Scenes from Tailgate for Nothing Nein (9) . . . and a beer cocktail recipe

On Saturday at Sun King Brewing Company's back parking lot, the ninth and best-attended Tailgate for Nothing took place. A time to share beer. A time to share food. A time to promote the spirit of camaraderie through the love of craft beer.

"Deutschland!" was the theme. That theme was taken quite seriously by TFN9 attendees. As one might expect, there was sausage galore. And pretzels. And lederhosen. And of course, plenty of bier.

Despite a windy beginning, the weather ended up being beautiful. Old friends came, and new friends were made. Folks came in from Ohio. People who had no idea about the event stumbled on to it and found themselves having a great time. The ladies of Girls Pint Out came. The gentlemen brewers from Balls Brewing and M.O.N.K. brought their delicious homebrewed wonders. And our friend Josh Hambright of Flat12 Bierwerks came up on the spot with an amazing beer cocktail recipe that we'll call "Deesko Pants Flanders Radler":

3 parts Stiegl Grapefruit Radler
1 part Berliner Weisse (in this case, Three Floyds Deesko!)
1 part Flanders red ale (in this case, The Bruery Oude Tart)

All in all, it was an outstanding day.

Now for the thank you's--

Our enduring gratitude goes out to the folks at Sun King for allowing us to hold TFN yet again at their place. We've done this nine times now and hope that we'll be able to continue the tradition next spring with our tenth TFN.

We also extend a hearty thanks to everyone who attended TFN9. We enjoyed seeing familiar faces and seeing new ones as well. We hope you enjoyed the experience.

Now for the photo dump. Enjoy the scenes from the day.

Ground Rules & Tips for Tailgate for Nothing Nein (9): Deustchland! | Saturday, November 9, 11 a.m.

We hope to see you at Tailgate for Nothing 9 on Saturday, November 9, from 11 a.m. to ??? in Sun King Brewing Company's back parking lot. The theme: Deutschland! More details here.

Since we're only a week away from the event, here are the ground rules for the event and some tips for you if you're going to attend:

- Weather. We all know that the weather in Indiana is unpredictable. Therefore, regardless of Saturday's weather forecast, we recommend that you bring a canopy if you have one in case the weather decides not to cooperate. Here's hoping that we have sunny skies and decent temperatures.

- Parking. When you arrive, please park your car in Sun King's back lot if there are spaces available there. Do not park in the main lot in front of the brewery. If there aren't any spaces open in the back lot when you arrive, plenty of parking should be available on the surrounding streets.

- Victuals. We don't have many rules for this thing, but one rule we expect everyone to follow is this: Please bring beer and food to share. The beer and food don't have to be anything super-rare or of gourmet quality. Just bring something tasty. Don't be a freeloader.

- Courtesy. Please pick up your trash before you leave. Our friends at Sun King are doing us a big favor by letting us hold TFN9 at their place. Therefore, please return their kindness by not leaving a mess behind. Trash bins will be provided to make the job easier.

- Keep off the hill. The hill behind the parking lot is off limits. Please don't go there. If you do, you'll have to suffer Jason's naked hugs. And believe me, you don't want to suffer them.

- I gotta pee. Two portalets will be provided on site. Please use one of them if you have to go to the restroom. Do not go inside the brewery to use their restroom. Of course, it's okay to go inside the brewery if you want to buy more beer, but don't go in just to use their crapper.

We hope that you'll come out and enjoy a day of beer-sharing and food-sharing with us!

Reminder | Tailgate for Nothing Nein (9): Deutschland! - Saturday, November 9, 11 a.m.

Click to enlarge.
We're now a little over a month away from our semiannual event, Tailgate for Nothing. This fall brings our ninth edition, which will take place on Saturday, November 9, from 11 a.m. to dusk in Sun King Brewing Company's back parking lot. The theme: Deutschland! Complete details here.

We hope that you'll come out and enjoy a day of beer-sharing and food-sharing with us. If you've never been to Tailgate for Nothing before, check out the festivities from previous TFN's. And if you're on Facebook and you plan on coming, let us know on the TFN Facebook event page. And tell your friends about the event as well.

We'll see you on November 9!

Save the Date | Tailgate for Nothing 9 - Saturday, November 9

Our biannual Tailgate for Nothing is probably our favorite event. Incredibly, we've done eight editions of the event. And yes, we are having ninth.

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

Tailgate for Nothing Nein (9): Deutschland!
Saturday, November 9, 2013, 11 a.m. - ???
Back parking lot of Sun King Brewing Company
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.

TFN NEIN: DEUTSCHLAND!

Our ninth Tailgate for Nothing is on the ninth day of the month. That should make the date easy to remember. And sure, there's always beer at Tailgate for Nothing. Lots and lots and lots of beer. And yes, you're absolutely welcome to bring whatever food you'd like to bring. It's a tailgate party after all. Food and beer, right? Those are the key ingredients of a tailgate party. Well, perhaps cornhole too.

But we like a theme for Tailgate for Nothing. Every TFN has had a theme. So our theme for TFN9 is TFN Nein: Deutschland! For those of you who don't know, Deutschland is the German name for Germany. If you know your history, you know that Indiana has a rich heritage rooted in many things German: food, culture, and music among them. And bier. Especially bier. The German theme is where the "Nein" comes in too. "Nein" means "no" in German, as in "No, you cannot refuse to come to this event."

But we're not going to impose on you what you must do with the theme. Do with it what you wish. If you don't want to get into the theme, that's cool with us. But if you do want to get into the theme, feel free to bring German beer, German food, German music, German whatever. Hell, you can wear lederhosen if you want to. Drink your beer out of a boot. Come dressed like Jürgen Klinsmann or Lou Bega (yes, Lou Bega is German). Bring an '80s-style boombox that you will use to play every album ever made by Kraftwerk. Whatever suits you. It'll be like a second Oktoberfest for 2013.

So let's get to the details, Freunde von mir.

Event Info. What's Tailgate for Nothing (TFN)? All HBG Knights of the Beer Roundtable are fans 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, 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/cats/ferrets/monkeys/any other kind of domesticated animals. We especially welcome domesticated animals that bring beer. Unfortunately it's illegal for kids to bring beer. Someday...

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 that 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 past 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 - We're not saying that it's going to rain at TFN9, but you never know. So if you don't want to get wet, 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.

So mark your calendars for November 9.