Just as the bacon-wrapped hot dog made a push to become the official hot dog of LA, it seems like the West Coast IPA is following the same trend in the City of Angels' craft beer scene. More and more California and LA-based breweries are catering to the demand of the IPA by brewing multiple varieties of the craft style. The IPA has become like a trendy steakhouse where carnivores have the blood thirsty urge to try them all because each steak can range in taste and quality. There have been several amazing beers that have been released in LA throughout the year that are not IPAs, but for my three favorite 2013 beers, I'm sticking with this increasingly popular style.

With the holidays just around the corner, we thought it might be a good time to highlight some of this season's more interesting gift ideas for the craft beer lover on your list. So we turned to our American Craft Beer correspondents for suggestions and we got so many great ideas back that we were forced to divide our guide into three parts this year. If you missed our first installment, you should check it out; it's got lots of fun ideas - Holiday Guide Part 1

Now on to Part 2 of this year's Holiday Shopping Guide .....And, oh yeah, HO, HO, HO!

I probably sound like a broken record, but the fact remains true: Nebraska is growing and expanding in the craft beer world. The craft beer scene throughout the state is expanding almost daily it seems, with discussions of new brewery openings becoming a regular topic between craft beer lovers in the state. It's fantastic - it pretty much makes my heart sing with joy! (Hey, if I can't get cheesy around the holidays, then when can I?)

I thought this would be an easy assignment, thinking of my three favorite beers from Nebraska for the year. I thought to myself, "hey, thanks for an early Christmas present, Tom!" But boy was I wrong.

So many beers, So little time...Newbies is your essential map to the "best of the best" and the hottest new craft beers rolling out each week, and this week, we're all about the cold weather seasonal. From Ska's Hibernal Vinifera Stout to Black Raven Old Birdbrain Barleywine, we've got all kinds of new releases you're going to want to chase down. So welcome to another edition of Newbies - your ultimate guide to great new craft beers! 

Hey it's Wednesday and that means it's Rumor Mill Time... The Victory Brewing World Domination Tour continues and we'll be bringing you everything we know so far. Plus we've got some huge news coming out of "The Last Frontier," and some updates from the Hop Kitchen bandwagon. But that's not all... we've also got a special Rumor Mill winter release you'll want to chase down before the holidays.

So fasten your seat belts everybody because... THIS WEEK'S RUMOR MILL IS ON!

With the holidays fast upon us, we thought it might be helpful to highlight some of this seasons more interesting craft beer gift ideas for that beer lover on your list. So we turned to our American Craft Beer correspondents for suggestions and we got so many great ideas back that we were forced to divide our guide into three parts this year.

So welcome to Part 1 of this year's Holiday Shopping Guide....

Being in the beer business, probably the most frequent (and frankly obnoxious) question you hear is "What is your favorite beer"? First of all, there are just too many to choose from! Too many styles, too many breweries, too many great beers! But, who is to say that my favorite beer has even been brewed yet?

We may have just experienced the coldest weekend in recent memory in Dallas, but things are about to heat up as the Dallas Winter Warmer fest rolls into town once again. And the event organizers aren't playing around with the beer list for this one - be prepared for your 5 oz. Belgian snifter to be sufficiently boozed up with some of the best stouts, porters, and barrel-aged beauties around.

Over the past few years, DC breweries have really been coming into their own and are now on an upswing. Still, DC is more of a brewpub-inhabited area. There's a pretty good amount of them, with the likes of Capitol City Brewing Company, Gordon Biersch, and the newest addition to the scene, Bluejacket, all having solid reputations around the city. They all make quality products, no doubt, but I'm going to discuss my favorite beers from straight-up breweries for this article.

'Tis the season for year-end lists and seriously, who doesn't enjoy reminiscing about those great things that've populated our lives over the past 365 days? I tend to specifically revel in the year-end music lists, as I generally create one each year as well, but this will be my first attempt to conjure from the mists that lurk in the back of my noggin those beers that made Oregon proud, in turn, making the year even tastier.