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 hitting the streets...So welcome to this week's edition of Newbies - your guide to great new releases!

Today is a sad day for craft beer but specifically Louisiana Craft Beer. On Thursday November 1^st, Abita Brewing Founder Partner Jim Patton passed away due to unknown causes in Miami. He was 59 years young. While he was working on starting a new brewery in Miami, he will be remembered mainly for his pioneering spirit that launched the 13^th craft brewery in the country and the first in the South. In 1986 Abita Brewing Company released its first beer at 2 locations in South Louisiana. In the first year Abita brewed more than 1500 barrels of beer. Now the company produces more than 125,000 barrels and is available across most of the United States.

Hey it's Friday and we're heading into the weekend. You've been killing it all week and you need to have some fun. That's where we come in. If you're up for some suggestions - we've got them. We're all about it and have got you covered. Plus we've got a two massive weekend beer picks for you! So, welcome to Weekend Picks!

Larry Sidor is a big name in the Bend, Oregon brewing Community. He's been in the industry for years, done all kinds of things, and is a mentor to many of the region's finest brewers.....He recently left an 8 year stint as Brewmaster for the formidable Deschutes Brewery, to open his own operation. He's named the new brewery, the Crux Fermentation Project, and was kind enough to have us in for a personal tour.

Beer cans are in style these days. Not the kind holding the common bland, industrial lager, but the kind holding your favorite local craft brew. Canning beer has multiple benefits. It can be cheaper, easier to transport, prevents skunking, and you can bring cans to many places that you can't bring bottles, such as beaches. If this is something that you're looking for, the people at The Can Van are the fashionistas of the industry.

2012 Atlanta Beer Week kicked off with the Decatur Beer Festival and this year was a festival to beat all. Not only did ACB get to attend some pre-beer week events, such as the Brewers' Ball at Sweetwater Brewing and the Brewers' Brunch at The Square Pub, but we got our fill of great beer and some newcomers to the Atlanta Market and Decatur Festival that we really enjoyed.

In a business park in downtown Kent, WA sits Airways Brewing Company, a small, passionate group that has as much desire for crafting great beer as they do a witty retort. An unassuming location, Airways has quickly made a name for themselves, bringing fans from all over. Need to go to IKEA? Stop at Airways.

It's Wednesday and its Rumor Mill Time! Hurricane Sandy has been wreaking havoc out East and there are massive outages everywhere. Its economic toll has yet to be quantified, but is expected to be enormous and the craft brewing community is not expected to escape it. We'll be giving you everything that we know so far, plus on a lighter note, we've some "arty" craft beer news from our friends at Harmon Brewery and DC Brau......We also have some hot new releases that you'll want to look out for, so fasten your seatbelt because ....IT IS ON!

Happy Halloween! And Welcome to whatever this segment is going to be called about cooking with beer! Here is the recipe I promised you so that you too can make the deliciousness!

Sweet Water Brewing in Atlanta releases its Winter Seasonal in the near future but we here at ACB got our hands on a bottle before they hit the shelves. With a promotional bottle at my house it felt like as good of a time as any to break open the 2011 bottle that I had been cellaring for the past year. Since it was a weeknight and both beers were over 8% (2011 - Bomber, 2012 - 12 oz) I decided to call a couple of friends over for the impromptu tasting.