Memory in Reverse...

We're on the other side of the Fall Equinox. Pretty nutty how much data we've shoveled in between these two solar nodes this year, eh? 

I keep thinking of two things when I think about this year:

1. I'm on a particularly gory grade of a mountain slope on my snowboard, now is not the time to freak the hell out about heights or try and control my speed, but just relax my cramping sphincter and find a digestible rhythm until the land flattens down again.

2. That apparently apocryphal Churchill quote: "When you find yourself in hell, keep going." There's plenty to chew on in those 8 fantastical words.

I suppose all this makes me think of one more snowboard-based piece of wisdom that seems to have resonant application throughout all of my troubled life. A friend used to tell me, as we would head into a particularly tree-laden point on our run, "If you don't want to hit the tree, don't look at the tree." Words of wisdom, Loyd, words of wisdom.

We dropped MEMORY IN REVERSE this week and we are pretty damn giddy about it. This is one of those hazy, juicy things your 9 and 10 year olds keep telling about. They're hotter than Brittany Spears, I tell you. They are going to blow up. 

MEMORY IN REVERSE has Pacifica and El Dorado hops, but the star of the show is the wholly enigmatic Sabro hop that gives this beer, while shuffling through moments of apricot, citrus and creamsicle, an undeniably coconutty finish. 

The name MEMORY IN REVERSE was cribbed from one of the most mind-bending books we've forced all of our cult members to read this year, Eric Wargo's "Time Loops: Precognition, Retrocausation, and the Unconscious". Here's a little blip off the sleeve:

"This landmark study explores the principles that allow the future to affect the present, and the present to affect the past, without causing paradox. It also deconstructs the powerful taboos that, for centuries, have kept mainstream science from taking phenomena like retrocausation and precognition seriously. We are four-dimensional creatures, and sometimes we are even caught in time loops—self-fulfilling prophecies where effects become their own causes."

If 2020 hasn't gotten weird enough for you yet, crack open a can of our MEMORY IN REVERSE and curl up with your pet reptile and a copy of Eric's truly profound book.

That's pretty much all I got today. I'm going hunting for rabid emu this weekend and have a lot of shots I need to take before we head out in the morning.

FRUIT CREEP (formerly Fruit Slave) & BRONY (with a hot new label) drop a week from Monday. And there's a super rad collaboration we're working on that we'll let you know about very soon. 

Tie your shoes, keep your mind right and, please, just wear your damn mask. You can have any stupid idea you want even while wearing a mask. I promise.

The Ballad of the Peanut Butter Pony & Kreeper Release TODAY!!

Greetings Furry Friends,

As part of my lockdown therapy I've procured a bird feeder that sits just outside my back door. These tiny dinosaurs are strange, loquacious little beasts. And, while I feed them a steady diet of extremely rare and expensive birdseed that I've procured on the dark web, it would seem at least one of my neighbors has been feeding these freaks modular synthesizers and demon whistles. 

The ever evasive illusion of a peaceful mind can take many forms. And, apparently, many strange and disturbing sounds as well.

And, please don't tell me the lockdown is over. I'm just getting the hang of it.

We've got some delicious poisons to drop on all you beautiful people this week. Our friends down in the IBW Reality Studio have been very hard at work.

I'm most excited about THE BALLAD OF THE PEANUT BUTTER PONY. This 13% gooey and gory stout is punched up with cocoa and non-allergenic peanut butter flavoring and is perfect for sharing with your pony after a long day chasing steers.

Now, I can hear some of our Amish brethren gasping for breath at the idea of us using a peanut simulacrum instead of REAL INDUSTRIAL PEANUT BUTTER. But Stop, Ok? And then I'll remind you that this whole freaking charade we're involved in here is a simulacrum - we're living in a freaking computer simulation, folks - so get over it, Mr. & Mrs. Peanut Butter Puritan. Plus, this particular flavoring that we used is incredibly delicious and it's non-allergenic so our cult members who suffer from peanut allergies can actually, for once, enjoy some pleasure again in this life.

Now, we've released THE BALAD OF THE PEANUT BUTTER PONY previously in a limited 750ml format. But these bad boys are in 16oz cans. And, my sweet lord, these cans look delightful.

And, plus, if you buy THE BALAD OF THE PEANUT BUTTER PONY and don't like it, well, you can go back to your favorite local bottle shop and buy KREEPER which also releases today.

KREEPER is one of those classic, old-school IPAs that is crystal clear - remember those? And, while you can stare at your cat through it like some kind of delicious fun-house mirror, KREEPER is still endowed with all that rich, hoppy smoothness you've come to love in your other IBW sacraments. I believe we've got Meridian, Hallertau Blanc and Nelson Sauvin in this particular hero. Go on, son, get it.

But wait! That's not all. We have been busy lately. Busy for you, ladies and gentlecreeps. And that means that next week, after we drop all the KREEPER and THE BALLAD OF THE PEANUT BUTTER PONY, Jason will be back in the van delivering super fresh FUZZ MAGICK to the world. FUZZ MAGICK remains one of our favorite Double Dry Hop Double IPAs here at the compound. Clocking in at 8% and full of apricot and tangerine goodness from the hops, this fellow is all you need to attain full awareness on your death bed. So you've got that going for you.

OH! And this Friday we're excited to be participating in CHICAGO FRIDAY NIGHT FLIGHTS - TO GO! Here's a bit moreinfo from the site (note that orders have to be in by TOMORROW!):

"Chicago Friday Night Flights... returns on August 21, 2020 highlighting the craft brewers in the West Loop and Chicago Brewing District. We have curated a sampling of tasting room only and small production beers from local brewers, packaged together for an exclusive, Chicago craft beer tasting tour."

We've got our delicious piquette-inspired-wine-spritzery-not-beer-but-gluten-free-and-crushable-thing that we made with our friends at City Winery and that humans call PLEIADIAN PLAY DATE available for this event. As part of the event you'll also get beer from ATB, Burnt City, Cruz Blanca, Haymarket and other West Loop breweries. This should be a great way to erase your awful memories and start from scratch.

Astro Eye Scream & Pleaidian Play Date Released...

Long time, no talk. How you holding up? How's this karmic enema treating you and yours?

Go ahead and answer out loud, we can hear you. We can hear everything, actually. 

Despite the world stopping in its collective "Oh No!" moment, some strains of collective trance prattle on. One narrative we're happy to promote is the one where IBW is producing and distributing delicious beer to help you:

• Cope with stress

• Cope with room mates

• Connect with room mates

• Connect with stress and work through it

• Forget

• Remember

• Discover those little fleeting moments of transcendent Joy that come only in solitude and with music

• Drank

In service of maintaining this particular illusion, we proudly announce this year's release of cult favorite ASTRONAUT EYE SCREAM!

Produced with Galaxy, Mosaic, Citra & Mandarina Bavarian hops as well as some yummy lactose sugar to boost sweetness and body (it's balanced!), Astronaut Eye Scream will keep you giddy and buoyant no matter how fierce our gravity gets. It's in stores this week.

Also available in Chicago, Detroit and Ohio is a fun little experiment we made with our friends at City Winery. Pleaidian Play Date is a piquette-inspired spritzer made with Washington State Cabernet pomace and hibiscus to land at a delicious 6% ABV as the perfect answer for sweaty, hot summer nights under the stars.

Pleaidian Play Date is also, as luck would have it, Gluten Free. So all you folks who fear the Glutens, dig in! Pleaidian Play Date was packaged in lovely little 8oz sleek cans that are perfect for sticking into totes, coolers, or pockets depending on your outing and your kink. Don't know what the hell a piquette is? Follow this here link.

You can acquire either of these fine offerings - as well as our other treats like Orange Sunshine, Trust and Brainwash - at all the best bottle shops & liquor stores across this fair land.

We hope you all are doing what you can to enjoy the summer in this strange year of our lord 2020. Please just wear the damn mask.

The World is Changing & So is IBW

Brothers & Sisters of the Planet Earth,

Every year as we approach the Summer Solstice, the longest day of sunlight for the year, we here at IBW try to take time to assess where we've come and where we are going. That this year's Solstice coincides with a Ring of Fire solar eclipse brings more gravity to our retrospection. That it comes half-way through what is, hands down, the most mind-bending year our little cult has ever persisted through only makes sense. 

A global pandemic and an economic stand-still were enough. But then, on the heels of that stress, pain & anxiety, we have been asked to, after far too long, take a long, unblinking look at our country's extremely troubling history of human trafficking and the subsequent systemic oppression of our black brothers and sisters.

The cards are on the table. The past is alive in the present. And we can weave the future only from these threads. We can do this consciously with intent on improvement or we can continue sleep walking, heading towards an inevitable nightmare fugue.

IBW is a cult of fun-loving, knuckleheads running a scrappy and imperfect beer company as best as our feeble minds allow us. We started this business because we saw a world of career choices we did not want to participate in. We believed our gifts were more important to share with the world than to let thaw out in a cubicle as trade for financial security. While we are tiny and predominantly wildly insignificant, we also know that every light shining can make a difference. And we hold respect, love, creativity and equality as some of our highest aspirations.

As we asked ourselves, our friends, our families, our colleagues, our cult members and our customers what we could do, in any meaningful way, to participate in the healing of our planet's wounds and our countries abhorrent past, we found consensus among several choices.

We will be changing the name of our flagship beer, Fruit Slave.

Now, reading the bottle it is clear that the name Fruit Slave is in no way making reference to the unforgivable history of the kidnapping and enslaving of human beings for the betterment of the American economy. In fact, Fruit Slave, the name, and the long, rambling screed that bubbles out of the goats mouth is an indictment of Consumer Culture and the blind and thoughtless ways that people chase trends and material goods as a means of filling an empty hole in their heart, a need that far too many people have today.

Fruit Slave was created as a light hearted way to invert the consumerist drive for super hoppy IPAs and playfully shine a light on some ills of our culture. What we have come to understand as of late is that the mere use of the word “Slave” - even removed from the context of human-trafficking - is difficult to be seen by some as separated from its most troubling context.

At Illuminated Brew Works we have worked incredibly hard to build a company from scratch, on our own terms, as an entity that celebrates the best parts of the human spirit and to create a place where people - many of whom are hurting and full of pain in one way or another - can come and find a moments rest from a very difficult world. We never want to be an agent of that pain for anyone, quite the contrary. This is why, after much consideration, we have decided to change the name of Fruit Slave. We do not know what we will change the name to at this time but we will not be making this beer any more until we land on a suitable improvement.

Obviously our work doesn’t stop there, but we are happy to add it to the list of actions we have taken personally and as a company to bring our light to the world in hopes for a better, more equal and more righteous world for everyone who chooses to participate. We are strongly averse to promoting our philanthropic actions to the public, however, should you have any questions about the actions we have taken you can feel free to email info@ibw-chicago.com and we will discuss those with you on a one-to-one basis.

If any of you would care to discuss this in further depth and detail, we are happy to make ourselves available to chat in person, human-to-human, in the way that constructive community change happens.

Rainy Day Project #10 (Volunteer)

Greetings Brothers & Sisters of the Planet Earth,

This has been a hard week for everyone. We're scared, we're angry, we're unsure and we want to run toward easy, comfortable, unnuanced places in our hearts and minds to hide from the pain. 

But pain is real. And so is what is happening outside all of our windows. And maybe what is happening outside our windows is happening because we have been avoiding pain for far too long. The pain of our neighbors. The pain of our fellow citizens. The pain of ourselves.

I don't want to say too much on this, I believe that our position is apparent in all the work we do. IBW works for Peace, Joy, Equality and, as an American company, we support Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Happiness and all of the rights, practices and obligations secured for all of our people by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. If you haven't recently, take time to read these documents.

To be clear, we all must insist on an end to the murder of black individuals by the people we as a community entrust with the power to support our law and order. Period.

Now, I know several police officers and fireman and they are great people. And I know they share this sentiment, too. We can stop these murders - first and foremost - and then move on to the rest of the work, which is healing for all men and women of the planet earth.

If you need help in your search for self amongst all of this pain and chaos, I have found the most recent episode of 10% Happier to be a great starting point. The guest is Lama Rod Owens and the topic is "An Uncomfortable (But Meaningful) Conversation About Race".

What is happening right now transcends politics. And demands honest and painful conversations. And it doesn't happen on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. It happens amongst humans, in the flesh, with nothing to hide behind and nothing to gain beyond the real connection to the human organism. And we are all one part of that organism.

It is all of our jobs now to see "The Other" and find out how we are like them, not how we are different. And it is all our jobs now to find out how we make ourself better and not how some "Other" needs to come closer to our ideas. The work to do is inside of you. And that work is really hard. So, you better start now.

One great way that helped me start to do the Work that I needed was volunteering. There is nothing like doing service for others that will teach you about yourself, expose you to people you otherwise would not meet, and learn skills that build your confidence and your value in supporting your community.

The rainy day project for today is to Volunteer. Find an organization that you think suits your current understanding of yourself and get involved.

There is no end of organizations that struggle for funding that need your support. Whether it's a neighborhood organization, a political group, a Hospice center, a food pantry, a shelter for people or for dogs. It doesn't matter. Go find something and get involved. Improve yourself and improve your world. Now.

Oh yeah, and there's beer available for when you need a break.

WE LOVE YOU, let's stop screwing this up.