drinking

10 Time-Tested Tailgating Tips

by nixforsix on August 24, 2010

1. How Much Beer to Bring

Try to figure out the most beer you could possibly drink. Then add six. You never know who you’re going to run into over the course of a day. And those people are usually walking between tailgates and don’t have coolers with them. So make sure that you have extras to hand out.

2. Remember to Bring Your Tickets

Come up with a system so that you never leave your tickets at home. I personally leave my season tickets in the car that we always use for tailgating. I put them in an envelope and then lock them in the glove compartment.

3. Be Prepared for Actual Football

Make sure you have a roster, a schedule of televised games, and smart phone apps to keep up with scores.

4. Keep Your Keg Cold

We don’t all have keg koozies or an extra trash can. So a cheap and easy solution is to take a large trash bag and put it around your keg. This will hold the ice and water in place for several hours.

5. Protect Your Tailgating Gear

In some situations, it’s too hard to get all of your tailgating gear back to a car before the start of the game. Drag all of your coolers and tables to the center of your tent. Use bicycle locks to lock everything together. Lower your tent so that it’s only 2-3 feet above the ground and use a lock to connect your gear to one of tent’s top braces. Log lock combinations in your phone or get multiple keys so that each person in your party has access if they get back from the game first.

6. Permanent Tailgating Supplies Box

Get a plastic tub that is dedicated to tailgating supplies. You can never have enough paper towels, trash bags, plastic silverware, plates, cups, and headache medicine. Also make sure to keep a good knife in the box for carving meat.

7. Bring a Tool Box

You can leave it in your car but you need to have access to a tool box. I’ve needed tools to fix satellite tripods, broken tents, hammer in stakes, and a variety of minor emergencies.

8. Warm Weather Tailgating

Though it’s great to have games again, a 90° September Saturday can become grueling. Bring extra clothes so you can shed sweaty shirts throughout the day. Make sure you have sunglasses and sunscreen. In addition to beer, bring more water or sports drinks than you could imagine drinking. You can also plug a small fan into a generator to help cool off and keep bugs away.

9. Rainy Weather Conditions

Bring ziplock bags to place phones, ipods, and wallets in. Grocery bags for wet clothes, purses, and other smaller gear. If you have two tents, it’s common for water to drip in between them. Bring a tarp to bridge the gap over the two roofs. Bring extra clothes for the ride home.

10. Cold Weather Tailgating

Make sure you bring several layers, gloves, a hat, and blankets. Use a grill as a fire or plug a heater into a generator. Keep hot drinks in a thermos or heat up some cider on a grill and mix it with bourbon.

Please leave any tailgating tips you have in the comments.

Tagged as: beer, keg, weather

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Brewtender: Chilled Beer Tower

by nixforsix on August 5, 2010

in drinking,gear

TavernToys.com sent me over a BrewTender to check out. This is a chilled, easy to pour, and fun alternative to a beer pitcher. The Brewtender has three basic parts, the 80oz pitcher, an inner chamber of ice, and the stand. The ice chamber twist locks into the pitcher, and the pitcher easily twist locks on to the base. Having separate parts allows you more maneuverability while filling everything up.

From my experience, if you pour a cool liquid in and fill the center up with ice, it’ll keep cold for at least two hours. Which means that the Brewtender will get the job done better than your standard pitcher for beer pong, flip cup, and other drinking games. I’d mainly recommend this product for use with keg beer at home. Possible uses for tailgating would be a punch or a non-alcoholic drink that you’re not going to fill multiple times. Additional features are the lazy susan base that allows you to spin the tap around so everyone at the table can use it. Located underneath the ice chamber is a light that shines up through the liquid that is powered by four D batteries. It provides an irresistible glow to beer and would look great in a dimly lit situation.

Tagged as: beer, beer pong, youtube

{ 1 comment }

Beer Kegs 101

by nixforsix on August 4, 2010

in drinking,tailgating guide

Have questions about kegs? This quick guide will cover how to tap a keg, how many beers are in a keg, how to cut down on the foam, and other tips and tricks to make sure you get the perfect pour.

How many beers are in a keg?

A half keg, which is what you most commonly see, holds 165 12oz servings (15.5 gallons), weighs 161 pounds when full, and is two feet high. The smaller 1/4 keg is also called a pony keg. It holds 82 12oz beers (7.75 gallons) and weighs 87lbs full.
(source: kegworks.com)

Tips for Tapping

After bringing the keg home quickly, let is settle for two hours. You want to ice it during this time making sure that the ice covers the outer circumference of the keg. You should treat the temperature of your keg the same way you would milk. Never let it get warm. A keg tapped with your standard hand tap will stay fresh for about 24 hours.

Most American beers use the same basic Sankey connection tap. But if someone decides to get fancy with their beer choice, double check with the liquor store that you have the right type of tap. See the bottom of this post for videos on how to tap the keg.

How to Pour Keg Beer

Once you’ve let the keg settle and you’ve tapped it, give it a few pumps and start by filling a pitcher with the initial pours. The first few beers will be very foamy and you might as well let them sit for a little while. When filling pitchers, you can pull the faucet forward until it locks so that you don’t have to hold it down the whole time.

Never pump the keg before at least a test pour. The rookie ahead of you may have pumped the hell out of it. You want to get a medium pour that you let flow down the side of your cup. All push the faucet all the way down and get a full flow to eliminate unnecessary foam.

An overview of keg tapping and pouring by Chow.com

A more detailed look at how to properly tap a keg and pour beers by Wired

(keg photo by rick)

Tagged as: beer, keg, youtube

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Tailgating Drinks: Dark and Stormy Recipe

by nixforsix on July 21, 2010

in drinking,tailgating recipes

A proper tailgating cocktail must to be easy to make. Wielding a cocktail shaker in a field is both impractical and asinine. Which brings us the two ingredient Dark and Stormy. Billed as the national drink of Bermuda, the Dark and Stormy is suitable on the beach or the hot tailgating temperatures of September. Combining Ginger Beer (which happens to be non-alcoholic) and Dark Rum (quite alcoholic) it provides a breezier and less sweet alternative to the average sorority girl’s Rum and Coke. The purist will insist on Gosling’s Black Seal Rum, whereas I decided to Release the Kraken Rum since I had it around. From what I can tell, people are as territorial about Ginger Beer as they are barbecue. I would suggest something, but really you’re going to end up with whatever you can find at your local high end grocery or liquor store.

Dark and Stormy

2 oz Dark Rum
4 oz Ginger Beer

Add rum and ginger beer to ice filled glass and stir. Garnish with lime. Talk like a pirate.

Tagged as: drink recipes, rum

{ 1 comment }

How to Ruin Beer Pong

by nixforsix on July 8, 2010

in drinking,tailgating games

I recently received an email wanting to know if I would feature Buzz Shot the Beer Pong card game on this site. I have agreed. Your average beer pong game is really fun and allows 2-4 people to socialize and drink. Then some douche walks up with his set of 10 different rules that “we always play by” and proceeds to suck all of the fun out of the game. Well now those douches have an aid in their quest because Buzz Shot:

* Helps eliminate the same people consistently winning by adding additional variables to the game, such as shooting with the opposite hand, making a bounce shot instead of an arc shot, having to choose a guest to take your shot, take a shot while sitting down, losing a turn, etc.

* Helps introduce those who may not be inclined to play the game as is (Guys….especially the female crowd)

* Is an excellent “ice breaker” at a party. Have a hard time starting up a conversation with those you don’t know? Bring BUZZ-SHOT along to a party and you won’t have that problem!

These are the worst pitches I’ve seen since the Boom Cooler. Yeah, if girls are intimidated by Beer Pong, they will be much more likely to play if you add rules that force them to take trick shots. Also, what would be your reaction if a stranger walked up to you and asked if you want to play Beer Pong, but then informed you that we’d be playing with a set of Monopoly Community Chest like cards? Would punching them in the throat be too polite? I have my own set of rules for Beer Pong. Throw ball into cup. Occasionally chug beer. Talk shit. That’s the beauty. That’s the fun. Leave it alone.

Tagged as: beer pong