100 Beer Club

By: Peter Carr

When one thinks of a century club some may think of biking 100 miles, or running 100 miles but for Stan Stephens his century club involves beer.

Stephens, the owner of the Heorot for the last sixteen years said his goal was to create a neighborhood bar where people could come in and enjoy each other’s company over a cold beer.

For customers it is a chance to be a part of local history. “If you drink 100 different beers, we’ll put your name on a plaque and put it on the bar and as long as we are open and as long as we own the bar you can come back and visit and it’s a piece of neighborhood,” Stephens said.

Members of the club have six months to drink 100 different kinds of beer. Once a costumer has finished their 100^th beer they become a part of the bar forever. Their name is enshrined on a metal plaque that is attached to the bar.

The achievement is now easier for customers, because the Heorot offers a larger beer selection and has more than 400 beers available at any time Stephens said.

“Sixteen years ago the beer industry wasn’t like it is now. There were not a lot of craft beers,” Stephens said. “The first year we did it we only had 115 beers available so you pretty much had to drink every beer there was to get that 100.”

Jerome Ball, a senior at Ball State, said making the club is a lot hard work because of the financial cost and in order to get to 100 beers in six months you have to drink five beers a week.

“I want to join the 100 beer club because I want to leave a mark in Muncie before I graduate, something I can come back and see in 20 years,” Ball said.

After completing the century club the Heorot gives customers a T-shirt for reaching the 200 mark. Beyond that there are 26 mugs hanging from the bar that commemorate the life of one of Stephens’s good friends who died in a car accident at 26. The mugs must be passed down or retired and Stephens said there is a long waiting list to get the next mug.

With such a large selection of beer Stephens said it is hard to pick his favorite, “It depends on the time of the day, the time of the year.”