Beer and studio time. What better incentive for Iowa City’s best local bands to battle it out in a month long test of musical prowess and popularity?

Every Thursday in September, the Yacht Club, 13 S. Linn St., will host a preliminary round of rock combat, starting today at 8 p.m.

The New Belgium/Minstrel Studios Battle of the Bands will culminate on Oct. 16 in a final rock-off in which the winner will be awarded a week’s worth of recording time at local recording joint Minstrel Studios. The runner-up will receive a consolation prize — a day’s worth of studio time and a keg full of New Belgium’s Fat Tire beer.

“[If I could choose,] I’d take the keg and day of studio time,” said AJ Wessling, the bassist for competing band 5 in a Hand. “I would, but I don’t know about the rest of the band.”

This is the second New Belgium/Minstrel Studios Battle of the Bands. Last year’s event produced two CDs from local bands Ephraim Zen and Dead Larry. Wessling said 5 in a Hand is working on a new album, but more studio time would be a blessing.

“We’ve still got some material that we weren’t able to get done when we were in the studio before,” he said. “We could extend the album or make a whole new one.”

Of course, that all depends on the votes. Unlike some of the other battles in town, this event will be entirely democratic — the fate of the bands relies wholly on the crowd’s decision rather than that of any judges.

“If you bring a big crowd, you’ve got a pretty good chance to win,” Yacht Club owner Scott Kading said. “Here, you can completely suck, and if you have a big crowd, you win.”

The Yacht Club has hosted numerous similar events over the years, including the Camp Euforia Battle of the Bands and an event titled Acoustic Cage Match. Each one has a different flavor — for this battle, it’s obviously beer.

“We know the Fat Tire guy really well,” Kading said. “I was talking to the Fat Tire guy and the guy in charge of the studio was standing there, and I’m like, ‘Why don’t we do some kind of neat joint event? You know, we can host it down here and from the proceeds of the door, pay for the studio time.’ ”

Then, New Belgium offered to donate a keg of Fat Tire to the event, and the New Belgium/Minstrel Studios Battle of the Bands was born.

“Last year was really entertaining,” Kading said. “None of the bands really screw around — they’re all pretty serious about it.”

Wessling plans to approach the battle as he would any other show.

“I won’t think about it as a battle while I’m there because nerves get all weird,” he said. “You think about the show differently than if you were just going to go play a regular show.”

Along with the competitive aspect of the event, he finds the voting to be distracting as well.

“That’s just another thing to throw on top of just thinking about playing the show,” Wessling said.

“Sometimes I feel like it almost ruins it, but sometimes I think it’s really fun, too.”