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Hey it’s Friday! So you might think you know what you’re doing this Memorial Day Weekend, though you might have to change your plans, since we’ve got some great ideas on how to make it even better. From the nation’s coolest beer festivals to movies, music, and cutting-edge TV – we’ve got your back. We’ve also found a Weekend Beer Pick for you too, because we know you’ll be drinking.
Without further ado, here’s our awesome Memorial DayWeekend Picks…
SMaSH!! (Bend, Or) Today begins the Central Oregon Beer Week, a celebration of this booming region’s 26 brewers, getting started with the Single Malt and Single Hop or SMaSH Fest. Taking place at McMenamin’s St. Francis School in Bend, seventeen local brewers will try their hand at the most basic elements a beer requires. The festival runs today only, but their beer week continues until next Saturday, the 31st.
Don’t Get Mad, Have a Drink… Put on your bermudas and strap on your whiskey helmet, this Sunday the first half of the final season of Mad Men sadly comes to a close. Only the seventh episode of the season, they’ve decided to follow the path broken by Breaking Bad, drawing out the last season with multiple peaks and valleys to keep us coming back. I, for one, am hoping for some juicy action this time around as the season thus far has been dragging its heels up until last weekend’s developments.
Don’t Forget Your Kite (Bradley, CA) Located betwixt San Francisco and Los Angeles, this weekend’s Lightning in a Bottle Festival is certain to be quite a trip. Put on by The DO LaB, a group that promotes sustainability, social cohesion, personal growth and creative expression, LIB is billed as a more organized version of Burning Man. This year’s festival will take place at Lake San Antonio, showcasing big electronic, DJ and indie rock acts like Moby and Phantogram. They cater to the hippie crowd with a camping experience, a Temple of Consciousness, various speakers, art installations, Yoga, Workshops and various independent merchants. Hope someone brings some craft beer… and HEY, don’t Bogart that joint man!
Blockbuster Fest 2014 Some big films are opening this weekend, the biggest of which might just split up the household. On one hand, you’ve got the latest Adam Sandler / Drew Barrymore rom-com vehicle, Blended. One the other, one of the most anticipated 
fan-boy, action/comic films of the year, X-Men: Days of Future Past. Both will be released in over 3,000 theaters nationally and it seems pretty clear to me that both will also draw viewers from all over the spectrum. Or if you’re in New York, you can check out a little IFC film showing in only 2 theaters, a documentary on the life of Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia.
Our Can’t Miss Weekend Beer Pick
Center of the Universe Brewing has declared Saturday “Homefront IPA Day” in their stomping grounds of Richmond, VA. They wanted to spread the importance of Memorial Day in 2011 by creating a collaboration IPA with Seattle’s Fremont Brewing featuring fresh orange zest, aged on donated Louisville Slugger bats. The sales of the beer will generate over $150,000 this year, will be brewed by 9 other brewers throughout the US, is available at their festival Saturday and at 20 locations throughout the Richmond area. You can follow this great event on Twitter: #HomefrontIPA and @HopsForHeroes or at Facebook.com/HopsForHeroes
