Hey, it's Friday, and if you're like us, you are ready for a break. You've been killing it at work this week and you're in desperate need of fun. That's where we come in! We're all about it and we've got you covered with beer fests in Charlotte and San Diego and our movie pick. Plus we've got a special weekend beer pick for you too...So welcome to this week's edition of our awesome Weekend Picks!

There is always a lot happening in the great northwest, especially when it comes to beer. With so many breweries, bars, bottle shops and brewpubs in the area, it becomes tough to actually hit all of them. But this weekend we did our best as we hit up two openings and an anniversary. Intrigued yet? Well, you should be.

So many 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 .....This week, we've got new releases from Weyerbacher, Left Hand Brewing, Rogue and others. So welcome to this week's edition of Newbies - your guide to great new craft beer releases!

A war-torn man comes home from a tour in Iraq searching for a new life, a new identity, when he is reunited with three of his high school friends in the city where they grew up together - Orange, CA. To cope and readjust to the world he'd left behind, Brian Lambros and his friends turned to the thing that solidified their friendship: beer.

Hey it's Wednesday and it's Rumor Mill Time.....Brewery Ommegang has gotten into bed with HBO's "Game of Thrones" crew and have just debuted their fantasy & craft beer mash-up at SXSW down in Austin. We'll be giving you everything that we know so far, plus we've got some fast-breaking craft beer news from our friends at Upslope, as well as from the boys in Boulder. We've also got a hot new release that you will definitely want to run down! So fasten your seatbelts everybody....THIS WEEK'S RUMOR MILL IS ON!

Massachusetts-based brewer Chris Lohring has a lot to celebrate these days. Notch Brewing is about to hit its third anniversary, low ABV brews are getting a lot of (controversial) attention in the craft beer industry, and Session Beer Day is around the corner. I was lucky to get in touch with Chris last week to pick his brain about the state of Notch in 2013.

My brewery tour led me next to the recently vacated Ale Asylum location, where Madison's newest brewery Karben4 has, in six short weeks of life, swept in and stirred up quite the commotion. Noted "Most Impressive" at a recent beer festival, and heartily pumping out 15 barrels a week, Karben4 is making waves. Delicious, malty waves.

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 your weekend.

Patience is a virtue, but not one Harpoon Brewery possesses. Why wait to celebrate St. Patrick's Day on March 17th when you can celebrate it now? Based on the hordes of party-goers that descended on the Seaport last Friday and Saturday, it looks like Boston agrees: when it comes to celebrating the end of winter, the sooner the better. 

Last Tuesday, I started my day at 10:30 am at craft beer bar The Meddlesome Moth, entered the official walk-in cooler of a sprits superstore, got a behind-the-scenes tour of a new gastropub, and ended the day with a five-course craft beer pairing dinner. If you're getting jealous, let me clarify that this isn't my normal routine - but it was a pretty typical day for Brent Hodgson, the North Texas sales rep for craft can industry giant Oskar Blues. My first in a series of articles in which I spend the day with the men and women behind the craft beer curtain, here's a glimpse into the life of a beer sales rep and his adventures around the DFW Metroplex.