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 off enjoying yourselves.

American Beer Classic to Touch Down at RFK (Washington, DC) – The crew at Red Frog knows how to throw an event, that’s for sure. They put on last weekend’s Firefly Festival over in Dover, Delaware, and the American Beer Classic at Soldier Field in Chicago – and now they’re bringing their American Beer Classic to DC as well. Billed as “Great Beer on Iconic Fields,” the DC festival (which is rolling into the capital on July 12^th) will be taking place at the city’s historic RFK Stadium.

Is Three Times the Charm? (Petaluma, CA) – Never shy about making news, Lagunitas Brewing Founder Tony Magee generated some buzz last week in an interview with the Press Democrat, when he mentioned that with his new Chicago facility having just come online, he’s already “thinking about building a third new brewery within the next three years.”

Beer – Is There Anything It Can’t Do? (Tyler, TX) – The latest addition to the ever-growing list of beer’s benefits is that of Snail Deterrent – you know, those small slimy creatures that can chew up your garden. Well, an open beer strategically placed might be the best solution to that “slug line” that’s been eating up your flowers. KETK is reporting that “slugs are attracted to the fermented smell of the beer,” and that they’ll take that fatal dive into the open brew and spare your plants.

Guided By Voices (Milton, DE) – If you care about music as we do at ACB, you’ll be excited to hear about Dogfish Head’s celebration of the 20th anniversary of their seminal Guided by Voices album, Bee Thousand – and the beer that they brewed to celebrate it with. Dogfish Head BEER Thousand is an Imperial Lager, chosen to echo the copious amounts of lager that fueled GBV’s garage recordings. It was brewed using 10 grains and 10 hop varieties, and clocks in at 10% ABV. 10x10x10 = BEER Thousand – get it? Guided by Voices will be playing a Dogfish-sponsored show on August 21^st at the Milton Theater, just blocks from Dogfish Head’s brewery. In the fall, BEER Thousand will be packaged and released along with a 10-inch record featuring 10 songs recorded live during the band’s first tour.

Beer Week Alert (Lansing, MI) – The third annual Lansing Beer Week kicked off last weekend and is running from June 20 to June 28 all throughout the greater Lansing area. According to the event’s sponsors, the “goal of Lansing Beer Week is to raise awareness of the Michigan craft beer industry while promoting patronage to local establishments and stimulating the greater Lansing area’s retail economy and Michigan made products” – but we’re thinking it’s a week of drinking “serious beers” with fun people in cool places!