LIVE Improvisational Music TONIGHT @ IBW Lodge #1 & More...

GOOD PEOPLE OF THE PLANET EARTH, WE SALUTE YOU!

Suddenly, my playful interstellar greetings have a bit more payload to them. 

Knowing each and every one of you fair humanoids that read this newsletter intimately, I know that you've been tracking the - well, let's call it insanity - of the UAP/UFO situation as it relates to our government, NASA and the intelligence community as closely as I have these past 6 or 7 weeks.

I make a habit of bringing this up to everyone I run into. Not because I have some hard and fast belief about what is going on (I mean, "belief", really? What is this 1983?) or that I have any kind of abiding optimism or trust that our government, or any government, is capable of functioning beyond a 3rd grad level. Or that I kid myself into thinking I even have the capacity to appreciate the implications of what this could mean if its most extreme logic could come to conclusion.

No, I ask everybody because it's a really potent Rorschach test to run on a person. You tend to get three responses:

  1. Arrogantly certain that it's bullshit.

  2. Arrogantly certain that ITS FINALLY HAPPENING!!

  3. Soft, resigned, uncertainty and openness.

If you know me (and you do... Right?) than you know that I fall steadfastly committed to ANSWER #2!

I kid, I kid. 

These are heady times, my dear comrades, and certainty - and certainly arrogance - are not only passé, and boring and dull and stupid - and GROSS - but certainty, is, in regard to this and every other damn thing under the sun, seemingly, an operational failure.

And who wants to be a freaking failure? Not you, son. Not you.

So, let's hold steady, but not too tightly, and see what comes of the hearings on July 26th as well as what results from Chuck Schumer's new legislation, et al.

Interesting times, indeed.

And what do "interesting times" remind us that we need to be doing? That's right, drink!

In service of that high command, we have some projects for you here in the near and now future:

 America's Sweetheart, John Vernon Forbes, will be hosting a night of LIVE and improvisational music tonight at our esteemed HQ. Are you a musician? A noise maker? A human who loves to live in the space of spontaneity and surprise? Then bring your instrument to the Lodge tonight and participate in the first of what should be a monthly gathering of sickos in search of sound. No pressure. Just fun here folks, just fun on a ding dang bun.

We're excited to be, once again, partnering with our friends at the THE SATANIC TEMPLE ILLINOIS for their annual MENSTRUATIN' WITH SATAN feminine care products drive. Bring in unopened boxes of menstruation pads, tampons, panty liners, bars of soap, toothpaste or toothbrushes (not sure what the latter has to do with menstruation, but!) and cleansing wipes and throw them in our fancy, devil-adorned box up by the bar. The lovely folks from the Satanic Temple of Illinois will then, on August 31st, distribute them to Pilsen Dispensa Food de Comida Pantry Pilsen to insure they get to women in need.

And this works for you - beyond doing a top-shelf good thing for your fellow humans - because you then get 10% off your bar tab for the night AND, for every item donated, you receive a raffle ticket to win a pair of MENSTRUATIN' WITH SATAN period panties from the design wizards at HAREBRAINED DESIGNS.

We'll pick the winners on Thursday July 27th and Thursday August 31st at 8pm. You must be present at the Lodge to collect your panties. 

And, if games of chance are not your thing, then you can buy a pair of panties for $15. $5 from every pair of panties will go to buy more menstruation care products to be donated for the cause.

How great is that?

And speaking of Satan, everybody's most lovable evil-doer HARRY POTTER is getting his much-deserved time in the sun with ourHARRY POTTER TEAM TRIVIAon Sunday July 30th at 3pm. 

That's right, this months' themed team trivia focuses on THE BOY WHO LIVED! We'll cover all the books and all the movies. So get your teams of 6 together and come on down to IBW LODGE #1, get loaded and win Harry Potter prizes.What more do you want from this world???

How about a WEIRD STUDIES BLACK IPA 16"x20" poster?

That's right, to celebrate the release of our 2nd batch of Weird Studies Black IPA (which celebrates Weird Studies podcast) we've made a short run of these phenomenal posters. Printed in full color on thick card stock, these posters are sure to make your life finally worth living. 

You can buy one at the Lodge for $10 or you can be a shut-in and still get one from terrible web store for $20.

And, while you're here for all these wonderful events, why not get a 4-pack of Weird Studies? This years batch is dry hopped with Comet and Zappa hops and is a freaking delight. Not only that, but each 4 pack comes with ALL FOUR of the can designs we made for this delicious beer. Check them out!

And hey, if beer isn't your thing,SLUSHY THING #7: THE WATERGATE SALAD AFFAIRis back in full effect, available on draft or in 4-packs to go RIGHT NOW.

WHAT A WORLD!! WHAT A WORLD!!!!

Pint Night, Food Truck & Weiners!

Welp,

In a strange twist of fate, I don't really know what to say.

The world is on fire and it's finally come rat-tat-tatting on our front door. There's a certain kind of sinking feeling when the images from your doom scrolling suddenly populate the 4-dimensional world just outside your window. I'm sure the Germans have a word for that feeling and the Japanese have an even more beautiful one as well. We here in the land of the Pleabes English have a short onomonapeion for it, I suppose. Sing along if you know this one: "Gulp".

But, wile the air smells like your jeans after weekend camp out and the skies are tarred and feathered in some rich bumbleheads satellites, we here at Illuminated Brew Works are somewhat invigorated as, seemingly every day, our tongue-in-cheek tagline we created 8 years ago when we started this disfunctional egregore of ours, has now becomes a mission statement. The humor has shifted from the rhetoric of irony to the absurdity of unavoidable truth. But, still, we're here for you, still creating "Beer for Interesting Times". Now more than ever, my bubbies. Now more than ever.

And we take our cynicism very seriously. We take our realism surreally. We take our lumps by the dozen and we almost always take our beer with a sidecar of affordable whisky. These are coping mechanisms and there's no time like the present to get mechanistic with one's coping. Or one's copping for that matter. But, copulating? Please - please don't make me remind you again - whatever you do, just stay loose, always stay loose and curious and fruitful with that copulating, ok? The dark lord knows we need real Love and some real good loving in these our hard, hard times. So, let's not go soft. Not now. Not in these very Interesting Times.

I mean have you heard all the stories from very legitimate channels about these aircrafts of "non-human origin"? Wait, was that Marco Rubio? The Senate Intelligence Sub-Committee? Did you see that shit that went down in Russia? You know the thing with the Ex-Con Warlord putting a real challenge against the state military? Have you smelled the air in Chicago???

My brothers and sisters in dedication to decadence, we are through ye olde looking glass and even the Cheshire Cat looks a little nervous.

So we drink! 

And, in service of drinking - and eating! - we've got a few events lined up for you.
 


Hot damn! That's right. THURSDAY NIGHT, that being Thursday June 29th (MR. KING'S BIRTHDAY!) on most solar calendars, we have our first of many PINT NIGHTS here at America's Home for Dundering, IBW Lodge #1.

For a measly $10 you get one of these fancy blue-glass branded IBW glasses pictured above and it will be full of delicious TRUST lager. Only 1 glass per customer per Thursday while supplies last and these are only available on Thursdays. So don't try calling in any favors or any other annoying practice, please. It will fail. Just come on Thursday, pay $10, get your glass, enjoy your Trust and then enjoy another $300-$400 worth of beer while you're here. Maybe eat some of the delicious PRETZEL CRACK that we have for sale to help with a $400 beer bender. Or, might I suggest some delicious SKOKIE PROVISIONS? Regardless, don't ask for more than one glass. It ain't gonna happen.

The plan is to do this Pint Night every Thursday with a new limited edition glass whenever we run out of the previous run. We've got about 60 of these blue ones and, after they're gone, they're gone for good.

This FRIDAY we're hosting the BUMBU ROUX FOOD TRUCK along with our friends at WineStyles. You know the routine by now, the truck will be in the parking from 5pm - 8pm serving their delicious wares. Bumbu Roux is a mix of Cajun and Indonesian food and it looks phenomenal. Don't miss this one! There's no pre-orders or anything like that, just show up, order your food and order a couple beers or wine to wash it all down with. What a lovely way to start this 4th of July weekend!

On Sunday, Bucky will be at the Lodge from 3pm - 7pm grilling hot dogs and giving them away to anyone who is either nice or interesting enough to not have to be nice. My recommendation is just be nice and don't roll the bones on whether you can be perceived as "interesting" or not. Our dear Bucky is a harsh critic and real jaded son-of-a-bitch and probably doesn't find you interesting. Especially if you're trying.

And then on MONDAY Handsome Rob is doing the same damn thing. From 3pm - 7pm (or until the dogs run out), Rob will be grilling and serving dogs. This is our public service to your pre-4th of July partying. We all need a decent base coat for the kind of celebrating that tends to go down on this here holiday, so, come on by IBW Lodge #1 and get covered with dogs and beer.

Speaking of Monday, we are opening at 2pm on Monday July 3rd to get the most of your good times that day.

And, yes Virginia, we are CLOSED ON JULY 4TH. We'll be back at it again on Wednesday July 5th.

Oh, and one last thing to put on your radar before I get back to pacing, Saturday July 8th we've got NIGHT BEAMS #6: Another FREE evening of mostly Modular Synth Jams.
 

Alright, that's all for now! Be good to one another. And try not to freak out too much when they make the 2big announcements tomorrow that are supposed to challenge our understanding of the Universeat a fundamental level. It'll be fine, just keep drinking.
 
You can see all of our events on our event calendar at https://www.ibw-chicago.com/events

You can see what's currently on tap at IBW LODGE #1 at https://www.ibw-chicago.com/whats-on-tap

GAY AGENDA RELEASE PARTY THIS SATURDAY @ IBW LODGE #1

Greetings Humanoids,

Summer is in full effect here in Chicago and we've got the Full Moon to prove it.

This Saturday, pull your Leather out of the closet (or pick it up off the floor) and get on down to IBW LODGE #1 for our kick off to LGBTQ+ Pride Month, the GAY AGENDA RELEASE PARTY.

We'll start the festivities at 8pm with music and dancing. We'll have GAY AGENDA on draft and available in 4-packs TO-GO. Wear your leather or a lot of Pride gear and we'll buy your first pint of Trust.

We'll have Jeff Fox and Benny the Gentleman here to bring the GAY AGENDA label to full, breathing life. The rest of the party is up to you to bring. It's a full moon on Saturday, so let's make this an extra special event to celebrate Love, Lust and all of our Brothers, Sisters, In-Betweens and Others in the LGBTQ+ community.

This is going to be 21+ event, so leave the kiddos at home tonight. Here's the Facebook event page if you're interested: https://www.facebook.com/events/1172135024187390

And, during the day tomorrow - at 3pm - we've got Rita's Italian Ice coming to the parking lot between us and Winestyles. Come break the heat with an Italian Ice dumped right into your beer. https://www.facebook.com/events/265126619246439

Lastly, tickets are now available for our 2nd Annual Father's Day Pig Roast!

You can zap the QR code for tickets or follow this link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fathers-day-pig-roast-tickets-644399876377

This is a great way to spend your Father's Day with your family and friends. This year we'll have 2 seatings to make it a bit more comfortable for everyone AND we'll have live original music from the acoustic duo Annalee Kohen & Chuck Cox!

Also, on Father's Day, just like every Sunday, you get $10% Off your tab all day!

You can see all of our events on our event calendar at https://www.ibw-chicago.com/events

You can see what's currently on tap at IBW LODGE #1 at https://www.ibw-chicago.com/whats-on-tap

This Weekend at IBW Lodge #1!

Greetings Earth People,

We have some events worth your time, energy, and - most importantly - your money, this weekend. Read on, intrepid creeps. 

That there DönerMen Truck is tonight. We're tapping BRAINWASH w/ Passionfruit & STUPID FOR JUPITER IPA for this. They are both tasting great!

Here's what the Facebook event page says about the DönerMen Truck:

DönerMen started with a simple idea; bring German Imbiss (street food) to the Chicago. Where Bavarian beer hall fare is what Americans have come to think of as German food, Imbiss is a popular and rich side of German cuisine that draws from various intersecting food cultures in Europe.
DönerMen is anthropology through food. Try Currywurst, a post-war Berlin invention combining Indian spices  and German sausage in one dish. Or try the other DönerMen stalwart, Döner Kebab, a marriage of flavors brought to Germany by Turkish immigrants.
Sound highfalutin? It’s not. You know how the U.S has tex-mex? This is sorta of a Ger-Turk. Or is it Turk-Ger? Either way it's delicious. 

I do believe they'll have some vegan options as well.
 


Saturday night, we've got some bands playing as part of their Summer tour for this depraved year of our lord 20 & 23. I don't know a ton about these folks, but I think it falls somewhere in the Shoegazer realm for one of the bands, and some pretty great sounding post-rock for another. Maybe there is something acoustic that is happening in there somewhere?

Who knows? IT's all a goddamn mystery. And, who doesn't like a good mystery? Why not come out and support a touring band offering you a FREE SHOW from the goodness of their broke and broken hearts? The show will start around 10pm.


ThIS SUNDAY, join "The Simpsons" maniac Mike Cusick as he takes your through 2 hours of Simpson's specific trivia. This is not for the casual viewer, but for you real sickos out there who know that little town of Springfield like Flander's knows his verse.

Here's a couple of the prizes we'll be giving away. There's another, but you'll have to com on Sunday to see it.

TRIVIA STARTS AT 3PM SHARP! https://www.facebook.com/events/956138825594514

Also, just like every Sunday, you get $10% Off your tab all day!

That's a fun filled freaking weekend, if I've ever seen one. And to make things even better, we're staying open later on Sunday and we're opening at 1pm on Monday so you can get all the drinking in that your husband or wife or partner or children or Parole Officer can stand.

We've also got a Memorial Day special going on with our packaged beer:

If you buy 5x 4packs of Clurichaun Trap for $8 a piece, you get your 6th 4-pack for FREE. That's a $40 case of Clurichaun Trap!!!

Also, we'll have 4-packs of Double-Ripped Hasselhopf for $10.99!

Ok, hopefully we'll see you tonight!