SMART ASS Trivia Game TONIGHT @ IBW LODGE #1

Hiya!

Tonight we're doing a live version of SMART ASS, a fun little card trivia game from University Games. Winners will take home IBW Gift Cards and EVERYONE who plays will get their very own copy of SMART ASS to take home with them. Who doesn't like FREE stuff?

Your esteemed brewer Bucky will be hosting this sure-to-be-a-mess mess. But whatever?! Right? Right. Come, have a few beers and take home a fun card game for FREE. And have fun in the process. 

Did you know this will be fun?

Starting this SUNDAY we'll be brining back FREE HOT DOGS FOR BEARS GAMES. What a world.
 

And then, please mark your calendar for our 3 Year Anniversary Party where we're releasing a collaboration Bock we made with our friends at THE BUCKLAND MUSEUM OF WITCHCRAFT & MAGICK. We'll have vendors, tarot readers and a DUNK TANK during the day and 3 metal bands after 9pm to put a clear and thunderous capstone on the day.
 

 "IBW: We're here for you as long as you have cash."

Zombie Tarot & Murder Bingo TONIGHT @ IBW Lodge #1!

Holy Moses, I've been obsessing over this Silver Jews song "Smith & Jones" for the past few days. It's one of those songs that you hear a million times but then on that one million and oneth (or is that onthe?) time you finally listen to it.

Give this Dylan-esque masterpiece from the late but never forgotten David Berman a deep listen. It’s like so much of his work: tonally simple and catchy as hell on the surface, but it gets increasingly steep, beautiful and haunting the more you circle in.

One thing I can't yet resolve about this melodic riddle is whether or not it's about the prison of personality. In the classic sci-fi TV show "Lost In Space" Dr. Jeremiah Smith was portrayed by the actor Henry Jones. And I'm certain, if you spoke to Henry Jones after his run as the diabolical and dented Dr. Smith, at some point your conversation would turn to him belly-aching about how he's going to be locked into that character for the rest of his career.

"Yeah, sure, it made my career," he'd say in that impish way only Henry Jones could summon. He'd probably take a long melodramatic pull on his cigarette at this point, staring off into that Space where he appears to still be Lost. "But the same thing that made my career ended it immediately as well."

I can't listen to this song without wondering what personalities that I've inhabited have kept me in a prison longer than my sentence demanded. Smith & Jones, forever. Indeed. Bon appetite.

But my exceptional taste in music is not why we're here. I'm here to tell you that TONIGHT at America's #1 hot spot for non-sequitur pickle ball we've got a lovely human being that calls herself Emerald Acorn doing walk-up ZOMBIE TAROT readings. Here's what she says about this new spread style:

"I will share with you that I am terrified of zombies! That slow pursuit of hungry, emotionless humans freaks me out. But we can learn and grow by dissecting our discomforts. The 5-card zombie spread asks the hard and poignant question:How you survive what you fear?"

For MURDER BINGO tonight we'll be showing the summer camp classic "The Burning"! Here's the synopsis:

At summer camp, some teenagers pull a prank on the camp's caretaker, Cropsy (Lou David). But the joke goes terribly wrong, and the teens leave Cropsy for dead after setting him on fire. But no one keeps Cropsy down. A few years later, the burned and disfigured caretaker returns to camp equipped with his trusty shears, ready to unleash his particular brand of vengeance on a whole new group of teens. The murderous Cropsy stalks the campers in the woods, one by one.

I mean, sure, it sounds a leeeetle bit like another film that dropped about a year previous, but I'm sure that's just a coincidence. But, honestly, I dig The Burning more than that other unmentioned movie. Plus, this one also features the special effects wizardry of Tom Savini who designed, deployed and, uh, executed that iconic scene with the hedge clippers and... oh, you'll just have to come see it.

MURDER BINGO starts at 9pm and is always strictly 21+

We packaged a fresh batch of Watermelon Gun yesterday. I love this beer and this batch is particularly splendid. We never use anything but hand-processed and fresh, real watermelons for Watermelon Gun. We do this, well, because real watermelon is just transcendental. There is no replacement for that cold, crunchy deliciousness of the watermelon rind in this world, so there is no way to achieve that other than putting real watermelon in the beer. This year's batch has a lovely balance of the fruit sweetness with the green cucumber yumminess of the rind as well. I hope you dig it. It's available at the Lodge in 4-packs and will go on draft this weekend. J is dropping these at accounts as I write this.

Oh, hey, all you Phishy people out there. We're streaming the tour again this Friday at 6:30p and then again on Sunday August 11th. On Sunday we'll start with Saturday night's show at 4pm and then do the Sunday night show live when it starts.

I might make some burgers or something on Sunday so come by early and let's make a day of it!

If you're one of those strange people that likes to wake up early on a Saturday so you can run and then drink beer, then we've got you this Saturday, August 10th. Come by the shop and run a 5k and receive a pint of IBW beer on the house and a chance to win some other raffle prizes. You can still sign up for this by following this link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/5k-beer-run-x-illuminated-brew-works-2024-illinois-brewery-running-series-tickets-760660374657?aff=oddtdtcreator

And, of course, this Saturday night we've got another installment of WAX DISASTERS our no-genre, all vinyl dance party:

And, hey, if you're going to the Great Taste of the Midwest (which you 100% should be) then come by and say hi to J and Rick out there.

"IBW: We're here for you as long as you have cash."

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

GRAND PRIZE NIGHT for MURDER BINGO w/ Bucket O Blood @ IBW Lodge #1 Today!

As you damn well know by now, July's MURDER BINGO has had us teaming up with our lovely friends from Bucket O Blood Books & Records for a phenomenal line up of all zombie flicks all month long. 

Tonight is the FINAL ROUND featuring Peter Jackson's DISGUSTING CLASSIC "DEAD ALIVE".

At the end of the movie tonight, whoever has the most Bingo's for July will win this INSANE bunch of prizes from the best damn bookstore in this timeline!
 

HOLY CRAP!!

You have to be present to win. And, why wouldn't you want to be present? "Dead Alive" is amazing, the crowd is always fun as hell, and WE'RE GOING TO HAVE THE UNHOY MYSTIKAL HOT DOG MACHINE HERE TONIGHT. We'll even have vegan dogs for you SICK-O VEGANS (like me!).

ALSO: THIS SATURDAY!!

Did you know that IBW is the GREATEST OF ALL TIME? And that KING FELIX won for BEST MODERN HAZY against all the other Chicago breweries at the Chicago Beer Societies HAZY DAYS fest last weekend?

Of course you did!

"IBW: We're here for you as long as you have cash."

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

Tons of Madness This Weekend @ IBW Lodge #1!

Have you ever imagined what it must be like to be Jell-O? To be full of all these brilliant bright flavors and colors while being in some kind of permanent suspension half way between water and a seemingly solid bit of matter?

Have you ever considered what it must be like to be made to melt in someones mouth and then be swished around like a quickly disintegrating oyster of sugar-filled mouth wash all about the dental adventures of some randoms face hole?

Have you ever feared being forced, simply as a result of your own congenial passivity, into the shape of a bundt cake as your final move before being transformed by an ungrateful machine into half-cocked fuel for dimly considered ventures?

Thanks to my crummy guru, I spend a lot of time contemplating myself as Jell-O. But the jokes on her as I only think of myself as Jell-O in the PRE preparation stage where I can't be swished and I'm decidedly not wiggly, not gelatinous, but just a sweet tasting, lovely colored powder wrapped in wax paper origami and hugged in an adorably small box. In this way I AM ETERNAL.

Ok, I think my meds just kicked, so let's get going here!

WE HAVE A FUN-FILLED, JAM-PACKED, FULL OF SLACK WEEKEND FOR JUST ABOUT EVERY DERANGED TASTE IN THE SPECTRUM OF DERANGED TASTES. Here's a quick run down:

And then... on SATURDAY!

And then on SUNDAY:

If you want you can just sleep out back by the dumpsters so you don't even have to bother going home. Why waste the money on a Lyft home and then a Lyft back? Just bring your sleeping bag and curl up after each event in the cozy confines of our dumpster array. It'll be bliss or something something something, yada yada, blah blah blah. Woof.

AND PLEASE, FOR THE SAKE OF ALL THAT IS RIGHT AND GOOD, REMEMBER: July's MURDER BINGO has us teaming up with our lovely friends from Bucket O Blood Books & Records for a phenomenal line up of all zombie flicks all month long. And, on July 17th, Adam Charles Hart will be in to guest host Murder Bingo and sign copies of his new book "Raising the Dead: The Work of George A. Romero". 

We've got so much for the Jell-O in you and so much more. "IBW: We're here for you as long as you have cash."

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

Mel Brooks Trivia, Sunday 6/30 @ IBW Lodge #1

Capt. Howdy, strangers!

I can't tell you how excited I am for tomorrow -  Sunday, June 30th -  and this month's installment of our THEMED TEAM TRIVIA at 3pm. 

Mike has cooked up a really good game for this one including clips from some of AMERICAN MASTER Mel Brooks' finest films. If you have a half a brain cell in your head then you love Mel Brooks. And, with a half a brain cell, you've just found yourself in the elite class of above average intelligence for this tawdry and hot world we live in.

So, come show off that brain cell of yours and have some fun while you do it. Win prizes including Mel Brooks autobiography, a great new full-color book on the making of "Young Frankenstein" with a forward by Judd Apatow. And, of course, some "Blazing Saddles" underwear from our friends over at Harebrained Designs. We start promptly at 3pm.

Tonight we've got DJ NOVEMBER spinning Punk & Metal vinyl all night starting at 9pm! Come get shwifty while you get baptized into the holy church of tinnitus!

For July's MURDER BINGO we're teaming up with our lovely friends from Bucket O Blood Books & Records for a phenomenal line up of all zombie flicks all month long. And, on July 17th, Adam Charles Hart will be in to guest host Murder Bingo and sign copies of his new book "Raising the Dead: The Work of George A. Romero". 

We're going to start the month off right with one of the greatest films ever made, "Return of the Living Dead"! And to sweeten the deal even more, the Bucket O Blood folks are going to bring their mystical hot dog machine with them!

What else do you need to help start off a 4 day bender of Freedom and Liberty then "Hotdog" and "Return of the Living Dead"? 

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