So many beers, So little time … Newbies is your essential map to the “best of the best” and the hottest new craft beers rolling out each week. From Stone Brewing’s first-ever Spotlight Series Release to the latest from Cedar Creek and Upslope Brewing – we’ve all kinds of beers that you’ll want to chase down.

So welcome to another edition of Newbies -Your ultimate guide to great new craft beers!

Deceitful and Dangerous – Not That That’s a Bad Thing (Boulder, CO) – Upslope Brewing Company has a new limited release that drinks light yet packs some wallop. Upslope Belgian Style Pale Ale is a wonderfully deceptive summer seasonal with a light body that belies its hefty 7.5% ABV kick. This one’s out there now – so you know what to do.

Lit (Escondido, CA) – Stone Brewing has just released the first beer in their Stone Spotlight Series, which highlights the winners of a year-long, intra-company brewing competition pitting two-person teams from Stone’s Brew Crew against each other to see whose beer recipe reigns supreme.The winners not only get their beer brewed, packaged, and distributed nationally, but they also get to go on tour alongside their champion creation, which sounds like a total blast. The winner was Rick & Robbie’s Spröcketbier, a sessionable black rye Kölsch-style ale that’s rolling out now in 22 oz. bottles and on draft.

Dankosaurus Sighting (Seven Points, TX) – Cedar Creek Brewery recently released its fourth year-round beer and we’re pretty damned excited about it. Cedar Creek Dankosaurus IPA is their 6.8% ABV East Texas homage to the West Coast IPA that features bold pine, citrus, peach, and tangerine hop flavors and was dry-hopped with 15 lbs of experimental hops per batch to impart a seriously dank aroma. This monster’s available now in 16 oz. cans, sold as a 4-pack, and on draft.

The Ultimate Session IPA Kiss-Off (San Diego, CA) – Green Flash Brewing is arrogantly bucking the session IPA trend that’s been sweeping the nation with their newest release. Their bold, new IPA is the opposite of sessionable and they’re proud of it! Named as a homage to the brewery’s tireless sales team, Green Flash Road Warrior is a 9% ABV Imperial Rye IPA–the first of the brewery’s three seasonal offerings–that will be available from May through August in 12 oz. 4-packs, 22 oz. bottles, and on draft.

Blacklight Collaboration (Portland, OR) – Widmer Brothers Brewing and Boneyard Beer are rolling out the first of six Widmer Brothers limited-release collaboration beers with Oregon breweries to be released this year as part of a series that commemorates Widmer Brothers’ 30 years of brewing beer and the unique camaraderie between Oregon’s craft brewers. Blacklight IPA is a hop-forward, sessionable 4.2% ABV black ale with a heavy dose of five different hop varieties and stained black with cold-steeped dark malts. This limited-edition IPA will be available in the coming weeks in 22 oz. bottles and on draft in select markets, including Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, San Diego, Minneapolis, New York City, Boston, and Philadelphia.