We blame the industry for this… It used to be that when we wrapped up our Weekend Picks on Friday, we could coast through the weekend. There was little need to check in for updates – things were pretty much done. But clearly all that’s changed. So here’s some of what’s happened in the world of craft beer while you were enjoying yourselves.

DEA Cowers as Breweries Openly Flaunt Joint Effort (Seattle, WA) – Much to the consternation of the DEA, who must now passively sit by the wayside as Redhook Brewery and Hilliard’s Beer flaunt their new collaboration beer, “Joint Effort.” This collaboration was brewed to celebrate their mutual brewing heritage and the legalization of Marijuana in Washington State. And, oh yeah, it’s brewed using hemp seeds!

Craft Beer & Jazz in the East Village (New York, NY) – The NYC Craft Beer Festival-Summer Jazz will be taking place this Saturday (6/20) at the NYC’s Webster Hall. And since this is the first craft beer festival that’s taken place in Manhattan since SAVOR (which happened in early June), we’re thinking the city’s ready! We’ve been told that this festival is featuring more than 150 of the season’s best beers along with some of the city’s best jazz that’s been booked by NYC’s legendary Blue Note Jazz Club. This one’s going to be interesting… We’re not sure that a jazz meets craft beer festival has ever happened anywhere on this scale before.

Fast Facts from Oregon (Portland, OR) – Normally statistics make our eyes glaze over, but not these! Oregon just updated their craft beer numbers and all we can say is wow. Here goes…

• Oregon’s brewing companies employ 6400 full and part-time employees – up 900 jobs over 2011.
• There are currently 137 brewing companies operating 175 brewing facilities in 59 cities in Oregon.
• The total economic impact from the beer industry is $2.83 billion. The industry employs 29,000 people.
• Oregonians consumed 2.79 million barrels of beer in 2012, and more than 17% of that was made in Oregon.
• Oregon’s brewers made 1.296 million barrels of beer in 2012, up 11% from 2011.
• It’s estimated that 47% of all draft beer consumed in Oregon is brewed in Oregon.

Unfortunate Beer Name Now A Travel Destination in Europe (Fucking, Austria) – Sometimes you just can’t make this stuff up. The European Union (EU) has just granted a permit to an Austrian brewery to officially name their beer: Fucking Hell. “Hell” in German means “Light” and the beer is produced in the Austrian town of Fucking.

Craft Beer Ups its Ante at the Nation’s Casinos (Boston, MA) – The demand for craft beer is finally showing signs of life at America’s casinos – long a bastion for shit beer and corporate lagers. The Boston Globe is reporting that craft beer is finally beginning to make inroads at gambling meccas, such as Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas as well as at Connecticut casinos Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun.

Shocker – Nebraska Legislators to Look into Doing the Right Thing! (Lincoln, NE) – In a striking departure from form, The Republic is reporting that “state lawmakers have introduced a legislative study to see what the state can do to help craft breweries expand in the state.” The study will look into taxation issues (duh!) and whether self-distribution could help startups (double duh!).