The original prompt said something along the lines of "imagine the look on Barliman's face when the king strolls in and asks for a pint of proper fourty-twenty," so I had to include that bit - although I was fairly sure what Barliman's expression would be! I'm not a fan of beer myself, but I'm a Morris dancer, and many Morris dancers have strong Opinions about Proper Beer, so I've absorbed a small amount of beer lore along the way. :-D

As for whether Barliman will recognise him... Personally, I'm a HUGE fan of revelation scenes, so the shallow part of me would love a moment of amazed recognition, but I think I agree with Aragorn that it might be better for everyone if he doesn't.