Tips and Ground Rules for TFN11: Tailgate for Something | Saturday, October 4, 11am

We hope to see you at TFN11: Tailgate for Something on Saturday, October 4, from 11 a.m. to ??? at Black Acre Brewing Company's new production facility at the Coal Factory on Bonna Avenue in Irvington. More details here.

Since we're only a few days 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. The current forecast calls for partly cloudy skies with temperatures in the high 40s and a 10% chance of rain.

- Victuals (i.e., Don't be a freeloader). 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 Black Acre are doing us a big favor by letting us hold TFN11 at their place. Therefore, please return their kindness by not leaving a mess behind. Bring trash bags with you and clean up before you leave. Don't make our Native American friend cry.

- Pace yourself and hydrate. TFN11 will be similar to a beer festival in that there will be a whole lot of beer to sample. Some of that beer will pack a nice wallop. So pace yourself. We urge you to bring festival tasting glasses if you have them so you can go with small pours rather than overindulging. And bring water with you. A good rule of thumb is to drink equal amounts of water and beer. So if you do a 4 ounce sample of beer, you should drink 4 ounces of water. Yes, you'll have to pee a lot, but bathrooms will be provided on site, so that will not be a problem.

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

Last Call | HBG Tailgate, Saturday 4/19, 4:30pm, Indy Eleven Lot A

Indianapolis's new professional soccer club, Indy Eleven, made a smashing debut last Saturday night at Michael Carroll Stadium. Over 11,000 people attended the match. The place was rocking. The Brickyard Battalion was in full voice. And while the match ended in a draw, the Boys in Blue showed well. We were there, and we had fun...lots of fun.

And you might (or might not) have noticed that we're moving our semi-annual tailgate festivities to a new venue: Indy Eleven's Lot A. We'll be tailgating there starting at 4:30pm this Saturday, April 19. And we would like you to join us. We want you to join us even if you don't plan to go to the game. Just come, hang out, share some beer and food, and chat. If you do decide to head into Carroll Stadium to see what the fuss is all about, all the better.

For full details on the event, please read this post, which includes the ground rules for the tailgate.

We hope to see you on Saturday!

Tailgate for Nothing 10: It Goes to Eleven | Saturday, April 19, 4:30pm

There's an old saying: If there's one constant in life, it's change.

Tailgate for Nothing is changing. Specifically, we'll be holding it at a different time and a different place than we have before. We decided to do this because to stay the regular course would require us to charge attendees a not-so-small admission fee. We didn't want to do this because the original purpose behind Tailgate for Nothing was to keep the event a low-cost, low-maintenance show. The new place will allow us to do that.

The other change in the event is that it'll be a traditional, old-timey tailgate because it'll be held in connection with a sporting event. In the past, we've made no secret that we are soccer fans, and now we have a team to call our own: Indy Eleven. We want to celebrate our new team, so that is another reason we're changing the location of the tailgate.

Just to be clear, you don't have to be an Indy Eleven or a soccer fan to come to the tailgate. Indeed, the purpose of the tailgate will still be the same: to share beer and food with each other. So if you don't plan to attend the Indy Eleven match that evening, that's okay. But we hope that you'll head into Carroll Stadium to watch Indy Eleven take on the Tampa Bay Rowdies.

So join us on Saturday, April 19 at 4:30pm for our next tailgate in the northwest corner of Indy Eleven's Parking Lot A on the IUPUI campus, just across the street from Carroll Stadium (see map below):

Note that there is a $10 parking fee to park in the lot.

Please bring beer to share with others. We don't expect you to bring super-special, ultra-rare beers, though we won't be disappointed if you do; just bring some tasty, non-macro beers.

In addition, here are tailgating rules imposed by the club. Please follow them because we want everyone to be safe and to respect the club's rules while having a good time:

- The lot will not be open before 4:30pm.
- Tailgating will be allowed on a first-come, first-served basis; saving spots is not allowed.
- One parking spot per purchased parking ticket. Additional adjacent spots may be purchased for tailgating use if available.
- Please keep all tables, chairs, coolers, barbeques, etc. within the designated parking stall.
- Tailgating will be limited to the lined parking space. Blocking of the drive lane is strictly prohibited.
- Open flames are permitted. All barbecue equipment left unattended must be extinguished.
- All cooking equipment must be situated away from crowds, buildings, vehicles or combustible materials. A minimum clearance distance of 3 feet is required.
- Bins for disposing of charcoal and port-a-let bathrooms will be located in each lot.
- No advertising, banners, signs or distribution items for promotional use are allowed in the lots.
- Tailgaters will be asked to remove inappropriate banners or signs.
- Music speakers may not exceed reasonable levels in the sole determination of Indy Eleven and event personnel.
- Lots must be cleared within 45 minutes of the conclusion of the event.
- Finally, please drink responsibly during the tailgate as any guests who appear to be impaired will not be permitted entrance into the stadium.

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.

Tailgate for Nothing 8 | Recap and Thanks

On Saturday at Sun King Brewing Company's back parking lot, the eighth 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.

"Pot Food" was the theme. That theme was taken quite seriously by TFN8 attendees. The gentlemen from Balls Brewing, for example, offered up steamed mussels and frites that were worthy of Brugge Brasserie's version. Someone set out a genuine Cajun crawfish boil. There was curried goat stew. There was even vegan stew.

And yes, there was plenty of delicious beer to go around.

Despite the chilly weather, old friends came, and new friends were made. Folks came from as far as Wisconsin. 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 and brought cool swag along with some of the best chocolate chip cookies on the planet. Folks from Black Acre Brewing Company joined us. The Brewers of Indiana Guild held a meeting of its members at Sun King, and some of Indiana's finest brewmasters joined in the festivities after the meeting. Thankfully, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves as the sun managed to finally show itself mid-afternoon to chase away some of the cold.

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 eight times now and hope that we'll be able to continue the tradition this fall with our ninth TFN.

We also extend a hearty thanks to everyone who attended TFN8. We enjoyed seeing familiar faces and seeing new ones as well. We hope you enjoyed the experience. We certainly appreciate all the great food and beer that you brought and are grateful to those of you who tidied up after yourselves before you left. A few folks left behind a bit of a mess, but we trust that they'll do better next time as our ability to continue holding the event at Sun King depends upon our courtesy to them for letting us use their space.

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