Inside The Drinks, Bars & Traditions Of A Crimson Tide Football Weekend
This is part of PubClub’s School Spirit(s) series, exploring the drinks, bars, traditions and drinking rituals surrounding college football. This installment goes to the University of Alabama, where the drinking traditions start with the legendary Yellow Hammer.
By Kevin Wilkerson, Editor & Publisher, PubClub.com
Beyond Roll Tide, houndstooth wardrobe, the playing of Yeah Alabama after touchdowns, chanting Rammer Jammer after victories and the singing of Dixieland Delight with amended lyrics whenever things go well, there is another game-day tradition at University of Alabama football games.
And that is drinks.
It is common practice for Bama fans to take first-timers straight into Gallettes bar on the University Strip for a Yellow Hammer cocktail immediately upon setting foot in Tuscaloosa. It even precedes going to Dreamland Ribs. Having a Yellow Hammer – which is named after the state bird but is also a lyric in Rammer Jammer – is a much of a ritual as greeting people with the words “Roll Tide.” It is the unofficial signature drink of the University of Alabama.
Having a signature drink associated with a school is certainly not exclusive to Alabama. At Ole Miss there’s the Hot Toddie, at LSU there’s the Tiger Punch and fans at Purdue drink their nickname a Boilermaker, just to name a few. But this article focuses on Alabama drinks because your author attended college at the Capstone and has extensive first-hand experience with all the Tide traditions.
The Yellow Hammer: Tuscaloosa’s Famous Game-Day Drink
The Yellow Hammer is some type of punch concoction created in the 1970s at Galletttes, the closest bar to Bryant-Denny Stadium. It is served in a yellow hard plastic cup (except in October, when it’s pink because of Breast Cancer Awareness Month)
What Is In A Yellow Hammer?
Now this is a good question. Frankly, I don’t want to know! I just drink ’em. I can tell you that they have five ounces of booze in 16 ounces. That’s precisely why I don’t want to know what’s in them – I might get even more buzzed if I knew! Gallette’s servers certainly won’t tell you. During one visit there my friend, who was in naval intelligence at the time, wanted to get to the bottom of it. A door behind the bar was open and he noticed boxes of pineapple juice stacked up so that’s one ingredient. A bartender did tell me it has two different types of spirits in it, one being rum.
You can find recipes online of vodka, light rum, amaretto, orange juice, and pineapple juice with a splash of grenadine but only Gallettes knows for sure.
The Alabama Slammer
This drink predates the Yellow Hammer, perhaps back to the early Bear Bryant days, if I am not mistaken. It is made of Southern Comfort, sloe gin, amaretto, and orange juice or a sweet and sour mix.
The PubClub Twist: The Crimson Rolling Tide
Now if PubClub.com were to create a University of Alabama drink it would be something like this: the Crimson Rolling Tide. It would be tribute to school’s adopted nickname (the original nickname was the Red Elephants which explains why there is a person in an elephant suit on the sideline). It would play heavily into the “Roll Tide” cheer and have two types of rum with Coke and served with a bag of Golden Flake potato chips. If the team is losing then add a dark rum floater. Make it a double floater if Bama is losing to Auburn or Tennessee.
Why Tuscaloosa Bars Don’t Serve Jack Daniel’s During Tennessee Week
If you’re a Jack Daniel’s fan and you are in town for “Beat Tennessee Week” then you’re SOL. That’s because the hatred in that rivalry runs so deep that no bar in Tuscaloosa serves it when Alabama plays Tennessee. That policy is in place whether the game is in Tuscaloosa or in Knoxville. You get Kentucky bourbon and any Tennessee whiskey is even removed from the shelves behind the bar. That’s passion, folks.
Where Alabama Fans Drink Before And After Games
Well, for starters there’s Gallettes. There are also several bars along University Blvd., known as the Tuscaloosa Strip. A little further up downtown is one of America’s great college bars, Innisfree Pub. Back on campus the big tailgate area is on a a large grassy area by Denny Chimes known as the Quadrangle, or the Quad for short.
Alabama Football Drinking Traditions & Superstitions
There are no universal drinking traditions, but Alabama fans do have certain superstitions. It’s really a Southern thing, but it’s common for Bama fans to have several Alabama T-shirts with them when watching games. I’ve been known to change shirts or combinations of shirts five or six times during a game if the Tide isn’t playing well. I’ve even known people to switch what they are drinking.
It is traditional for fans to yell “Roooooolll” as the team prepares for a kickoff and to finish it with “TIDE, roll” when the ball is kicked. This has been around for decades and I’ve noticed fans of other teams are doing the same with thier cheer. Traditionally, you only do it when Alabama kicks off but some people do it on all kickoffs.
Kevin Wilkerson is the founder of PubClub.com, an award-winning journalist and nightlife expert who has covered destinations, events and nightlife for more than two decades. While working as a newspaper reporter, he received an Associated Press award for investigative journalism. While at the University of Alabama, he was sports editor of the yearbook and was a sportswriter for the Crimson White.
Next Stops On The Alabama Football Party Bus
• Dressing Up For Alabama Games For Many Is A Crimson Tide Tradition
• Top Party Schools – Alabama is #1
• Top College Football Party Towns
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