Hey it's Friday and we're heading into the weekend. With the holidays just around the corner (not to mention the End of Times as predicted by the Mayan calendar), you've never been busier, and you, no doubt, need a break! So if you're up for some ideas, we've got them. We're all about the fun and we've got you covered. Plus we've got some special "End of the World" weekend beer picks for you too! So welcome to our Weekend Picks!

When someone tells you that it rains all the time in Seattle, it's because of winter. So, last weekend it was great to get out of the elements and into the Hale's Ales Palladium for the Washington Beer Commission's Winter Beer Fest.

Chicago has always been a beer town, but it's not always been thought of as a craft beer town. Yes, the windy city has been home to many fine craft brewers in the past (Goose Island comes immediately to mind) but we think it's safe to say that it's never been considered a major craft beer city on the level of a Portland, a San Diego, or a Seattle. Fast forward to today and all that's changing big-time. Chicago is now in the midst of a major craft beer renaissance and the whole country has taken notice.

So what happened?

In this episode, our Pittsburgh Correspondent, Bailey Wiggle, and her cat, show us how to make awesome beer bread!

It's official. Your American Craft Beer San Francisco correspondent will be packing up his pint glasses, traveling across the country, and relocating to Chicago in January. Since my days in the Bay are numbered, I've put together a short bucket list of beer-related places I must visit before I pioneer across the country. Some of these I've done before while others are suggestions from the beer community in San Francisco.

Hey it's Wednesday and it's Rumor Mill Time! 1988 was a very big year for a number of start-up craft breweries and Deschutes is getting them all together to celebrate their shared anniversaries! We'll be giving you everything that we know so far, plus we've got some fast-breaking craft beer news from Hangar 24 and Dogfish Head......We also have a hot new release that you've got to get your hands on. So fasten your seatbelt because......THIS WEEK'S RUMOR MILL IS ON!

With this weekend's Winter Warmer Fest fast approaching, I reached out to event organizer Matthew Leff to get the most updated information about the event, and, most importantly, to ask why a non-Dallasite has chosen our fair city to host a beer festival focusing on some of the biggest brews from local and national breweries.

With the holidays just around the corner, we thought it might be a good time to highlight some of this season's more interesting craft beer gift ideas for the 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 two parts this year.

900 per week - that's approximately how many growlers they're filling every seven days at the Growler Guys located out of a Shell Station/convenience store in Bend, Oregon. Kizer and Kent Couch are the Growler Guys and they have thirty working taps that they're changing up constantly. Think about that - the pumps outside only offer three grades of gas - (four if you include diesel) yet there are thirty working taps inside serving up some of the freshest beer from some of the best brewers in America!

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!