Hey it’s Friday, the weekend’s almost here, and you are beyond ready for some serious fun. Well good, because that’s where we come in. From the nation’s coolest beer festivals to movies, music and cutting edge TV – we’ve got your back big-time. And we’ve another of our weekend beer picks for you – so you’ll want to check that out. So welcome to this week’s edition of our awesome Weekend Picks.

Great Lakes Bound – Racine, Wisconsin will be hosting the Great Lakes Brew Fest this Saturday (9/14) and it’s one of the good ones. It debuted in 2004, and has grown from a small fest featuring 35 breweries to a nationally acclaimed destination event. This year’s festival is celebrating its 9th year and will feature unlimited samplings of more than 250 craft beers and sodas from nearly 100 brewers on the beautiful shore of Lake Michigan. For more info on what promises to be one of this weekend’s best beer events, check out: Great Lakes Brew Fest

The Golden Age of TV – It’s been said that we may have entered the “golden age of television” and we have to agree. Cutting-edge networks like AMC, FX, Showtime, and of course, HBO are the new champions of brave and brilliantly written dramas and character-rich sagas, many of which are now considered to be among TV’s best. If you’ve not been watching the riveting final episodes leading up to the conclusion of AMC’s epic Breaking Bad, well then, it’s time to rethink your life choices. But it’s not just Breaking Bad that has made staying at home cool again. There are all kinds of binge-worthy television options out there nowadays and many of them put Hollywood to shame. HBO’s adult fantasy, Game of Thrones (now in-between seasons) is one of the most beautifully filmed and richly drawn epics ever produced for TV. And last week, HBO’s brooding gangster series Boardwalk Empire returned for its fourth season and if this year is even half as good as the last, we are totally in! This quiet revolution may have been missed by the folks in Hollywood who are so busy cranking out comic book shit for a world market that they’ve not yet noticed that American movies are becoming increasingly less relevant and definitely less artful than what’s happening on contemporary TV today.

Oktoberfest Time – Our friends from the Beer Summit will be presenting the 12^th annual Samuel Adams Octoberfest in Boston this weekend. This two-day fall celebration (9/13 – 9/14) is taking place downtown at the legendary Park Plaza Castle and will feature some truly amazing seasonals. Friday evening’s VIP Preview Reception will feature a keg-tapping ceremony, 15 styles of Sam Adams beer and live German music. For more info on this fall fest, check out: Samuel Adams Octoberfest

Riot in Chicago – Riot Fest, a national three-day celebration of punk rock, is landing in Chicago’s Humboldt Park this weekend. It originated in the “Windy City” back in 2005 and has since then grown into something bigger that now includes visits to Denver and Toronto, carnival rides, and a mind-blowing roster of more than 70 bands. As in the past, the lineup features a mix of local talent and big-name acts with national followings. On Friday, you can check out North Shore pop-rock band Fall Out Boy. Saturday brings rap legends Public Enemy and current indie darlings Surfer Blood. Sunday will feature a couple of acclaimed new Chicago bands, Maps & Atlases and Twin Peaks.

Our Awesome Weekend Beer Pick

Hoppin’ Frog Brewery will be bringing in Friday the 13^th the right way – with the release of a special fall seasonal. Heathen Imperial Black IPA is their 8.8% ABV hopped-up Black Pale Ale, and it’s available today in 22 oz. bombers at their Akron, Ohio-based compound!