I'm in northern Indiana, and love the abundance of Bell's Two Hearted, which just topped the annual Zymergy poll. As far as Colorado goes, I think Avalanche Duet is tops. For CA, can't beat Firestone Walker.
Sounds like you're going to have a great trip!
On 5/22/2014 Basic Brewing posted an episode on brewing with maple syrup (though focusing on maple wine). Might be worth a listen.
http://ec.libsyn.com/p/4/6/a/46afe9e75ac15f1b/bbr05-22-14maplewine.mp3?d13a76d516d9dec20c3d276ce028ed5089ab1ce3dae902ea1d06cc8737d2cb5e4d0d&c_id=7202553
Your...