fancycwabs

One of the local bars has an ongoing promotion where if you drink 200 "different" beers (a draft and bottled version of the same beer counts as "different" for their purposes) they'll put your name on a plate on the wall and give you a hundred dollar bar tab. Over the course of the past year and a half, I've been gradually pursuing this honor, as a monument to my alcoholism. Because drinking 200 beers in a year and a half definitely qualifies one as an alcoholic.

I finished my 200th beer (Unibroue's Fin Du Monde, if you're interested) last Friday, and last night they had my plate unveiling/swigging off that bar tab celebration.

Here's a general shot of the restaurant--it's not quite as cozy and friendly as the picture would suggest, but it's close. Observe the decorative collectible plates adorning the ceiling--they also cover most of the walls that aren't occupied by beer signs, mirrors, dart boards, and other bar necessities.

At the upper perimeter of the wall, there's a line of plates comprising the "Ring of Honor," the place of glory reserved for those who drink the required number of beers. The first plate is dated March 2006 (the place opened in February, and there's a three-beer-per-day limit to discourage benders in the attempt to get on the wall), by a guy who probably started his quest at another location. Once the goal's been reached, plates are placed on the wall, but shrouded--like so:

(It also shows more of the decorative plates covering the walls), and when the proper moment comes, with appropriate speechifying be barmaids etc., the shroud is pulled off to reveal: