This is a pretty good example of a tailgating checklist you should make during the week. That way you can cross everything off right before you walk out the door. I do worry a bit that they might forget to bring the beer.

from @lizliz07

The Bro Bible has put together a well done illustrated guide to tailgating. The picture is ginormous, so I’ve just included a snippet below.

In an effort to get you ready for the first game, we created our own list of Tailgating Tips, found someone else’s tips, and spotted some thoughts on tailgate menus. But they can’t all be winners. Sometimes you get boring, lame, motherly advice. Among other things, Susan Klatz Biel wants to inform you that

While it may be possible to have alcohol in some places where people tailgate, you can pretty much count on the fact that it won’t be allowed in any of the college parking lots, especially those that are in the vicinity of the stadium. Don’t try to sneak alcohol in because if you are caught, you you will probably be arrested for having an open container. You may also be the party who is responsible for having the privilege to tailgate in parking lots near the stadium (or elsewhere on campus,) rescinded.

But not every mother sucks the life out of tailgating. Kelley (@kriesberg07) is a self described “working mother of two”. So does she get ready for the season by nagging you? No! She actually tweeted:

“When making beer bread for tailgating its essential that you drink 1 to enjoy for yourself! Go Cyclones!”

and

“Gave the boards a fresh look for the season. P.I.M.P. Go #Cyclones!”

fried gator

Cherokee Distributing has a post with some standard tailgating tips. But most importantly they supplied a sample tailgating menu based on their opponent’s local fare and/or mascots. This is a good example of how you can diversify your offerings beyond fried chicken, burgers, etc.

You can also pick food styles and beverages that fit your tailgate whether they celebrate the home team or represent your opponent. That way you can try new things and enjoy some variety throughout the season. Here are some festive menu ideas for the first five big games the Vols will face this season:

• Sept. 11 – vs. Oregon – in Knoxville – When the Ducks come to town, face the challenge head on by preparing grilled duck breast. To top it off, serve with Duck-Rabbit Amber Ale.
• Sept. 18 – vs. Florida – in Knoxville – There’s only one thing to serve when playing the University of Florida, and that’s fried Gator tail. In celebration of the Orange and Blue crew coming to town, sip on a Blue Moon garnished with an orange slice.
• Oct. 2 – vs. LSU – in Baton Rouge, La. – Whether you travel down to Louisiana or enjoy the game from home, the LSU showdown calls for a celebration of Cajun food. Prepare some spicy jambalaya – a yummy, hearty tailgating dish – and serve it with Abita Purple Haze, brewed in Abita Springs, just north of New Orleans.
• Oct. 9 – vs. Georgia – in Athens, Ga. – When the Vols play the Bulldogs, it’s a classic rivalry that calls for a classic tailgating staple: hotdogs. But, why not mix it up and serve “Sloppy Dawgs” – in honor of how you may hope the opposing team will play! And with new UT Head Coach Derek Dooley returning to his hometown to coach against his law school alma mater – and where his dad Vince Dooley was legendary football coach for 25 years – pick up the Shiner Family Reunion variety pack for the occasion.
• Oct. 23 – vs. Alabama – in Knoxville – When the Crimson Tide rolls in to Tennessee, it’s time to break out the barbeque. If you want to sample authentic Tide fare, order some Dreamland Bar-b-que sauce from the Tide’s hometown of Tuscaloosa. But, if you want to stay loyal to Big Orange Country, try the delicious sauces from local restaurants Calhoun’s, Sweet P’s BBQ and Soul House, Buddy’s bar-b-q or Dead End BBQ. Enjoy the southern staple with Twisted Tea Hard Iced Tea, a fun twist on the South’s favorite drink.

(photo by jasonlam)

Staying on the topic of our 10 Time Tested Tailgating Tips, Kegs ‘n Eggs has a list of Tailgating DO’s and DON’Ts. A sample:

DO: Bring a football. If you didn’t know that, “DO” punch yourself in the groin.

DON’T: Making food “the” priority versus a good stomach base is a classic mistake. 1) Don’t buy some vintage/expensive meat that you make at family gatherings. And 2) Eating too much can take out a good chunk of the day due to heartburn.

DO: Dress Code Ethics: I am open when it comes to apparel. Old school helmets, obscene outfits, etc – but make sure you’re built to sustain the weather. Too much clothing can be deadly early on in the football season so be wary.

DON’T: Please God don’t go shirtless. We get it, you have a 6-pack. Now, kindly go fail miserably hitting on freshmen talent and fade away into the tailgating oblivion. There’s no room for this kind of DON’T.

DO: Know your fight songs, people. Holding up one arm and mumbling might seem like your fitting in, but I’ll target you from a mile away.

DON’T: Puking isn’t a topic people like, but we’re not afraid. There’s nothing wrong with sneaking off somewhere and taking care of business if you have to. If you do take this route, DON’T act like you’re God afterwards and don’t go into lame mode.

DO: On that note, gum is a always a good idea.

(HT: tailgatingideas.com)

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.

We’ve added a new page that has Numerical & Alphabetical Rosters for every team in the SEC. I went through each school’s media guide and trimmed it down to just the roster. They are in the .pdf format and can either be downloaded and printed, or loaded on your phone for when you’re tailgating or inside the stadium. The link for the rosters will stay in the right hand column of every page on the site. If this is something people like, we’ll do it for the other conferences as well.

Bulldogs Barks & Bytes is a pretty active message board dedicated to Louisiana Tech Football. This Tailgating Areas thread features a lot of tips for tailgaing in Ruston. Why do you care? Because they used Community Walk to create an editable map of campus. Roughly 30 different posters have gone in and marked where they tailgate and have included photos of their setup and crew. This is a great resource for La Tech supporters, but it also gives visiting fans an idea of what parts of campus are open for tailgating. Of course, this idea works for any school and is a really useful way to keep up with all of your friend’s tailgating spots.

If you’re not familiar with FourSquare yet, it’s a social app that allows people to “check in” to locations like restaurants, bars, and other businesses. You can let people know where you checked in on Facebook, Twitter, or from the iPhone app itself. Whoever visits a location the most has the opportunity to become the “mayor” of that location and gains bragging rights and possibly special offers from the business.

To me this is all lame. I don’t need to know that you stopped by Starbucks on your way to work. But can it make your tailgating easier? Using this guide you can add your tailgating spot to FourSquare in just a couple of minutes. The benefit is that each person can check in to the tailgate as they arrive. So someone still on the road can log in and see who is already there. Or you can see where your friends are tailgating around campus. You can always just text or call someone to figure out where the hell they are, but FourSquare allows you to see where a lot of people are quickly. Just something to think about.

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)