Pizza! The Simpson's Trivia! Mardi Gras @ IBW Lodge #1

Greetings Space People!

How you doing? I mean, really, how's it going in that infinitely spiraling cavern of consciousness you hide up there in your fuzzy little head? You don't have to be ok with the world, you really don't. And, honestly, it's indication of intelligence to be pretty displeased with the human experiment at this point.

But there's still beautiful music in the world. And some decent films came out this year.... a few. And most decent books published are still in circulation give or take. Oh yeah... and there's beer! Who doesn't love beer? (Don't answer that!)

But, in service of your undying devotion for looking at the world with intoxicated eyes we've got a couple old favorites back in the rotation:

Yes, everyone's favorite Cease and Desisted Double Dry Hopped Double IPA, BRONY, is back in action and tasting better than ever. The strawberry notes on this batch are solid!

And, for your peanut butter and chocolate hogs, our 13% Stout with Cocoa and Peanut Butter flavor is out riding the range once again: 

In case you didn't notice... Somehow, by some strange turn of the gods, both beers released last week have poems on the can. The Brony has, well a Brony Poem, which is, as I understand things (I don't!), a thing amongst those lovable folks who self-identify as Bronies (it's pronounced BROH-KNEE ok?)

The other, THE BALLAD OF THE PEANUT BUTTER PONY, has an American classic, the Cowboy Song, penned specifically for its boozy desert treatiness right there on the label. But, you know, now that Cowboys have been outted as part of the DOGE campaign to augur democracy at the hands of an unelected Gazzilionaire... sorry, I mean Freedom Fighter..., I don't know that we'll ever see this one back in rotation again. So, get it before it's tied up in court indefinitely.

I know, I know, I know. You feel like hot horse shit on dry desert day anymore. We all do, buh-leeeave-me! Go Team, right? Ya.

But hey, we've got the medicinals to cauterize the most panicy parts of your hearts out there. Fresh beer on tap all the time and, what's not on faucet you can get in cans and cans to go. So, really, you don't have any excuse for staying sober through-out 2025 and you don't have any reason to do it through underwhelming channels. IBW is here for you, to solve all life's mysterious and sear away all your heart's pains.

And, if beer isn't enough to get you out of your bunker, than how about some social antagonists?

This Saturday, February 22nd, we've got FRESH PIZZA from the Pizza Dom here for your buying pleasures starting around 5pm. And there's some live music after 9pm so you have time to enjoy your pizza and beer and then get back home before your ears bleed. Or, if you like live music, you can hang around.

SUNDAY we have got the perennial THE SIMPSONS THEMED TEAM TRIVIA. Bring out your teams of 6 or less and win THE SIMPSONS COLLECTIBLES.

 You'll be happy to know that I've been spending so much time on beer that I had to really phone in that flyer. But don't let the flyer cast a reflection on the festivities, Mike "THE COCA-COLA KID" always delivers for you THE SIMPSONS nerds. And John Forbes will manage your thirst in proportion.

Even more exciting, though, is our MARDI GRAS PARTY on Saturday March 1st.

This is always a fine, feathered function for you beautiful weirdos who enjoy donning costumes and dancing your fool selves silly to Zydeco from the SWEET POTATO ZYDECO BAND. 

Hurricane Slushy will be in full effect for this and prizes will be given at my will and beckon. You can charm me, you can buy me off or you can lean into the fun and come dressed to the nines. You make the call on your posture for this here bacchanalia.

Its cold outside but it's warm and snuggly in here at IBW Lodge #1, so why not come on by and unload some of your crypto currency on us in exchange for pain relief?

NO COVER!! NEVER EVER!!!
 

Hopefully we'll see some of you on soon!!

You can see all of our events on our event calendar athttps://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

Rocky Horror Picture Show @ IBW on Valentine's Day!

You asked for it - I mean, you REALLY asked for it - and, so, we whole-heartedly complied. It is my absolute joy to announce that we will be doing a FREE live screening of THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW on Friday, February 14th to celebrate Valentine's Day.

Get gussied up, bring your crap to throw (no rice, ok?) and bring along a date or three - or no date at all - and let's spend the night doing it up at the Frankenstein Place!!!

The movie will start around 9:30, but make a night of it at IBW Lodge #1. Starting around 6:30pm, we're going to have a food option (my guess is fresh pizza or burgers, but I'm still working this part out) and our favorite tarot reader Emerald Acorn will be on site to offer you a window into what carnage is in store for your love life in 2025.

Before the screening we'll have a costume contest and a few other feats of fashion and ingenuity to help you get into the mood a bit more. And then, come around 9:30/9:45/10p at the latest... we'll take that fateful trip to Transylvania by way of Denton by way of the Mansion by way of... well, you know all the by ways we might take.

We'll be throwing this up on our projector screen and giving it the full monty audio-wise. So, the least you can do is show up, bring your fun-loving self and make this a night that flies in the face of the otherwise HORRIBLE vibe that is 2025.

Look folks, we NEED some fun and some good, old-fashioned debauchery. You know, the way they did it back when America was great in the 1970s!  If we're gonna take seriously this project of making America great again, then we really need to step up the party game back to how they did it when Sabbath walked the Eath, Bowie was a space god and muscle cars and gremlins were the ride of choice. Amighrightoramiright?

We need to keep our souls vibrant if we're going to survive this freaking turgid turd of a year that is 2025. And what better way to do that than with the greatest movie about a pollyanna couple who finds themselves smack-dab in the middle of a good old-fashioned rock n' roll orgy spearheaded by a lunatic transvestite mad scientist and his incestuous lab assistants from Transexual, Transylvania ever made?

That's right, there is no better way. So get your sweet selves out to IBW Lodge #1 on Valentine's Day and let's do this thing! 

Also, you know, you could come out and see us before Valentine's Day as well.

Like, maybe, this Sunday? Where we'll have the TV on and you get ALL YOUR BEER & SOME FOOD for $50. 

What a deal?! But, hey, you all put up with a lot of garbage in your day-to-day lives, so why shouldn't we give you a little treat, eh?

We've also got THE SIMPSONS TRIVIA coming up Sunday, February 23rd as well as Tuesday Night Trivia every, uh, Tuesday and Murder Bingo every Wednesday.

And... yes... it is happening again....MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR SATURDAY MARCH 1st!

It's gonna be a banner year for Mardi Gras!!!

You know what? It's gonna be a banner year for all kinds of fun and madness at IBW Lodge #1. We're freaking SICK of all the bummertude going in the world these days and we're bound and determined to push back with every last belly laugh we can muster. Care to help? Come on in, the water's warm... if not a little dirty.

Hopefully we'll see some of you very soon!!!

You can see all of our events on our event calendar athttps://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

IBW Lodge #1 Open at 6pm on Xmas Day!

Hopefully we'll see some of you later today!!!

You can see all of our events on our event calendar athttps://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

IBW's Holiday Party & Dark Czech Lager Release Tomorrow 12/14!

"There's UFO's over New York and I ain't too surprised!"
- John Lennon, Nobody Told Me

Yes, it's true - as if it hasn't been for a very long time - there are indeed UFO's over New York... and Pennsylvania... and Connecticut... and Maryland... and an Air Force base in Germany as well! And, at least at the time I am writing this (and to the best of my understanding), nobody has a solid explanation for what these little buggers are.

Folks are calling them "drones", but that doesn't seem to actually be the case. The only reason anyone is calling them "drones" is to induce a calming trance of familiarity and put people back to sleep. But, the fact remains, there's been a staggering amount of reports of these things and NO ONE is claiming to know what they are or what exactly they are doing.

We know at this point they aren't Iran's. And no other foreign state is claiming ownership either. That isn't to say that they are from the Sirius star system or Zeta Reticula but, wait: stop and sit in this for a minute,  no one knows what they are and why they are here. It's a lot like the human race itself, really.

This level of ignorance about a multi-state event is pretty rare in this age when everybody is an expert about everything (and so, nothing). We haven't seen something so comprehensively opaque as this since the Tyson fight or the second season of Twin Peaks. I for one am enjoying the hell out of the confusion.

Anyway, enjoy this strange noise while it's here. This too will be resolved and answered to a greater or lesser degree of satisfaction before too long.

While you're indulging in this revelry of confusion, get into that closet of yours and dust off your Ugly Christmas sweater as tomorrow, SATURDAY DECEMBER 14TH, we have our IBW HOLIDAY PARTY! We're releasing a Dark Czech Lager made in collaboration with Chicago rockers BEGIN BY GATHERING SUPPLIES. We'll have the beer on draft and available in 4-packs and BBGS are playing a set around 9pm. There's other great bands bands, too, including REGAL MACHINES (from WI) and an incredible guitarist Pennington Markowski. The music starts, low key, around 8pm and will be all up in your business by 9 or 9:30p.

Prior to that, starting around 5pm, we've got tons of stuff to get you into the seasonal mood. Stuff like Pizza from PizzaDom, a table-side magician, gift giving from Santa and an Ugly Sweater contest. Bring a canned good and get a raffle ticket to win a gift from our own low-rent version of Santa Claus. Or get your photo with the old boy in front of a slightly realistic holiday scene hanging on our garage door.

It'll be another great party. Come on over tomorrow and unwindulax a bit from this increasingly unnerving world by knocking glasses (full of Dark Czech Lager please!) with your strange but true friends here at IBW.

Sunday, December 15th we have a little Dog & Cat Vendor Pop-Up so you can get all the gifts for the 4-legged champ in your life. And PLEASE bring your furry buddies with you! It's one of my favorite joys in this odd tragedy we call life that I get to meet everybody's awesome dogs and cats. We're opening early on Sunday so we can get right down to it. Doors will be unlocked at noon by one JOHN VERNON FORBES and the rest is a choose your own adventure with very low stakes. We've even got a little acoustic duo wrapping up the day around 5pm.

And then - and I'm very excited for this - THE 1ST ANNUAL IBW CHILI COOK-OFF & COOKIE EXCHANGE is on Thursday December 19th!.

If you've got a chili recipe and want to compete, email info@ibw-chicago.com There are a couple seats left for the competition so don't dawdle.

Otherwise, if you don't want to show off your chili then just come on over here, drink beer and sample the chili and vote on it. You, YES YOU decide who will leave the Lodge with their tail between their legs that night. This doesn't cost you anything, just bring your big hungry mouth and a strong opinion. YOU CAN DO IT!

And then, once everybody is good and loaded up on beans, DJ FARTBRITCHES (better known as Jen from Bucket O Blood books and records) is going to spin a LIVE SOUNDTRACK to the Peabody Award Winning Documentary SANTA CLAUS vs THE DEVIL!

If you don't know SANTA CLAUS vs THE DEVIL you are in for a treat. If you do know it, you've got to be prettay prettay excited for this. Here's the run down:  
 

Santa Claus works in outer space and battles with a demon named Pitch, sent to Earth by Lucifer to ruin Christmas by killing Santa and "making all the children of the Earth do evil".

This is going to be an epic evening, not to be missed!!

We've released pre-orders for the highly coveted WAR ON XMAS BOX SETS on our webstore at www.ibw-chicago.com and....yup! These will be available for PICK-UP ONLY after December 16th. But get your dibs on one now for a little less $$.

 2025 CULT MEMBERSHIP purchases are NOW available on that same before-mentioned webstore. We're limiting our memberships to only 75 cult members this year, so act early and act fast, you don't want to miss out on that.

What do you get for your Cult Membership? So much, I tell you. Things like:

• A super secret Initiation ceremony into one of the world's most ELITE cabals!

• Private Parties for Cult Members Only!

• Monthly Cult Meetings with beer specials and food!

• Cult Member only Shirts! Hoodies! Enamel Pins! Sundry!

• Heresy!

• Cult Member only outings!!!

• Help design and BREW our annual CULT BEER with brewers Brian & Matt!

• Degeneracy! Depravity! Enlightenment in THIS lifetime!

The IBW Cult Membership is the perfect gift for that wayward wandering soul in your life and/or JUST the thing you need to finally put that final nail in the coffin of your life on the path of the straight & narrow. 

Also... ALL DECEMBER we have a special in the Lodge: BUY $100 on a gift card and receive a FREE $25 addition to that card! You can get that $25 added to your card or get it on a second card and keep the money for yourself. It's entirely up to you!

I know it's hard, but we're trying to give you as many reasons as possible to leave your damn house. 

Hopefully we'll see some of you tomorrow!!!

You can see all of our events on our event calendar athttps://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

2025 CULT MEMBERSHIPS are LIVE & BLECH FRIDAY SPECIALS

Happy BLECH FRIDAY!

I'm sure you all are busy punching people at Wal-Mart to insure you secure that last remaining Trump Beanie Baby, but, on the slim chance you might be at home sleeping off your Thanksgiving hang-over, I wanted to plug you into the fact that 2025 CULT MEMBERSHIPS ARE NOW AVAILABLE!

Your sleek and vigilant 2025 CULT MEMBERSHIP can now be purchased at our state-of-no-art webstore. We're limiting our memberships to only 75 cult members this year, so act early and act fast, you don't want to miss out on that.

What do you get for your Cult Membership? So much, I tell you. Things like:

• A super secret Initiation ceremony into one of the world's most ELITE cabals!

• Private Parties for Cult Members Only!

• Monthly Cult Meetings with beer specials and food!

• Cult Member only Shirts! Hoodies! Enamel Pins! Sundry!

• Heresy!

• Cult Member only outings!!!

• Help design and BREW our annual CULT BEER with brewers Brian & Matt!

• Degeneracy! Depravity! Enlightenment in THIS lifetime!

The IBW Cult Membership is the perfect gift for that wayward wandering soul in your life and/or JUST the thing you need to finally put that final nail in the coffin of your life on the path of the straight & narrow. 

To celebrate this lovely day(s) of excessive credit card leveraging, we are offering a 10% discount on our SECRET CHIEF memberships now until Monday night. To get this you must put SECRET10 in the discount code section when you check out.

We also have WAR ON XMAS box sets available for PRE-ORDER for $55 right now at that same, troubling webstore. These are a fantastic gift and a fantastic price. PRE-ORDER cost will go up to $60 on Tuesday, so pick yours up now.

We are also offering a 20% discount on our 3 YEAR ANNIVERSARY shirts now until Monday night. 

To secure this super-sexy nod to SPACEMEN 3 and celebrating our 3 years of running a moderately failing store front you must enter the code BLECHBLAH20 at check-out.

We open at noon today so you can keep that patriotic bender going. Just think, you won't have to regret anything for a whole extra day if you just come into IBW LODGE #1 right at noon and really lean into your troubles.

Oh, also, this Sunday, come feel the heat of another FREE LIVE SHOW at IBW Lodge #1 when GRANDMA & GRANDPA study your low expectations and put them to music. The show starts at 3:30pm and John Vernon Forbes will be on hand to give you a hand with your beer.

I know it's hard, but we're trying to give you as many reasons as possible to leave your damn house. 

Hopefully we'll see some of you lovely creeps soon!