Yesterday, after our bike ride, we continued our trek through the Breweries of Vermont, on our quest to get 10 stamps on our passports and obtain the coveted Vermont Breweries t-shirt for free. So after we returned from our ride, changed out of our grubby biking clothes (and freshened up with some baby wipes in a local bathroom), we walked into the town of Burlington (yes, I know it’s a city – but hey – the population of Burlington matches my home town, so I find it hard to call it a city). Up a hill and a few blocks and we stopped first at Three Needs on 207 College Street.

Now I have to say, I think if my friend Shannon drank beer, this is the type of place in which Shannon would hang. We arrived about five minutes after opening (at 4:00pm), and the place was already hopping (by the time we left 20 minutes later, almost all the tables and bar stools were filled and there was a line six deep for the pool table). The place had a definite funky vibe with the friendliest and perkiest bar maid I’ve yet to meet.

And it was she that provided me with my epiphany. Beer brewed with coffee – yep you read that right, coffee! First she offered us tastes and I had to go for the pint. And boy did that go down well. Chris had the IPA and enjoyed that too. Two more great things about the place, one, with that coffee beer, I didn’t get my usual sleepiness during the rest of our stops (more to follow on that) and when the bar maid found out we had just ridden 43 miles on our bikes, she comped us!!! Can’t go wrong with that.