My sister lives in Portland and regularly smuggles some micros back to the Midwest.

She also flies home every spring with the Kalamazoo bluegrass band Green Sky specifically for the opening of the Bell's beer garden.

For whatever reason I've never come away quite as impressed by Founders as everyone else. It seems like beer gurus generally regard it to be a shade superior to Bell's, but my palate likes Bell's better. My one beef with BeerAdvocate is that it skews so heavily to the stouts, double IPAs, etc. They tend to turn up their noses when it comes to great warm-weather beers like Bell's Oberon--my #1 summer beer by a mile--and Three Floyd's Gumball Head.

A newcomer to the micro market that I can't recommend enough is Sun King out of Indianapolis, particularly their Sunlight Cream Ale and Wee Mac.

Link: Sun King Brewery