. In his spare time, Lucas is lending his brains and brawn to the brewery as our first for reals brewing assistant.

Please raise a glass and join us as we welcome these two fine gentleman!

We accept them! We accept them! One of us! Gooble! Gobble!

Next Tuesday, April 18th we're throwing our annual Orange Sunshine release party! Join us at the Paramount Room where we'll be pouring Orange Sunshine, a very rare keg of Acupulco Gold (100% brett fermented tropical beauty) and, of course, Paramount Room's house beer made by us, Jinx Remover, a brett pale ale.

Music will be provided by the lovely and talented The Columbines as well as a few other guests to be announced.

We'll be giving away shirts, stickers & buttons and making big plans for interplanetary mind streaking. For more information, hit up the Facebook event page. Don't miss this!!!


And for all of you lovely alcoholics that like to play the at-home version of the IBW game, we are releasing Sex Cult - a 6% tart farmhouse made with Huell Melon & Mandarina Bavarian hops - and Augustus Glooped - a thunderous 9% stout made with cocoa nibs and alderwood smoked sea salts - to stores this Friday. You can find them at all your usual spots, pretty much anywhere that sells good local beer (Beer Temple, Grand & Western, Binny's, Bottles & Cans, Bitter Pops, etc... you get the idea).

Alright friends, that's it for now. Get your affairs in order, Craft Beer Week is just around the corner.

See you on Tuesday!

Nabikhopf Released Today!

Today we're releasing the second installation in our 4-part Hopped-Up Farmhouse series, the always troublesome Nabikhopf.

Our mind-controlled slaves will be delivering Nabikhopf to the following stores today:

  • Bitter Pops
  • Bottles & Cans
  • Madison Vine Wines
  • Pleasant House Bakery
  • Noble Grape
  • Beer Temple
  • Warehouse Liquors
  • Vas Foremost Liquors
  • Binnys - River North
  • Binnys Marcey
  • Malloys Finest Naperville
  • Binnys Naperville
  • Binnys Downers Grove
  • Binnys - Glen Ellyn
  • The Beer Cellar

As you can see, we are expanding our distribution range to the suburbs. If you have a store that you want us in, but don't see it on this list, please talk to your store's beer buyer and have them contact us. We'll get them beer quicker than a hot dog with no mustard. Or something like that.

Have fun at the Ween show, don't embarrass yourself, and remember, those voices in your head are not always wrong.

IBW/Haywood Tavern Collab Brunch This Saturday

This Saturday we're celebrating not one but TWO great collaborations between Illuminated Brew Work's Brian Buckman & Haywood Tavern's Chef Rodney Staton. And we're doing it with a side of canteloupe and calling it brunch.

This Saturday at the Haywood Tavern (2759 W Augusta) from 11am - 3pm we'll be tapping both of our collaborations with the Haywood - Barrel Aged Son of Toucan Sam (7.6% Belgian Bock Aged in Cabernet Barrels for 9 months) and Feefe in the Night (6% Schwartzbier) - along with Brainwash (7% Tart Farmhouse) and FNORD (7% WIT) and we'll be enjoying them alongside Haywood's killer brunch menu. This is a damn fine way to start your Saturday day drinking properly.

For more information on the Haywood Brunch, check out the Facebook page for it here.

Now, with your base coat properly applied, you can head down to either CBS' Day of the Living Ales or The Chicago Beer Festival. Unfortunately, we had a bit of an accident with our cask for DotLA and wound up power-washing our brewery with it, so we won't have our cask conditioned Fnord with Honey & Amarillo this year. Bummertown. But you should still go and support this awesome and unique event!

And tickets are still available for the Chicago Beer Festival at Chicago's historic Field Museum. This is always a great event and a fine way to end the first chapter of this weekend's bender. Do it!