Good Bull and an Epic Tailgate

I've written before about tailgate parties at Texas A&M University. This time I got an invitation for one hosted by Good Bull Hunting and couldn't resist the opportunity to check one out first hand.  Organized via facebook event, this tailgate promised to be epic, and even though I could only be there a short time, it delivered. 

Kyle Field looks very different from my previous post.  This was about 4 hours before kick-off on a rainy day so there wasn't yet much of a crowd.

For those who don't know Good Bull Hunting is a Texas A&M Aggie fan community. Most of us in the TAMU community know them from their hilarious game day posts, including gif-based game summaries, epic photography, and insider insight on everything Aggie sports. I'm what you might call a 2% in that I'm not exactly the biggest sports fan, but even I follow them for the commentary and all around fun.

The tailgate for the Missouri football game started at 11 am with waffles.  The Lovely Spouse and I got out there about mid-afternoon and started with jambalya and libations.  All of which were excellent.  The waffles ran out while we were there, and we had to leave [due to a prior commitment] before the fantastic looking and smelling BBQ was served.

Sponsors of the tailgate. Because of sponsorship, GBH was able to offer all the food and drinks free of charge. 

Pitmasters hard at work.

Jambalya Man!  He was just mugging for my camera.

The jambalya was tasty.  Just the right amount of spice for a cold, rainy day.

Plenty of seating for the pre-game games on satellite TV.

A large selection of beers,wines, and liquors.

The wait for the bar was friendly. Everyone was here to have fun.

Proof that Dammit Jim! is an awesome beer for tailgates.

People were carded and free rides home were offered for those who needed them.

Barrel aged whiskey from Rio Brazos. 

I had a Silt from Brazos Valley Brewery in Brenham.  It was a very nice brown ale that paired beautifully with both the spiked hot chocolate from Rio Brazos Distillery and the jambalya. 

There was an ice sculpture that had a unique feature to it. Not my style, but highly amusing nonetheless.

This is Jeremy from New Republic Brewing sporting a new hat.

Waffles being made. We didn't have any as they ran out. However I'm told they were delicious. 

Even local radio stations got in on this awesome tailgate. This is one of the DJs from FM 102.7 The Maverick.

Because we took the time and effort to make our way out to that tailgate we decided to check out some of the other tailgates in the area and found some friends.

Many, many tailgates.

Hey, this logo looks familiar.

A bottle swap!  There are beer geeks here!

About this time we had to head home due to a prior commitment.  I took more images along the way to our parking spot at Northgate.

I was somewhat amused to see not only unattended tailgates, but that there was a professional company that catered specifically to creating tailgates. Interesting business model. 

The life sciences building in the background.

Albritton Tower. This tower was playing all kinds of tunes throughout the day.

The academic building with Oceanography & Meteorology in the background. 

Heep and Kleberg buildings.

One of the older dorms.

Northgate

The marquis on front of one of the Northgate bars. This one keeps changing names/hands so I'm not sure what it's currently called.

Northgate now has a juice bar.  I'll check them out for a later post.

The Dixie Chicken with Dry Bean Saloon in the foreground.

What the promenade currently looks like. Some alumni will have very different memories of this part of Northgate.

In all the Good Bull Hunting tailgate was a good time. I highly recommend it for people wanting to check out TAMU tailgate culture or who just want to have some fun before and during one of the football games. Thanks for the invitation!

Sugba! And New Republic Brewery Revisited

On many weekends there are now food trucks and bands out at New Republic Brewery (previously covered in this blog here).  We recently stopped by when Ride the Panda! was playing and Sugba Philippine food truck was there. And it gave me a chance to play with some of the settings on my camera.

Sugba features Philippine street food delivered with a smile.  I have a couple of go-to favorites, but honestly everything I've ever tried of theirs has been delicious.

Lumpia are deep fried spring roll sticks filled with meat and vegetables.  Served with a sweet and spicy dipping sauce over fritos. 

Combo #1 is made up of pork skewers served with rice and a spicy sauce.

Since I last wrote about New Republic Brewery some things have changed. They've moved and expanded, and they've added new beers to their inventory.

Much larger fermenters. 

Visitors hang out in the brewery. And, yes, this is a working brewery.  Complete with recycled dairy tanks.

Most beer is made from malted barley. New Republic uses several varieties that give their beers a unique flavor.

Windlass sweet potato porter is the current seasonal.  Dammit Jim! amber, Kadigan blonde, Skylight dunkel, and Whipsaw double IPA are usually available.  Astrolabe sour is hard to find.

Like the beer? Wear the logo. 

It was a bit chilly the evening we were there so they lit the fire pits. 

The evening we were there the Creative Capsule was also there to provide family-friendly entertainment. The evening's project was decorating old 45 records. 

To find out who is playing at the brewery and/or which food truck is there, visit the brewery's website, twitter feed, or facebook page.