In Cologne when you sit down at a Kolschhaus (I am too lazy to put the umlauts in) a waiter (Kobes) will come to you and give you a paper coaster while he takes the order. Its assumed that everyone will be drinking kolsch in the traditional Stange (.2L glasses), but they usually double check. Then once you are served kolsch they will mark the coaster with a pencil mark. Kobes will then meander around with a hand held cart of sorts with full kolsch glasses and automatically replace your Stange with a full one, then mark the coaster with how many the table had refilled. When its time to get rung up they will count how many checks are on the coaster. Edit: when you are done you place the coaster on the glass and they will stop bringing you more, and usually bring you a check.
The Kobes are intentionally rude as part of the history/culture. If you ask for a water they may prompt you with a towel and ask if its for your face, they make small jokes at and with customers, and if you pay for them to drink a Kolsch, they are happy to oblige. I speak a little German so when I was there I asked for Himmel und Ad (a Kolsch Dish with mash potatoes, apple sauce, braised onions, and Blood wurst) without the blutwurst, the Kobes jokingly jumped back, offended, and demanded to know why I would ruin his city's dish by not getting the blutwurst. Once I explained that I don't eat meat he was happy to deface the dish for me.
There is a ton of history in Cologne (being that its 2 millennia old) and there is a great beer culture there.
http://imgur.com/ApBLkqOI posted some of the coasters I picked up when in Cologne as keepsakes.
I think that culture could be fun in a craft brewery environment.