Ad Fundum is Latin for “till the bottom”, and, in our beer world, it means, “completely drink your glass of beer in one movement, as fast as you can.” This practice is popular in many clubs in Belgium, be it student clubs, sport clubs, political clubs or even service clubs.

Ad Fundum can be enforced by a president upon a subject member as a punishment for bad behavior during a meeting. For example, speaking when you are not asked to speak, leaving the room when not appropriate, etc. But it is often also a bonding ritual. For example, at the beginning of a meeting, or to celebrate a ‘victory’. Everybody in the meeting drinks his or her glass to the bottom as fast as possible, followed by the singing of the club song. The appropriate final action is to hold the glass upside down over your head to prove that you drank everything, or else you shower yourself.

Some clubs have introduced some extra action like ‘the frog’, where the punished subject has to jump from glass to glass to drink each one. Another variant is ‘the bat’, where the subject has to stand upside down on his or her hands while somebody else assists in feeding them the glass of beer. The presidents of these clubs use their imagination to create fun while ‘punishing’ a member.

Before starting the Ad Fundum the subject is supposed to toast the President and other dignitaries in the meeting before actually drinking the glass. Forgetting to recognize a valued member of the meeting may be punished with a new Ad Fundum. Drinking 10 or more beers during such settings is not unusual. (In Belgium, a glass of beer is only 8.4 oz – 25 cl)

Student balls in Belgium are often very upscale, where everybody is dressed in tuxedoes and nice dresses. Even so, at midnight the band stops playing music, everybody makes sure to have a full glass of beer in hand, and the President of the club starts a short ritual of cheers. Everybody follows with the Ad Fundum, and then the band plays a drinking song a few seconds later.

The most spectacular Ad Fundom I have ever seen was as midnight in a local village pub, where one man drank 12 glasses of beer on the chimes of the Church bell without spilling one drop.

In the USA this would all be labeled Binge Drinking, something considered very bad. If you are reasonable, and you stay with beer alone, the damage shouldn’t be more than a headache the next day.