Walt’s Wines and Spirits (www.waltswine.com) is a new wine and spirits store in our part of town. The Watson Fong family does a great job welcoming and making customers feel like they are important. Like so many locally owned businesses the staff at Walt’s understands how important customer loyalty is. One of the ways they are building loyalty for the store to offer a selection of singles. I dropped by a few days ago to pick up a couple new ones and didn’t have to pay for the whole sixer and be disappointed if I got a bad one. Nice incentive for returning. This day Watson pointed me to Lucky Bucket. It was new to his growing selection so being originally from the great state of Nebraska I couldn’t resist. How many breweries have you heard of from Nebraska?

Lucky Bucket is a lucky find. It pours a cloudy amber and with a full, lacy head that disappears in a few minutes. The nose is very balanced. I expected a more hoppy smell and flavor but was not disappointed by the hop/malt first impression. Whether it’s the aroma or the taste, you can choose which taste you want first, hops or malts. Very interesting! If you go with the hops you’ll notice piney and fresh herbs with a nice bitterness that stays around. If you go with malt you’ll notice the caramel background. After the hops and bitterness this brew gives a sweeter than normal malty taste. Being a sweeter beer guy I like this. The mouthfeel is medium and oily. The finish is subtle and forgettable.

Getting to know the owner of your beer store has so many advantages. Good beer being only one. Thanks Watson, I’ll be back.