Hard to find recommended in Midwest

Missouri has Four Hands and Perennial/Side Project in Saint Louis, along with Schlafly and O'Fallon that are some good but not terribly hard to find beers. I don't know for sure which of the breweries in STL that bottle if that's what you're looking for, as I haven't been there in over three years. Kansas City has Boulevard, of course, but they are fairly spread out across the country now. Hope this helps!

 

Kansas brewers that shouldn't be missed are Tallgrass from Manhattan and Free State from Lawrence. Both are readily available throughout the state. Defiance from Hays also has some great offerings, which has some good offerings. If you're crossing the state on I-70 and want to visit some brewpubs you can't go wrong with www.freestatebrewing.com in Lawrence, www.littleapplebrewery.com in Manhattan or http://gellasdiner.com in Hays. Also available are some Oklahoma beers, the best are from Marshall.

 

You wont find side project besides at the brewery the day of release. So you are going to have to get really lucky on that one. Perennial is readily available throughout MO, KS and CO, but being from STL and now living in KC I can tell you any of their more popular beers wont be around for more than a day after release. 4 hands does have some solid offerings and can be found pretty easily, so +1 on grabbing some from them.

+1 on both Freestate and Tallgrass. You can still grab Vanilla Bean Buffalo Sweat from Tallgrass around KC and I think its a pretty awesome seasonal brew from them. Also, its a little unique for tastes go, but if you like Root Beer check out Row Hard Root Beer sold in 4 pack white cans. I've never had not your fathers root beer, but this is as close as I can imagine a beer could get to being a root beer and is only in KC.

Shops in KC to check out, Bubbles on North Oak Traffic Way, Lukas Liqours in Overland Park and Bier Station on Gregory.

 

Gella's in Hays is worth a stop.

 

if you hit one of the better bottle shops in STL, get some stuff from 2nd Shift. Katy is a wonderful wild ale/saison, Liquid Spiritual Delight is an amazing thick, chewy stout, Brew Cocky and Art of Neurosis are great IPAs.