As a relative foreigner and native of Southern California, it can be tricky to orient oneself in this madly eclectic place. My oft-shunned geographic heritage not only sets me up for navigational failure downtown, but it also places me among a huge new demographic of foreigners doing our best to live out the dream of the 90s. It's difficult to understand Portland's culture until you've survived 8 months of grey skies and steady rain. You quickly learn why there are more breweries than any other city in the world (52), almost as many strip clubs (50), and a penchant for gourmet donuts.

One of the things that we love about the Flying Dog Brewery is their unique and brilliant imaging. And the fact that their iconic labels feature the artwork of the legendary Ralph Steadman (a true American genius) doesn't suck either. So when Flying Dog's, Director of Communications, Erin Weston advanced us this timely communiqué, we thought you'd want to know...

One of Lincoln, Nebraska's exciting new restaurant concepts, Jack & June, is giving the people what they want - locally sourced dishes & locally brewed beer.

Craft beer collaborations have grown exponentially over the last couple of years and have become increasingly popular with brewers and serious beer fans everywhere. What was once just a curiosity, collaboration projects are now very much a part of today's craft beer landscape...And there are reasons why they're now so important.

So many beers, So little time...From special collaborations and craft beer one-offs to exciting new fall and winter seasonals, Newbies is your essential map to the "best of the best" and the hottest new craft beers rolling out each week ...

So welcome to another edition of Newbies - your guide to great new craft beer releases!

There's absolutely nothing like the wrath of a lover scorned as exemplified by a Bloomfield Hills, Michigan man who bought a home next to his ex-wife and erected a giant statue of a hand giving "the middle finger." This gesture, which dates back to Ancient Greece (and represents the phallus), has long been seen as the ultimate sign of contempt and disrespect - but we don't think we've ever seen it used on this kind of scale.

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.

Two Belgian professors who teach at the Catholic University of Leuven recently conducted a test that gave us pause. What they decided to do was to submit the Antwerp library's 10 most borrowed books to bacteriology and toxicology tests.

And we've got to admit the results they got back were concerning...

Hey it's Friday and the weekend's almost here. The temperature's dropping and you're more ready than ever for some serious fun. Well good, because we are on it! From the nation's coolest beer festivals to movies, music and cutting edge TV - we've got your back big-time.

So welcome to this week's edition of our awesome Weekend Picks.

So many beers, So little time...From special collaborations and craft beer one-offs to exciting new fall and winter seasonals, Newbies is your essential map to the "best of the best" and the hottest new craft beers rolling out each week. So welcome to this week's edition of Newbies - your guide to great new craft beer releases!