So many craft beers, so little time. With so many craft breweries, releasing so many beers, we thought it might help to provide a weekly update on all the new beers that are hitting the streets …..So welcome to this week’s edition of Newbies – your guide to great new craft beer releases!

Return of the Tartan (Alexandria, VA) – Our friend, Bill Butcher, the founder of Port City Brewing Company, just announced that he’s re-releasing his special edition “Tartan Ale” this spring. This year’s release will be very limited and will be sold at select retail, restaurants and bars in Washington DC, Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina starting in March. And Bill says that they’ll only be releasing 180 barrels! So if you’ve not yet sampled Port City Tartan Ale, you know what to do!

BeakTweaker Arrives This Weekend (Redmond, WA) – Black Raven Brewing Company’s wildly popular seasonal Citrus IPA arrives this weekend and you want to be ready! This hop-forward favorite will debut on draft at their taproom on Saturday. Black Raven BeakTweaker Citrus IPA will also be available in 22 oz bottles!

Winning Michigan Homebrewer To Show His Stuff (Kalamazoo, MI) – The winner of Bell’s Brewery’s Third Annual Homebrew Competition will be tapped at 3 pm this Saturday at the Eccentric Café in downtown Kalamazoo. Nick Rodammer’s Manden Med Leen (Danish for grim reaper) is a black IPA brewed with Belgian yeast that uses barley from the Bell’s Farm in Shepherd, Michigan. This triple-hopped champion merges three IPA styles – Black, Rye and Belgian – and melds them together winningly.

Directors’ Cut Released (Boston, MA) – Harpoon has just released the latest addition to their 100 Barrel Series that was initiated to showcase the individual talents of its brewers. For the 46^th session of the series, they tapped Jim Perry and Mark Edwards, one-half of Harpoon Brewery’s Board of Directors and they came up with the appropriately named “series release” Directors’ Cut, a blend of pale ale and stout. “Directors’ Cut” is dark yet drinkable and comes in at a very manageable 6.3% ABV. The Harpoon 100 Barrel Series Directors’ Cut is out in 22 oz. bottles with limited draft availability.

Pentagram Streets in February (Brooklyn Center, MN) – Surly Brewing Company’s head brewer, Todd Haug confirmed via Twitter the upcoming return of Surly Pentagram. “Pentagram” is a 100% Brettanomyces dark beer fermented in stainless and aged in used red wine barrels. The word from Haug is that Pentagram will be a February release and we’re good with that.

Rogue Celebrates Saint Paddy’s (Newport, OR) – Rogue Ale’s award-winning Irish Lager is back for a limited time in 2013 as the craft beer of choice for St. Patrick’s Day. Rogue Irish Lager has gained worldwide acclaim, winning a Gold medal at the Australian Beer Awards and 8 medals at the World Beer Championships. Rogue’s Irish will be available on draft and in 22 oz serigraphed bottles in February and March.

Who Love’s Ya? (Newport, OR) – Rouge Ales also has your back when it comes to Valentine’s Day! Show that special someone you love them twice as much with Rogue Chocolate Stout and Rogue Double Chocolate Stout. Both of Rogue’s Chocolate Stouts are available now in limited release 22 oz bottles, with a new “Valentine Red” label.