Big fan of the Oskar Blues Brewery in Lyons, Colo. right now. Their Dale's Pale Ale is a good basic beer, very hoppy without being overwhelming. The Old Chub Scottish Ale and Ten Fidy, which is like (meaning maybe not exactly) a Russian Imperial Stout. Plus, they come in cans, making them easy to store and hard to skunk.

I recommend www.beeradvocate.com for all your beer research needs. They publish a great monthly magazine on American microbrews and review about 30 beers in each issues (domestic and import). They also aggregate all of the beer festivals around the country (and the world, to some extent) in the events section of the website, and even plan a few of their own like the American Craft Beer Festival at the Boston Seaport Hotel over the weekend of June 20 (http://beeradvocate.com/acbf/).