The Drunken Tailgate

Weber’s Grilling Guide App for iPhone/iPad

At home it’s easy to run to the computer for grilling recipes and tips. But most of us don’t have a laptop lying around while we tailgate. However there is now Weber’s On the Grill™ App for the iPhone or iPad. The app features over 250 grilling recipes but goes beyond your typical recipe book. Each recipe has an itemized grocery list to take with you to the store and check off items as you add them to your cart. The app also features grilling times by type of meat, cut, and size as well as instructional videos and other grilling tips. At $4.99 it’s not a must download, but it sure seems handy.

How to Carry and Clean a Flask

AskMen.com has an article on tips for all aspects of owning a flask. This is a pretty helpful article but I do disagree with them on some points

1. Where to Stash Your Flask

AskMen says: Inside jacket pocket, trouser pocket, or inside boots.

Drunken Tailgate says: This may work for day to day life but entering college stadiums often requires more extreme measures. The boots will still work, but I suggest placing the flask inside the waistband of your boxers in the front or back and then making sure to cleanly tuck your shirt in. You’re more likely to get a “lift your shirt up” order than an “untuck your shirt”.

2. What to Put in a Flask?

AskMen says: Whiskey because it can be taken as a shot or mixed with a variety of drinks

Drunken Tailgate says: We agree. Though if you can’t handle it, gin or vodka goes with a souvenir cup of Sprite

3. How Often Do You Empty the Contents?

AskMen says: A week

Drunken Tailgate says: We’re guilty of finishing off a flask that’s been full for a month so we may not the best person to ask.

4. How Do You Clean a Flask?

AskMen says: “It’s as simple as this: rinse it out with hot water when you get home, leave the cap off and let it dry overnight. Never use soap because you’ll never get the residue out of the flask completely, and this will affect the taste of the liquor. Rinse it with a little lemon juice occasionally, if you are changing the type of booze you carry.”

Drunken Tailgate says: agreed

5. When to Use a Flask

AskMen says: Games and Cookouts but not Weddings

Drunken Tailgate says: Everywhere you damn well please other than the courthouse or while driving. Once you’ve filled up the flask you’ve accepted a certain level of being a drunk and the consequences.

6. Who to Share it With

AskMen says: Only people you’re sleeping with

Drunken Tailgate says: Avoid the problem. Buy someone a cheap flask and remind them to fill it up. There’s really no better way to be a friend and run a tailgate then to help those who can’t help themselves.

Stocking a Small Liquor Bar

7×7 has written an article about stocking a small liquor bar in an apartment. Of course, if you’re the sort to have a selection of liquor sitting out at your tailgate, the same rules apply. The goal for each type of liquor is to find a brand that is tasty and all purpose for cocktails. Check out the article to see the runner-ups.

Vodka: Ketel One
Tequila: Siete Leguas Reposado
Rum: Rhum Barbancourt White
Bourbon: Buffalo Trace
Gin: Plymouth

Morning Tailgate: Bloody Mary Bar

Apparently if you hire a caterer to host a tailgating party they go a bit over the top on presentation. But there are a couple of basic ideas to be learned from the Hip Hostess.

1) Bloody Mary Bar. Perfect setup for early morning tailgate drinks after a rough Friday night. Set a table aside under your tent with tomato juice, vodka, Worcestershire sauce, and a large variety of garnishes including celery, olives, lemons, pickled okra and green beans.

2) Putting those garnishes in 4″ mini Galvanized Pails is a great idea. The pails are stackable, reusable, visually pleasing, and are less likely to flip over in the wind than other cups. You could also use these to set out plastic cutlery, ingredients for fajitas, etc.

Gameday iPhone Apps

Because the stress of following your team on gameday already feels like Terrance Cody sitting on your shoulders, it makes perfect sense to add another heaping ton of stress by laying money down on a few other games. Or so I’ve convinced myself over the last decade. As a betting man who is tailgating or inside the stadium, the iPhone has become a necessity. There are two main apps that I’ve relied on the past couple of seasons to keep me updated and level headed. The first is Score Mobile and it’s free. There are a lot of apps out there that will give you a scoreboard. What’s great about Score Mobile is that the college football lines are included in the days overview schedule along with the times. You can get the line and the over/under and if you click on each game you’ll also get updated with injury reports and other previews.

The second app is also free and called College Football Live. What I like about this app is the quick ability to create a list of your favorite teams. Which we all know is who you bet on that Saturday. So instead of sifting through the top 25 and then trying to remember what conference UTEP is in, you can just create a list of the 5-6 games you’ve got action on. This is the fastest way to check only the scores you care about once you get inside the stadium. Which is an issue since most of the stadiums I’ve been to have significantly slower than usual connections.

College Logo Jack-o-Lanterns

Trying to carve a pumpkin with your college football team’s logo for Halloween tailgating on Saturday? Spookmaster has stencils of your school’s logo that you can use. They charge $5.95 a year and you have access to all of their jack o lantern designs. The stencils are printed from your home computer and include directions on drawing the stencil onto the pumpkin and what tools you should use for carving the design. Seems like a pretty good decoration for your tailgate.

Grilled Krispy Kremes & Hanging TVs

I just stumbled across the Team Tailgate blog. This group of Kansas fans have a serious tailgate. Apparently “Mike the Bartender” takes care of everyone and another dude wears a Jayhawk emblazoned chef’s coat while doing things like grilling Krispy Kreme Donuts for a breakfast tailgate. Their method of hanging a flat screen mount from the top of the tent is also commendable. That would be the advantage of having a tent frame made out of PVC pipe. So check out their site for other menu and tailgating ideas.

Need a place to stay near campus?

At this point CollegeWeekends.com is a better concept than a service. The idea is that you can rent apartments or houses near college campuses for a single game weekend. Often times it would be cheaper than hotel rooms for bigger groups and usually more roomy. They have the service set up for 17 different schools but not a ton of listings yet. The first school to be listed was the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. It seems like this rental setup will thrive at schools in small towns where there might only be a limited number of hotels within miles of campus. You can check out their FAQ for the particulars.