how it’s done.

Meet Ken Scibetta and Ed Webster, the owners of the Lewiston Village Pub, an English-style bar in the western New York town where we spent the weekend. Mrs. Crappy found the pub’s website while we were planning for the trip, and we immediately decided we would have dinner there. The food sounded delicious, and we both noticed the beer list — about 20 taps and 100-plus bottles, a prices that would make Pennsylvania beer drinkers jump for joy.

We stopped there for dinner Saturday night; when we started asking questions about beer, the host directed us to Ed, who was working behind the bar. I was immediately impressed — he asked us about our favorite beer styles and took us through the taps he had running that night. We must have made an impression — after we determined there were just two on the list we hadn’t tried before, he said something like “OK, you guys know your stuff,” and we spent the rest of the evening talking about beer.

While we ate — I had a beef on weck sammich and Mrs. Crappy enjoyed a really good $20 steak and lobster dinner — we talked about the breweries in the area, what he and Kenny hoped to do down the road and about our beer scene back in Pittsburgh. We also sought some advice — I wanted to bring some beer back from the trip, and was planning a stop at Wegman’s in Niagara Falls to take care of that; he suggested going to Consumer’s Beverages instead for a bigger selection and better prices.

(As you might have noticed from my tweets over the weekend, Ed was totally right about that one. And sometime in the next few days, I’ll be starting a series of reviews of the beer we brought back. One hint — the series will take a while to finish.)

Toward the end of the night, Ed pulled out a bomber — an oaked imperial stout from Great Divide. I wanted to give it a try, but Mrs. Crappy said that was too much for her and I still had to drive us back to the campground. So while he set that aside, we determined that we would come back Sunday afternoon to do our Wilco pregame there.

Ed wasn’t working on Sunday, but Ken recognized us from the night before, and after we got settled at the bar, he said Ed had told him to give us a bottle of the Oak-Aged Yeti if we came back in. I was blown away — yes, by the beer, which was excellent, but even more so by the fact that he would do that for two out-of-town customers he might not ever see again.

This is how it should be done, boys and girls. Even without the freebie, we were impressed enough not only to return on Sunday but to agree that we’d go out of our way to stop there again the next time we’re up that way. The fact that Ed was impressed enough with us that he left a bottle for us makes our return even more certain.

If you’re ever traveling in the Niagara Falls area, make sure you drive about 10 minutes north of town to Lewiston, to check out the Lewiston Village Pub. You don’t have to be a craft-beer lover to justify the trip — their takes on Buffalo-area food alone are worth the drive. And if you love craft beer like we do, grab a seat at the bar and ask for Ed. You’ll have as much fun as we did.

Ken and Ed? Thanks, guys. Hope we see you again soon.