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.

 

 

 

Ground Rules & Tips for Tailgate for Nothing 8 | Saturday, April 20, 11 a.m.

We hope to see you at Tailgate for Nothing 8 this Saturday from 11 a.m. to ??? in Sun King Brewing Company's back parking lot. The theme: Pot Food! More details here.

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 warm temperatures.

- Travel. The Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure is taking place on Saturday morning. The Race course is limited to the IUPUI campus. So if you avoid that part of downtown, you should be fine in getting to Sun King. If for some reason you're coming from the west side and would normally travel through campus to get to the brewery, maps of the Race course can be found here so you can plan your detour accordingly. And if you're participating in the Race, don't let that stop you from coming to TFN8. We'll be tailgating into the evening hours.

- 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 TFN8 at their place. Therefore, please return their kindness by not leaving a mess behind. Trash bags will be provided by the brewery 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. A portalet will be provided on site. Please use it 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 8: Pot Food! - Saturday, April 20, 11 a.m.

Click to enlarge.
We're now a little over two weeks away from our semiannual event, Tailgate for Nothing. This spring brings our eighth edition, which will take place on Saturday, April 20, from 11 a.m. to ??? in Sun King Brewing Company's back parking lot. The theme: Pot Food! Complete details here.

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

Save the Date | Tailgate for Nothing 8 - Saturday, April 20

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

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

Tailgate for Nothing 8: Pot Food!
Saturday, April 20, 2013, 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.

POT FOOD!

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. But we like a theme, so our theme is pot food. Yes, food that can be cooked up in a pot: gumbo, stew, chili, goulash, soup, etc. While your beer doesn't or even shouldn't be cooked-in-pot-themed, we hope that your food will be. Any kind of pot food will do. And yes, vegetarians and vegans, please come with your innovative and tasty food creations. I'm a vegetarian and plan to pull out all the stops. For example, cabbage soup counts. Tofu soup counts. Lettuce soup counts. Hell, why not try to make a falafel-soup? Just as long as it tastes good and you can share it, you're welcome to come. Keep in mind that you don't have to bring food cooked in a pot, but it would be cool if you did.

Event Info. What's Tailgate for Nothing (TFN)? All nine 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, 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 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 - We're not saying that it's going to rain at TFN8, 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.

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.