Rainy Day Project #1: The Invisibles!

Well, here we are. What is it? Day 3 in our group meditation on Death? 

How's it going for you?

Say what you want, but, to my mind, we all needed a few weeks unplugged from our lifestyle. And, truly, any day is a good day to contemplate your mortal (and immortal) self.

It's also always a great time to dig back into books that you've read in the past. Books - and, really, any great art - have that uncanny ability to change with you, to shift and open up in ways that, in the past, when you were a different person, they hid.

Grant Morrison's "The Invisibles" was definitely one of those books for me (along with Robert Anton Wilson's "Illuminatus! Trilogy" (duh), Kerouac's "On the Road", and Philip K. Dick's "VALIS" to name a few). Written at a time when, by any calculus used, the world was a better place - the 1990's! - Morrison put together what is essentially an encyclopedia of all the great tropes of the Weirdosphere. He's pulled everything into this narrative: DMT, Aliens, Terrance McKenna, Gnosticism, the Archons!, subversive sexuality, Voodoo, transgenderism, dream work, meta narratives, Magick, Spiritism, Rave culture, The Beatles!!, Philip K. Dick, you freaking name it and Morrison worked it into this beautiful graphic novel.

You can read "The Invisibles" in it's entirety on-line for $.99 per issue. That's a screaming deal and is a bit more ethical (and less risky) than downloading it for free and stealing money from Mr. Morrison.

And, if reading isn't your thing (it should be!) you can watch the now infamous Grant Morrison lecture from Disinfo Con back in 2000

So, between reading "The Invisibles" and watching Morrison's brain-bending lecture, you should be able to keep yourself occupied with some constructive rabbit-holes for a couple days. Read the book! Watch the video! Do the work! Change your life, my friends, now is the time!

OH! I cleaned out my office over the weekend! It felt great! And, during this lovely exercise to bring order back in my life, I found an old Pareidolia poster from our collaboration with Parachute back in 2016. You can buy this long sold-out poster from our store at https://www.ibw-chicago.com/cult-propoganda/pareidolia-poster-signed-numbered. There's only one, so it probably won't last. 

Also, while I'm busy selling you crap, the nice gentleman at Beer Temple will ship you IBW mind-enhancing beverages for a nominal fee. Here's the link: https://store2.craftbeertemple.com/illuminated-brew-works/ 

That's it for today's Rainy Day Project. I'm going to send these out every few days. I hope you find them helpful, fun or even stupid. I just hope you find them. I've got some fun stuff coming up (DIY Ouija Boards and spirit communication apps, dream work, psionics devices, links to on-line books, dumb drawing contests, all kinds of stuff that's all over the map) so I hope you stick around. My hope is to provide you (and me!) some alternatives to sitting around in our underwear and watching TV for the next few weeks or months.

Below my "so long" is a list of where and how to get IBW right now. This is a work in progress so please let us know if we're missing something. 

Also! I hope you participate in our daily toast on Instagram at 7:23 PM! It's fun and gives you something to look forward to each day. If you don't know about it, details are also below.

Ok! Hang in there!

XOXOXOXO,

Brian

---

There's a few places that will do delivery right now in Chicago. My understanding is that none of them are same day, but, if you want your IBW and don't want to leave your house, try the following:

All the Binny's are open and will do curbside pick-up or delivery within their range.

Garfield's will do curbside pick-up, delivery and shipping.

Beer Temple will do curbside pick-up, delivery and shipping, also.

1340BWS in the West Loop is delivering booze through Drizly.

Of course, you can always sign up for the Tavour app. Those guys are the greatest and do a great job of shipping you the most delicious beer right to your doorstep all the time.

There are several places in Chicago and the burbs that are just offering curb-side pick up right now. They are:

• Bottles & Cans in Chicago

• Leo's in Woodridge

• Beer Cellars in Glen Elly & Geneva

• Beer on Central in Evanston

• Green Lady here in Chicago

• Beer on the Wall in Park Ridge

• Beer Bazarr in Hainesville

• Local Foods in Chicago

• Beermiscuous in Lakeview (Chicago)

This is not an exhaustive list, but it is what we have intel on right now. If you don't see your favorite bottle shop (or YOUR bottle shop if you're a store owner) please don't freak out, just email us at mind-control@ibw-chicago.com and get us information on your store (or your favorite store). We will keep a collected list on our website.

If you want to buy draft beer, there are a couple of places we can point you to. Email us at the above email address and we'll find the one closest to you.

First off, for those of you who are without work: The Illinois Restaurant Association (IRA), the Illinois Retail Merchants Association (IRMA), and the Illinois Food Retailers Association (IFRA) have compiled information on hundreds of temporary jobs at grocery stores and retailers throughout the state to meet the demand for food and supplies. Hopefully this will help some of you, our friends and neighbors.

Speaking of community, nothing says I LOVE YOUR STUPID FACE more than knocking glasses together. And, with this quarantine, that's going to be a part of life that we're all going to miss and miss hard. So everyday at 7:23pm we're going to post a photo on Instagram of one of our IBW cult members raising a glass and making a toast for something they love and want to make better. We encourage you to do the same thing.

It's real easy to participate:

• Post a photo of yourself with a beer raised and ready to consume on Instagram

• In the body of the Instagram post

• Add the hashtag #ILOVEYOUIMISSYOUIMDRINKINGTOYOURLIFEANDMINE

We'll collect these photos (use the hash tag #ILOVEYOUIMISSYOUIMDRINKINGTOYOURLIFEANDMINE so we can find them) and post them up to our website at some point when there's enough of them. It's a dumb little thing, but dumb little things are pretty freaking great, aren't they?

Ok, everybody, hang in there. Talk to your friends and family. Check in on everybody. Let's keep each other happy, healthy and growing during this challenging time. 

Where to find IBW while you Stay at Home...

Hi everybody!

We're reaching out to let you know about the best ways to secure your IBW during this episode of the Twilight Zone we've found ourselves in. I've got a few more announcements after I list the bottle shops and liquor store services available, so read on after that if you're interested.

There's a few places that will do delivery right now in Chicago. My understanding is that none of them are same day, but, if you want your IBW and don't want to leave your house, try the following:

All the Binny's are open and will do curbside pick-up or delivery within their range.

Garfield's will do curbside pick-up, delivery and shipping.

Beer Temple will do curbside pick-up, delivery and shipping, also.

1340BWS in the West Loop is delivering booze through Drizly.

Of course, you can always sign up for the Tavour app. Those guys are the greatest and do a great job of shipping you the most delicious beer right to your doorstep all the time.

There are several places in Chicago and the burbs that are just offering curb-side pick up right now. They are:

• Bottles & Cans in Chicago

• Leo's in Woodridge

• Beer Cellars in Glen Elly & Geneva

• Beer on Central in Evanston

• Green Lady here in Chicago

• Beer on the Wall in Park Ridge

• Beer Bazarr in Hainesville

• Local Foods in Chicago

• Beermiscuous in Lakeview (Chicago)

This is not an exhaustive list, but it is what we have intel on right now. If you don't see your favorite bottle shop (or YOUR bottle shop if you're a store owner) please don't freak out, just email us at mind-control@ibw-chicago.com and get us information on your store (or your favorite store). We will keep a collected list on our website.

If you want to buy draft beer, there are a couple of places we can point you to. Email us at the above email address and we'll find the one closest to you.

First off, for those of you who are without work: The Illinois Restaurant Association (IRA), the Illinois Retail Merchants Association (IRMA), and the Illinois Food Retailers Association (IFRA) have compiled information on hundreds of temporary jobs at grocery stores and retailers throughout the state to meet the demand for food and supplies. Hopefully this will help some of you, our friends and neighbors.

Over the next few weeks, I'm going to be sending out some Rainy Day Projects to help keep you all busy with things to do other than watch TV. To be fair, some of the projects might involve watching TV - some great series we've been enjoying, old movies, strange documentaries, that kind of thing - but I'm really going to try and focus on things like cool, free books on-line, dumb drawing projects, and some paranormal fun to try in your haunted apartment for when you're sick of talking to your room mate. This is a work in progress and will develop as we go along. But keep an eye on your inbox, our Facebook,Twitter and Instagram pages for updates. And, if you have any ideas, feel free to email them to me at t mind-control@ibw-chicago.com I hope this helps pass the time and bring us closer together as a community. 

Speaking of community, nothing says I LOVE YOUR STUPID FACE more than knocking glasses together. And, with this quarantine, that's going to be a part of life that we're all going to miss and miss hard. So everyday at 7:23pm we're going to post a photo onInstagram of one of our IBW cult members raising a glass and making a toast for something they love and want to make better. We encourage you to do the same thing.

It's real easy to participate:

• Post a photo of yourself with a beer raised and ready to consume on Instagram

• In the body of the Instagram post

• Add the hashtag #ILOVEYOUIMISSYOUIMDRINKINGTOYOURLIFEANDMINE

We'll collect these photos (use the hash tag #ILOVEYOUIMISSYOUIMDRINKINGTOYOURLIFEANDMINE so we can find them) and post them up to our website at some point when there's enough of them. It's a dumb little thing, but dumb little things are pretty freaking great, aren't they?

Ok, everybody, hang in there. Talk to your friends and family. Check in on everybody. Let's keep each other happy, healthy and growing during this challenging time. 

Fruit Slave & Trust Out Today

Hello friends,

We have indeed found ourselves in some strange and liminal times.

As the world takes a time out, we find ourselves standing in an abyss whose expanse is just not quantifiable right now. Or perhaps it's a reminder that the abyss is never quantifiable and the distractions we typically employ to forget that just don't have the bandwidth to manage our current predicament.

It is our prayer for you - our friends, neighbors, family, colleagues and brothers and sisters of the planet Earth - that we all, in our own way, find the place within ourselves to face this time with courage, love and the ultimate realization that we truly are all one people - one organism - whose greatest victory comes in the thriving of all others around us. We can realize this, and so many more potentials, and the opportunity to do this is right now. Please embrace it.

As much as we can, IBW is continuing production and distribution of our beer. Just like you, we have bills to pay, mouths to feed and many, many moments that we need to fill with hope and laughter. It has been our analysis that beer helps in that pursuit of belly laughs.

With that in mind, we are releasing two beers today: Fruit Slave, that 7.5% double dry-hopped double IPA made with motueka, citra & mandarina bavaria hops that you know and love. 

We've also got a new recipe we're very excited about. TRUST is a 6% lager made with Styrian Wolf hops, a slovenian hop strain that makes this crisp, classic lager a delightful little crusher.

Both beers are hitting all of your favorite bottle shops and liquor stores in Chicago today. Tomorrow they go to the west suburbs, Thursday the north suburbs & Friday the south suburbs. Trust is staying in Chicago only, but Fruit Salve will be hitting Ohio, Florida and Georgia later this week. And, the fine folks at Tavour will be listing Fruit Slave on their app within the next week or so. 

A number of you have asked and we're working to find a solution to get you access to some draft beer over the next few weeks as well. We will keep you plugged in on that as it develops.

Hang in there everybody, we've got a rough ride ahead of us, but we can move through this... together. Please give to others as much as you can, but, please, make sure you keep yourself healthy and full as well. You can't give without keeping yourself in order first.

And let's not talk about "getting back to normal". We here at IBW enjoy believing that what was passing as "normal" was quite a bit short of all of our highest potentials. So, let's not "get back to normal" let's move forward to something better, brighter, more informed, more generous and more joyful than we as a species have ever been before.

Old Irving Pbutt Stout Collab TODAY, Detroit, Ohio & Mail bag!

Every so often, we like to hear what our cult family has on their minds. Since we find social media a feral, pustulent scab on the human condition - and wildly inefficient when compared to the telepathic ONE MIND our cult members attain within weeks of initiation - we rely on the power of snail mail. So, let's head to the the Illuminated Brew Works telepathic mail bag and see what's shaking: 

From: Joan in Halifax, New Mexico, January 23rd, 2020

Dear Illuminated Brew Works,
Greetings to you, the most high acolytes of our 7 Sisters of the 11 Mysteries! I was recently in attendance at an IBW meet n' greet and one of your auditors informed me that Illuminated Brew Works beer is more than beer, it's a spiritual technology! I generally like to accept whatever I'm told without question, but I struggled with this bit of data, as I'm not sure what it means. 
Can you please illuminate me on IBW as a Spiritual Modality?

Hi Joan!
Thanks for asking and you're right: Illuminated Brew Works is so much more than just beer. In fact, "the beer" that we make is really a front. It's a delicious Trojan Horse, an intoxicating portal to the infinite, an electric ladder that you can ride to escape your petty, time-constrained human Identity that so many damaged souls cling to in wild desperation these days.
IBW is a liquid shew stone whose words and images you can ride to the grandest platitudes of Mind. As we like to say in the locker room of the sparring dungeon located just below the brewery, "Drink IBW and become God again!" 
My best recommendation for how to leverage the trans-dimensional qualities of our beer is to engage a three-pass solution to your meditation. 

1. Put on your most comfortable footy pajamas and sit in front of a large, loud stereo, playing white noise.

2. Drink your favorite IBW beverage (today we're drinking ANCIENT MAGICK!)

3. Chant your favorite mantra such as "INGEST" or "TUNA" until the facade of this reality washes into a vast and eternal pool of sound, light and sensation.

After that, how you use IBW beer is up to you. Remember to have fun and enjoy with people you trust!
Yours in space, 
XXX

There you have it! And, if you're looking for the perfect beverage to try your luck at IBW's home game, might we suggest ANCIENT MAGICK? It's a 10% peanut butter s'mores stout that we brewed with the goddamn loveliest bunch of folks in the world, Old Irving Brewing. This is a super small batch, limited run that goes on tap and is available in 2-packs at Old Irving Brewing starting today at 5pm. This will not last, so get there fast!

Next week, Brian heads out to Detroit to shake some babies and brew a collab beer with our friends at Garage Project. You Detroit cult members should be on the look out for this Double Dry-Hopped Double IPA around the last week of March. Stay tuned for more info.

After that, Old Man Bucky will be heading down to Cincinnati Ohio for the Cincy Winter Beer Fest where we'll be pouring all kinds of deliciousness including Junior Astronaut Juice, Brony & a super secret stout that we will tell you about the day of the event. The Cincy Winter Beer Fest is happening Friday and Saturday March 5th & 6th. Get your tickets here!!

Be on the look out for a new and delicious Premium Lager made with Styrian Wolf hops that will drop to our Chicago and suburb accounts on Tuesday, March 10th. TRUST is our first lager in 16oz cans and is a delicious, crystalline lager with subtle notes of citrus, tropical grass and grain. It's a perfect tool for your next seance.

We love you, we know it's hard, and we'll all get through this together.

Godspeed!!

Brian, Matt, Jason, Ethan, Wally, Jim, Lucas & Juan

Brony Label Blues

2020 has slithered into our lives with all it's complicated colors and phosphorescent headaches and we're glad you're still here to celebrate with us. Nobody said the future would be without it's questions but it sure would be nice if everybody learned to love the answers just a little bit less. Knowi'msayin'?

We received a truly lovely letter from the lawyers at the Hasbro company the other day. They were touched by our homage to their army of lovable ponies and the people who love those lovable steeds. In fact, they were so enthralled with the Brony label that they have asked us to stop making it. How about that?!

Now, as if we need to restate it, we're in the business of making lives lighter, brighter and a little tighter all the while getting you slightly higher, so we don't have an interest in spending any more time than necessary in our fabled courts of law. In an effort to keep our priorities in the cross hairs, we've decided NOT to unleash our vicious pack of litigational wizards on Hasbro's - I'm sure - second rate legal team. 

So, my friends, what is left of the Brony that you see on the shelves right now will be the last time you see that beautiful can in it's current form. So sad, but all things, in time, must pass. And there, in that notion, is the root of all beauty. Enjoy it. 

Now, let's be clear: We are not retiring Brony the beer, but we will be redesigning the label so as not to court the ire of the lovely folks at Hasbro. Get it while you can! (And, in all honesty, their lawyers were super sweet and, if you didn't pick up on the rhetorical exercise above, much smarter, well-funded and far more prone to winning than us...).

In other beer news, a fresh batch of Junior Astronaut Juice hit the streets this week in Chicago. You fine, furry freaks in Utah, Ohio, Michigan and Florida should be seeing it on your shelves in the next week or so as well. We've got some fancy new cans for this batch and it's tasting better than ever. Give yourself a treat, why don't ya?

Speaking of Brony! The Owl will be celebrating Valentine's Day by pouring GLITTER BRONY all night. That's right, Brony, in it's pure and unrefined state, is actually full of glitter and kind of pink. Who knew? We go through a great deal of pains to turn that beautiful substance into the mass consumed beer-looking beverage that most of you see. But on February the 14th, for one night only, you will get the pure, unstepped-on and straight from the belly button of an adorable little pony beverage as it is meant to be: Fabulous and Glittery!

Here's some other lovely bits to be on the look out for in the next few weeks (updates coming by way of Facebook, Instagram , Twitter & this lovely email list as they get released):

• Ballad of the Peanut Butter Pony is coming to you in 16oz cans in early March!

• Ancient Magic, a peanut butter smore's stout that we made with Old Irving Brewingwill be released later this month. We're putting some of it in a 12-year Weller barrel, so prepare thyself for that!

• Black Fangs, our collab with Kuma's & Dark Matter coffee, is going to be available in all Kuma's all the time for a while. Ask for it by name, but say it backwards! This will also be canned later this year with some freaking SICK can art on it.

• If you haven't tried it yet, we made SUNDAY BEST, an American golden ale with fresh fig leaves, that is a truly wild and wonderful compliment to the insanely delicious food at the new restaurant from Johnny & Beverly of Parachute fame. You can only get this at Wherewithall so, yeah, do that.

• A new batch of Fruit Slave will drop early March as well.

• There is more... so much more... but we like to keep a secret now and then. Soon, all will be revealed.

OK! Please remember that the world everyone is trying to convince you exists DOES NOT EXIST. The only reason someone wants to make you believe in their shitty world view is because they want to infect you with a virile & rabid strain of necrotic boredom. Don't be a victim! Be brave, be subversive, be creative and fall in love with the world, treat it like the greatest lover you have ever had and it will respond in kind back to you. Be strange enough to imagine a world you want to live in and get to living in it, beautiful people!

We love you, take it easy, do it slower and read a book, you'll love it!