Scenes from Tailgate for Nothing 6

Good food, good beer, friendly people, perfect weather -- we couldn't have asked for a better combination for the most recent edition of Tailgate for Nothing.

As has been the case at past TFN's, folks were in the spirit of sharing and socializing. You couldn't walk five steps before someone offered you a taste of something you'd never had before. Full coolers of beer soon became empty. Casserole dishes, crock pots, and cake pans were hauled away after hungry attendees had their fill of breakfast-style dishes. The theme of TFN6 was "International Breakfast" after all.

We thank those who came out to enjoy the day with us. And if you missed us this time, we hope to see you at TFN7 this fall. In the meantime, here's a sampling of scenes from TFN6--

Reminder | Tailgate for Nothing 6 is on May 5th, 2012

Some of you who are currently waiting in line to purchase your allotment of Dark Lord know that Dark Lord Day morphed over time from a few hundred craft beer lovers hanging out in the brewery to the world's largest craft beer tailgate party. But as you now know, Three Floyds' new system of running the event has largely put an end to the free-for-all tailgating. Based on the massive mess the old system made of the industrial park where Three Floyds is based, this was the right decision.

That being said, we at Hoosier Beer Geek have fond memories of Dark Lord Day's tailgating aspect. So two-and-a-half years ago, we began a semi-annual Hoosier Beer Geek tradition in the vein of Dark Lord Day tailgating: our Tailgate for Nothing event.

Next Saturday marks our sixth Tailgate for Nothing. We'll be setting up in the back parking lot of Sun King Brewing Company at 11 a.m. The aims of the event are these: to share good beer, to share good food, and to make new friends.

So we invite you to come out. But before you do, make sure that you read all the details and ground rules for TFN6, which you can find here.

We hope to see you next Saturday!

Save the Date: Tailgate for Nothing 6 is on May 5th, 2012

You may recall hearing about the first Tailgate for Nothing, which we threw in November 2009. You may recall reading about Tailgate for Nothing 2: DIPA Dischord, which took place in May 2010. You may have learned about and even attended Tailgate for Nothing 3: Tricks & Treats, which we held in October 2010. Perhaps you read the New York Times feature* about Tailgate for Nothing 4: Something for Everyone, which happened in May of 2011. And who could forget the Tailgate for Nothing 5: Gravyfest, which has its own almost feature-length film?

Well, unlike the Craft Beer Meal That Comes Before Lunch, we can confirm that we're doing it all again. Sooner than later.

The Hoosier Beer Geek Knights of the Beer Roundtable invite you to join us for--

TFN6: International Beer Breakfast
Saturday, May 5, 11 a.m. - ???
Back parking lot of the Sun King Brewery
135 N. College, Indy

Before I get into the whole "Tailgate for Nothing is a shared event" spiel, I want to point out the theme.

INTERNATIONAL BEER BREAKFAST

Sure, there's beer at these things. And yes, you're welcome to bring whatever foods you'd like. But I'm a guy that likes a theme, so while your beer doesn't or even shouldn't be breakfast themed, your food hopefully will be. If you think this is just a beer event, I invite you to step your food game up. Google Ethiopian Breakfast or something along those lines, and come out and surprise us.

That's not to say that I won't also make ice cream, but breakfast is what I'm starting with.

Event Info:

What's Tailgate for Nothing (TFN)? All seven HBG Knights of the Beer Roundtable are fans of the act of tailgating. It occurred to us that tailgating usually revolves around sporting events, but why should it have to? Getting together with friends, eating hearty and/or unhealthy foods, drinking beer, and just hanging out -- these are ideas we can all get behind.

TFN is exactly that: a tailgate for nothing. It's an opportunity for people to wheel out their everyday great beer, or the beer they never have an excuse to drink and to share it with like-minded individuals who are sure to appreciate what they are drinking.

TFN will be done in a traditional tailgate manner: bring your own everything (tailgate, beer, food, trash bags, chairs, bbq grills, games, whatever), cook and eat in a parking lot (breakfast corn dogs, breakfast sharkmeat pitas, breakfast bologna tacos, edible breakfast cowboy hats made out of pancakes, and stuff like that), and in the end, clean up after yourself. The main ideas are to share food and drink, hang out, and have a good time. You're also welcome to bring kids and/or dogs. We especially welcome dogs that bring beer. Unfortunately it's illegal for kids to bring beer. Someday...

Why the theme of "International Breakfast"? Because I had a month where I made a lot of pancakes. Because I hijacked the event. Because Jason is lazy and will probably just bring biscuits and gravy again. I'm not sure what the other Knights of the Beer Roundtable are doing for breakfast, but I'm sure that it will be creative. Or lazy. Jason.

Nota bene: This is a no freeloaders event; please bring food and beer with you. If you don't have a giant special beer, that's not a problem. Just make sure you bring something tasty. This isn't a rare beer contest. It's just a good time. Also, it won't cost you anything to attend.

What to bring (aside from food and beer):

Tasting glasses - If you have any tasting glasses from former beer events, bring them along. There should be a lot of beer to share, and the smaller glasses are the best way to go about sharing.

Chairs - There won't be seating unless you bring some.

A canopy - At TFN4, there was a chance of rain, so there were canopies aplenty. Fortunately, mother nature cooperated with us and we ended up having a sunny day. We're not saying that it's going to rain at TFN6, but you never know. So if you don't want to get wet or sunburned, bring a canopy if you have one.

Friends - BRING FRIENDS. Hopefully you'll be making some, but it never hurts to have a posse.

We do our best to be friendly and get to know everyone, but this is just gonna be a bunch of people hanging out. Last time I took video so at to be better at getting to know folks. We encourage this sort of nosiness because it's the best way to make friends. Well, that and drinking.

Finally, we know that the date of TFN6 is also the date of various and sundry other events. That being said, based on past TFNs, the event probably won't end until sundown at the earliest. Therefore, even if you have something else going on that day, please come out and celebrate with us.

ANY QUESTIONS? Leave a comment. Planning to attend? Leave a comment. Don't want to leave a comment? Don't let that stop you from attending. We'll be there no matter what.

*There was no New York Times feature.