Georgia Barbecue Association

Apr 04 2016

Rescue Smokers Race to Win at Hawkinsville Smokin’ the Track

The heavy rains & muddy conditions forced a shutdown of the harness racing at Hawkinsville Smokin’ the Track. Most of the Georgia Barbecue Association’s (GBA) teams, however, were tucked in out of the weather under the shelter of the horse arena. It came down to a photo finish as just two tenths of a point separated the top two entries of the day. Robby Royal & Rescue Smoker won the Grand Championship when his final round Rib entry scored a 599 out of a possible 600 to slip past Brad Sweet & 92 BBQ’s score of 598.8 in Pulled Pork.

Grand Champion – Rescue Smokers

92 BBQ made finals in both Loin & Pulled Pork and added a 6th place in Ribs to take the Reserve Grand Championship.

Reserve Grand Champion – 92 BBQ

Rescue Smokers topped the Loin category. Forget Me Not BBQ & 92 BBQ tallied identical 593.3 scores in finals to tie for 2nd place. Forget Me Know won on the first tiebreaker – taste – to claim the runner-up spot. Fourth place went to We Want Que with Real South BBQ taking 5th place. Southern Hogs camin 6th, Rub Shakers Que came in 7th & Johnson Boys BBQ came in 8th place. In 9th place was Holy Smokes and in 10th place was Kelvin’s BBQ.

Ragin’ Smoke BBQ

92 BBQ had the best Pulled Pork entry of the day. Bubba Grills took 2nd place. Ragin’ Smoke BBQ made finals for the first time in the GBA & finished in 3rd place. Smokin’ AJ’s was back after a long layoff & took 4th place. Holy Smokes came in 5th with Real South BBQ just 0.3 back in 6th and another 0.3 back was Southern Hogs in 7th place. Kelvin’s BBQ, Just Blowing Smoke & Johnson Boys BBQ finished 8th thru 10th respectively.

The Grand Championship Ribs of Rescue Smokers took first place honors. Smokin’ AJ’s came in 2dn with Southern Hogs in 3rd place. The 4th place call went to H&J Cooking Team. Kelvin’s BBQ walked for the third time of the day, this time for 5th place. 92 BBQ completed their strong cook with the 6th place call. Ragin’ Smoke BBQ took 7th place; Holy Smokes took 8th & Old Henry’s BBQ claimed 9th place. Just Blowing Smoke rounded out the top 10.

The GBA congratulates Smokin’ the Track contest committee for going above & beyond in harsh conditions and delivered a well run contest. The GBA next heads to Jackson for Smoking Pork “N” Butts on April 15-16.

Full Results (note: 1st, 2nd & 3rd place scores are from finals rounds. All other scores are from preliminary rounds)

		LOIN			PULLED PORK			RIBS
1	598.7	Rescue Smokers	1	598.8	92 BBQ	1	599	Rescue Smokers
2	593.3	Forget Me Not BBQ	2	593.7	Bubba Grills	2	593.4	Smokin AJ’s
3	593.3	92 BBQ	3	591.2	Ragin Smoke BBQ	3	592	Southern Hogs
4	594.8	We Want Que	4	596.1	Smokin AJ’s	4	595.1	H & J Cooking Team
5	594.5	Real South BBQ	5	594.8	Holy Smokes	5	594.8	Kelvin’s BBQ
6	591.1	Southern Hogs	6	594.5	Real South BBQ	6	590.2	92 BBQ
7	590.8	Rub Shakers Que	7	594.2	Southern Hogs	7	587.91	Ragin Smoke BBQ
8	590.3	Johnson Boys BBQ	8	591.2	Kelvin’s BBQ	8	587.9	Holy Smokes
9	589.8	Holy Smokes	9	590.5	Just Blowin Smoke	9	587.5	Old Henry’s
10	588	Kelvin’s BBQ	10	589.9	Johnson Boys BBQ	10	586.2	Just Blowin Smoke
11	583.2	Dixie Davis Cooks	11	589.6	Rub Shakers Que	11	582.6	Real South BBQ
12	582.3	Just Blowin Smoke	12	586.8	Rescue Smokers	12	582	Bubba Grills
13	580.2	Smokin AJ’s	13	582.3	We Want Que	13	581	Johnson Boys BBQ
14	575.6	H & J Cooking Team	14	581.1	H & J Cooking Team	14	579	Rub Shakers Que
15	572	Ragin Smoke BBQ	15	578	Forget Me Not BBQ	15	570.5	Forget Me Not BBQ
16	571.1	Bubba Grills	16	575.5	Old Henry’s	16	568.4	We Want Que
17	564.4	Old Henry’s	17	570.9	Dixie Davis Cooks	17	564.5	Ocmulgee Smoke
18	559.6	Ocmulgee Smoke	18	569	Ocmulgee Smoke	18	562.6	Dixie Davis Cooks

Reserve Champion Scores:

		Loin	Pulled	Ribs	Total
1	92 BBQ	599.1	596.4	590.2	1785.7
2	Southern Hogs	591.1	594.2	595.4	1780.7
3	Rescue Smokers	598.2	586.8	595.7	1780.7
4	Kelvin’s BBQ	588.0	591.2	594.8	1774.0
5	Smokin AJ’s	580.2	596.1	596.4	1772.7
6	Holy Smokes	589.8	594.8	587.9	1772.5
7	Real South BBQ	594.5	594.5	582.6	1771.6
8	Johnson Boys BBQ	590.3	589.9	581.0	1761.2
9	Rub Shakers Que	590.8	589.6	579.0	1759.4
10	Just Blowin Smoke	582.3	590.5	586.2	1759.0
11	Ragin Smoke BBQ	572.0	598.2	587.9	1758.1
12	Bubba Grills	571.1	598.8	582.0	1751.9
13	H & J Cooking Team	575.6	581.1	595.1	1751.8
14	Forget Me Not BBQ	599.1	578.0	570.5	1747.6
15	We Want Que	594.8	582.3	568.4	1745.5
16	Old Henry’s	564.4	575.5	587.5	1727.4
17	Dixie Davis Cooks	583.2	570.9	562.6	1716.7
18	Ocmulgee Smoke	559.6	569.0	564.5	1693.1

Mar 28 2016

Lang BBQ Smokers Tops Tough Field at Fire Ant Festival BBQ Bash

Virtually all of the top teams in the Georgia Barbecue Association (GBA) along with several heavy hitters from Florida made their way to Ashburn, GA for the 2016 edition of the Fire Ant Festival BBQ Bash. The 35 teams had to contend with off and on rain throughout the weekend. Still, the judges had to work really hard as the ‘Que was outstanding. It was the finals round judges, however, who had the toughest (& best) job of the day; judging the top three entries in each category.

The Fire Ant Festival has become known for having among the biggest trophies in all of BBQ. The chain saw carved awards for Grand, Reserve and 1st place in each category each topped 100 lbs.

When it came time for the last call of the day, only two teams were still in the hunt for the Grand Championship. Thomas Henry of Budmeisters BBQ had won both the Loin & Pulled Pork categories. Lang BBQ Smokers, led by Darryl Strickland, was the top team in Ribs. The final tally gave the edge to Ribs and Lang BBQ Smokers took home the Grand Championship trophy & a $2500 check.

Grand Champion – Lang BBQ Smokers

Bull Rush BBQ, Pitmaster Bryan Mroczka, took 4th place in both Loin & Ribs plus 8th in Pulled Pork to accumulate the highest cumulative score in the preliminary rounds and the Reserve Grand Championship.

Reserve Grand Champion – Bull Rush BBQ

1st Loin – Budmiestes BBQ

Budmeisters topped the field in Loin. Ashburn’s own Raymond Poore of REAL-Licious Q took 2nd with CaJenn Smokin Que coming in 3rd place. CaJenn, led by Billy Jennings, had a perfect 600 score in the Loin preliminaries. Bull Rush BBQ grabbed 4th place followed by Real South BBQ in 6th and Hard Rock Hill BBQ in 7th place. Eighth place went to Killer Swine BBQ in a tiebreaker over Smokin 42 BBQ Tenth place went to Rescue Smokers.

1st Pulled Pork – Budmeisters BBQ

In Pulled Pork, it was once again Budmeisters BBQ getting to 1st place call. Barbecue Crew was runner up with Fixin 2 Pork Q in 3rd place. Real South BBQ earned the 4th place award. Smokin 42 BBQ grabbed 5th place; Raging Smoke BBQ grabbed 6th and Bubba Grills took 7th place. Bull Rush BBQ walked in 8th place. Dixie Que edged Double D Cooking team by 0.3 of a point for 9th place.

Lang BBQ Smokers Grand Champion Ribs topped the category with Bubba Grills taking 2nd place and Rescue Smokers taking 3rd. Bull Rush BBQ got their second call for 4th place. Just Blowing Smoke won the tiebreaker over Hootie Q for 5th place. Fixin 2 Pork Q walked in 7th place. REAL-Licious Q edged Southern Tailgates for 8th place by .03 of a point. Barbecue Crew rounded out the top 10.

Brisket Challenge – Captain Jack’s Freedom BBQ Team

The contest held a special Brisket Challenge with 22 of the teams in the field participating. Jack Fallin and Captain Jack’s Freedom BBQ Team notched a perfect 600 score to win the Brisket Challenge. They had to be perfect to win, because Lang BBQ Smokers took 2nd place with a score of 599.7. Bull Rush BBQ added to their big day with a 3rd place finish. Raging Smoke BBQ took 4th place and Poverty Hill Smokers came in 5th place.

The GBA was very proud to be back at the Fire Ant Festival & thanks all the fantastic volunteers who worked extremely hard to keep everything flowing smoothly. The GBA looks forward to being back in Ashburn in 2017.

Final Standings: 1st, 2nd & 3rd place scores are from finals rounds. All other scores are preliminary round scores.

		LOIN			PULLED PORK			RIBS
1	598.2	Budmeisters BBQ	1	596.9	Budmeisters	1	598.8	Lang BBQ Smokers
2	594.4	Real-Licious Q	2	596.4	Barbeque Crew	2	595.8	Bubba Grills
3	591.8	Cajenn Smokin Que	3	591.9	Fixin2 Pork Q	3	588.7	Rescue Smokers
4	599.4	Bull Rush BBQ	4	598.8	Real South BBQ	4	598.2	Bull Rush BBQ
5	598.8	Real South BBQ	5	597.9	Smokin 42	5	596.11	Just Blowing Smoke
6	598.5	Hard Rock Hill BBQ	6	597	Raging Smoke BBQ	6	596.1	Hootie Q
7	595.8	Bubba Grills	7	595.1	Bubba Grills	7	595.5	Fixin’2 Pork Q
8	595.11	Killer Swine BBQ	8	594.6	Bull Rush BBQ	8	594.6	REAL-Licious Q
9	595.1	Smokin 42	9	593.3	Dixie Que	9	594.3	Southern Tailgates
10	594.5	Rescue Smokers	10	593	Double D Cooking Team	10	593.4	Barbeque Crew
11	594.2	Poverty Hill Smokers	11	591.6	Capt. Jack’s Freedom BBQ	11	592.1	Poverty Hill Smokers
12	593.3	Generations BBQ	12	591.6	Buffalo Tucks Comp. Team	12	591.5	Bite My Butt BBQ
13	589.3	Raging Smoke BBQ	13	590.6	Hootie Q	13	591.5	92 BBQ
14	589	Capt. Jack’s Freedom BBQ	14	589.3	Just Blowing Smoke	14	589.7	Dixie Que
15	587.6	Double D Cooking Team	15	589.2	Forget Me Not BBQ	15	588.6	Killer Swine BBQ
16	587.2	Barbeque Crew	16	588.1	Rescue Smokers	16	588.5	Smokin 42
17	586.6	Ole Sparky’s BBQ	17	587.9	REAL-Licious Q	17	588.3	Real South BBQ
18	586.2	Fixin’2 Pork Q	18	586.7	Generations BBQ	18	586.7	Smoke Show
19	585.9	Southern Hogs	19	586.6	Hard Rock Hill BBQ	19	586.6	Budmeisters BBQ
20	585.6	Southern Tailgates	20	585	Lang BBQ Smokers	20	586.5	Southern Hogs
21	583.6	Just Blowing Smoke	21	584.1	Bite My Butt BBQ	21	586.5	Ole Sparky’s BBQ
22	581.4	Vienna Volunteer Fire Dept.	22	583	Southern Hogs	22	586.4	Buffalo Tucks Comp. Team
23	580.3	Smokaholics	23	582.7	Smoking Outlaws	23	586.2	Raging Smoke BBQ
24	578.1	Smoking Outlaws	24	582	Smokaholics	24	585.4	Cajenn Smokin Que
25	576.4	92 BBQ	25	581.4	Ole Sparky’s BBQ	25	584	Hard Rock Hill BBQ
26	575.8	Hootie Q	26	581.1	Vienna Volunteer Fire Dept.	26	583.3	Smoking Outlaws
27	574.6	Forget Me Not BBQ	27	580.1	BIG Ox Barbecue	27	583.2	Forget Me Not BBQ
28	573.6	All American BBQ	28	579	All American Smokers	28	583	Johnson Boys BBQ
29	571.4	Dixie Que	29	578.7	92 BBQ	29	581.7	All American Smokers
30	571.3	Buffalo Tucks Comp. Team	30	578.4	Southern Tailgates	30	575.4	Capt. Jack’s Freedom BBQ
31	569.1	Lang BBQ Smokers	31	577.5	Johnson Boys BBQ	31	574.2	Vienna Volunteer Fire Dept.
32	568.8	Johnson Boys BBQ	32	577.4	Cajenn Smokin Que	32	573.2	Generations BBQ
33	563.2	Bite My Butt BBQ	33	576.3	Killer Swine BBQ	33	568.2	Smokaholics
34	562.6	BIG Ox Barbecue	34	574.8	Smoke Show	34	567.2	Double D Cooking Team
35	0	Smoke Show	35	572.5	Poverty Hill Smokers	35	560.6	BIG Ox Barbecue

Reserve Scores: Preliminary round scores only

		Loin	Pulled	Ribs	Total
1	Bull Rush BBQ	599.4	594.6	598.2	1792.2
2	Bubba Grills	595.8	595.1	599.7	1790.6
3	Real South BBQ	598.8	598.8	588.3	1785.9
4	Budmeisters BBQ	599.4	599.7	586.6	1785.7
5	Rescue Smokers	594.5	588.1	599.7	1782.3
6	REAL-Licious Q	599.7	587.9	594.6	1782.2
7	Smokin 42	595.1	597.9	588.5	1781.5
8	Fixin’2 Pork Q	586.2	599.1	595.5	1780.8
9	Barbeque Crew	587.2	599.7	593.4	1780.3
10	Raging Smoke BBQ	589.3	597.0	586.2	1772.5
11	Hard Rock Hill BBQ	598.5	586.6	584.0	1769.1
12	Just Blowing Smoke	583.6	589.3	596.1	1769.0
13	Cajenn Smokin Que	600.0	577.4	585.4	1762.8
14	Hootie Q	575.8	590.6	596.1	1762.5
15	Killer Swine BBQ	595.1	576.3	588.6	1760.0
16	Poverty Hill Smokers	594.2	572.5	592.1	1758.8
17	Southern Tailgates	585.6	578.4	594.3	1758.3
18	Capt. Jack’s Freedom BBQ	589.0	591.6	575.4	1756.0
19	Southern Hogs	585.9	583.0	586.5	1755.4
20	Ole Sparky’s BBQ	586.6	581.4	586.5	1754.5
21	Dixie Que	571.4	593.3	589.7	1754.4
22	Generations BBQ	593.3	586.7	573.2	1753.2
23	Lang BBQ Smokers	569.1	585.0	599.1	1753.2
24	Buffalo Tucks Comp. Team	571.3	591.6	586.4	1749.3
25	Double D Cooking Team	587.6	593.0	567.2	1747.8
26	Forget Me Not BBQ	574.6	589.2	583.2	1747.0
27	92 BBQ	576.4	578.7	591.5	1746.6
28	Smoking Outlaws	578.1	582.7	583.3	1744.1
29	Bite My Butt BBQ	563.2	584.1	591.5	1738.8
30	Vienna Volunteer Fire Dept.	581.4	581.1	574.2	1736.7
31	All American Smokers	573.6	579.0	581.7	1734.3
32	Smokaholics	580.3	582.0	568.2	1730.5
33	Johnson Boys BBQ	568.8	577.5	583.0	1729.3
34	BIG Ox Barbecue	562.6	580.1	560.6	1703.3
35	Smoke Show	0.0	574.8	586.7	1161.5

Mar 13 2016

Swineholio Takes Grand at Walton Co. BBQ Festival

A tough field of 30 pitmasters turned out for the 2nd Walton Co. BBQ Festival. The scores show that the Que was off the chain & the competition for the final call was close. It went right down to the wire, but Swineholio, led by John Goff, got the coveted last walk of the day. Swineholio’s 596.7 score in the Ribs finals was just a half point better the 596.2 final round scores recorded by Smoking the Good Stuff in Loin and Bubba Grills in Pulled Pork.

Grand Champion – Swineholio

Robby Royal & Rescue Smokers made if back to back Reserve Championship awards by finaling in both Loin & Pulled Pork along with 12th place in Ribs.

The Loin category was unbelievable as BCD, Rescue Smokers & Smoking the Good Stuff all advanced to the final round with perfect 600 scores in the preliminary round. In the final round, Smoking the Good Stuff won with Rescue Smokers coming in second & BCD taking third. Just Blowing Smoke & Old Henry’s BBQ were just one tick off a perfection with scores of 599.7. Just Blowing Smoke won the tiebreaker to claim 4th place. Hootie Q finished 5th; Real South BBQ finished 6th and Swineholio finished 8th. Ninth place went to Forget Me Knot BBQ and 1oth place went to The Porkinator.

Following Bubba Grills in Pulled Pork was Real South BBQ as runner up & Rescue Smokers in 3rd place. Hootie Q claimed 4th place with Shark Bite BBQ claiming 5th place. Just 0.4 of a point separated 6th, 7th & 8th places. Smoking the Good Stuff edged out 92 BBQ and CaJenn Smokin’ Que respectively. Smokin’ 42 BBQ & Johnson Boys BBQ rounded out the top 10.

Swineholio’s Grand Championship Ribs topped the field with The Porkinator in 2nd & Southern Hogs in 3rd place. 92 BBQ edged out 4K BBQ & Just Blowing Smoke for 4th place. Seventh place went to Real South BBQ. In eight place was CaJenn Smokin’ Que. Forget Me Know BBQ walked in 9th place and Porkaholic’s Barbecue finished in 10th.

The Georgia Barbecue Association was pleased once again to be a part of the great event in Walton Co and look forward to returning again next year. Next up for the GBA is the Fire Ant Festival in Ashburn.

Final Standings: 1st, 2nd & 3rd place scores are final round scores. All other scores are from preliminary rounds.

		LOIN			PULLED PORK			RIBS
1	596.2	Smoking the Good Stuff	1	596.2	Bubba Grills	1	596.7	Swineholio
2	595.7	Rescue Smokers	2	595.1	Real South BBQ	2	594.9	The Porkinator
3	593.3	BCD	3	592.6	Rescue Smokers	3	593.3	Southern Hogs
4	599.71	Just Blowing Smoke	4	593.9	Hootie Q	4	595.5	92 BBQ
5	599.7	Old Henry’s BBQ	5	592.4	Shark Bite BBQ	5	595.2	4Ks BBQ
6	595.4	Hootie Q	6	591.8	Smoking the Good Stuff	6	595.21	Just Blowing Smoke
7	590.4	Real South BBQ	7	591.5	92 BBQ	7	593.1	Real South BBQ
8	589.7	Swineholio	8	591.4	Cajenn Smokin Que	8	592.8	Cajenn Smokin Que
9	589.1	Forget Me Not BBQ	9	588.1	Smokin’ 42 BBQ	9	591.5	Forget Me Not BBQ
10	587.6	The Porkinator	10	587.2	Johnson Boys BBQ	10	590.5	Porkaholic’s Barbeque
11	587	Shark Bite BBQ	11	586.6	Just Blowing Smoke	11	590.3	Bubba Grills
12	586.9	Rub Shakers Que	12	584.7	Daddy-O’s BBQ	12	590.2	Rescue Smokers
13	586.3	Smokin’ 42 BBQ	13	583.6	Southern Hogs	13	590.2	Johnson Boys BBQ
14	585.9	92 BBQ	14	583.3	The Porkinator	14	587.8	Smoking the Good Stuff
15	583.6	Southern Hogs	15	583.3	Old Henry’s BBQ	15	587.8	Smokin’ 42 BBQ
16	582.3	Bubba Grills	16	583.2	Screaming Eagle BBQ	16	586.6	BCD
17	580	Cussin & Fussin	17	582.6	Forget Me Not BBQ	17	586.6	Daddy-O’s BBQ
18	579.4	4Ks BBQ	18	581.9	Simply “Q”	18	585.4	Rub Shakers Que
19	579.1	Smokin Armadillo	19	581.7	Swineholio	19	584.7	Screaming Eagle BBQ
20	578.8	Cajenn Smokin Que	20	581.1	4Ks BBQ	20	583.3	Hootie Q
21	576.8	Simply “Q”	21	581.1	JT’s Smoking Butts	21	583	Shark Bite BBQ
22	575.8	Maxus Porkamus	22	580.3	George’s Rib Shack	22	579.4	Smokin Armadillo
23	575.4	Walton EMC Team – Shokin Smokers	23	579.3	Rub Shakers Que	23	578.4	JT’s Smoking Butts
24	572.3	Porkaholic’s Barbeque	24	578.3	Smokin Armadillo	24	576	Simply “Q”
25	571.3	Johnson Boys BBQ	25	576.5	Walton EMC Team – Shokin Smokers	25	571.8	Walton EMC Team – Shokin Smokers
26	567.4	Screaming Eagle BBQ	26	576.3	Porkaholic’s Barbeque	26	571.3	George’s Rib Shack
27	564.1	Daddy-O’s BBQ	27	574.2	BCD	27	569.5	Maxus Porkamus
28	560	JT’s Smoking Butts	28	569.9	Cussin & Fussin	28	567.5	Old Henry’s BBQ
29	556.6	George’s Rib Shack	29	564.3	Hitachi Hibachi BBQ Masters	29	563.4	Cussin & Fussin
30	0	Hitachi Hibachi BBQ Masters	30	562	Maxus Porkamus	30	0	Hitachi Hibachi BBQ Masters

	Reserve Champions Scores	Loin	Pulled	Ribs	Total
1	Rescue Smokers	600.0	595.5	590.2	1785.7
2	Just Blowing Smoke	599.7	586.6	595.2	1781.5
3	Smoking the Good Stuff	600.0	591.8	587.8	1779.6
4	Real South BBQ	590.4	596.1	593.1	1779.6
5	92 BBQ	585.9	591.5	595.5	1772.9
6	Hootie Q	595.4	593.9	583.3	1772.6
7	Bubba Grills	582.3	599.7	590.3	1772.3
8	Swineholio	589.7	581.7	599.1	1770.5
9	The Porkinator	587.6	583.3	598.2	1769.1
10	Southern Hogs	583.6	583.6	599.4	1766.6
11	Forget Me Not BBQ	589.1	582.6	591.5	1763.2
12	Cajenn Smokin Que	578.8	591.4	592.8	1763.0
13	Shark Bite BBQ	587.0	592.4	583.0	1762.4
14	Smokin’ 42 BBQ	586.3	588.1	587.8	1762.2
15	BCD	600.0	574.2	586.6	1760.8
16	4Ks BBQ	579.4	581.1	595.2	1755.7
17	Rub Shakers Que	586.9	579.3	585.4	1751.6
18	Old Henry’s BBQ	599.7	583.3	567.5	1750.5
19	Johnson Boys BBQ	571.3	587.2	590.2	1748.7
20	Porkaholic’s Barbeque	572.3	576.3	590.5	1739.1
21	Smokin Armadillo	579.1	578.3	579.4	1736.8
22	Daddy-O’s BBQ	564.1	584.7	586.6	1735.4
23	Screaming Eagle BBQ	567.4	583.2	584.7	1735.3
24	Simply “Q”	576.8	581.9	576.0	1734.7
25	Walton EMC Team – Shokin Smokers	575.4	576.5	571.8	1723.7
26	JT’s Smoking Butts	560.0	581.1	578.4	1719.5
27	Cussin & Fussin	580.0	569.9	563.4	1713.3
28	George’s Rib Shack	556.6	580.3	571.3	1708.2
29	Maxus Porkamus	575.8	562.0	569.5	1707.3
30	Hitachi Hibachi BBQ Masters	0.0	564.3	0.0	564.3

Mar 06 2016

Jack’s Old South Tops Tough Field at Tifton Rhythm & Ribs

The City of Tifton really turns out for a weekend of music, fun & food at the Rhythm & Ribs Festival. The City’s new mayor said she ordered up perfect weather for the weekend & she really delivered. Twenty two GBA teams and 24 backyard teams competed to win cash & the unique “Squeal-bert” trophies.

The field was tough as 9 of the top 10 teams in the GBA’s Team of the Year standings were on hand. In addition, well known pitmasters like Myron Mixon of Jacks Old South & Raymond Poore of REAL-licious Q were competing in their first GBA events of the season. The competition was tight. In fact, less than a point separated the three finalists for the Grand Championship. It was Jack’s Old South edging out 92 BBQ & Rub Shakers Que for the last call of the day.

Grand Champion – Jack’s Old South

Consistency across the three categories proved to be the key for Robby Royal of Rescue Smokers in winning the Reserved Grand Championship. The team tallied a 594.8 in Loin (4th place); a 594.5 in Pulled Pork (4th place) and a 594.6 in Ribs (6th place) to accumulate the highest cumulative score in the preliminary rounds.

Reserve Grand Champion – Rescue Smokers

With all these experienced pitmasters on hand, a local team in their first competition made their mark. Cool Hand Luke’s BBQ, led by Stripling Luke, made finals in both Pulled Pork & Ribs. The team also scored a perfect 600 with their preliminary round Rib entry.

Cool Hand Luke’s BBQ

1st place Loin – 92 BBQ

92 BBQ led the way in the Loin category with Jack’s Old South in second place and Rub Shakers Que in third. Rescue Smokers claimed 4th place, REAL-licious Q 5th and Smoke Stack Lightning claimed 6th. In 7th place was Rib Ticklers and 8th place went to Bubba Grills. Smokin 42 BBQ (9th) & Statesboro Blues BBQ (10th) rounded out the top ten.

Jack’s Old South won the Pulled Pork category. Bubba Grills was the runner up and Cool Hand Luke’s BBQ came in third. Rescue Smokers once again walked away with the 4th place trophy. Barbecue Crew took 5th place with REAL-licous Q taking 6th and Rib Ticklers taking 7th. Eighth place went to Real South BBQ; 9th went to CaJenn Smokin’ Que and 1oth went to Raging Smoke BBQ.

1st place Ribs – Rub Shakers Que

Bill Goddard, pitmaster for Rub Shakers Que topped the field in Ribs. 92 BBQ got the second place call and Cool Hand Luke’s BBQ walked for the second time in 3rd place. Southern Hogs finished 4th. Holy Smokers edged out Rescue Smokers for 5th place. Johnson Boys BBQ took home 7th place. Eighth thru 10th places went to Real South BBQ, Statesboro Blues BBQ and H & J Cooking Team respectively.

The GBA moves north for the Walton Co.BBQ Festival on March 11-12. This will be Double Team of the Year points event.

The Georgia Barbeque Association thanks Tyrone Spearman and his staff of volunteers for putting on an excellent contest and festival.

Full Standings: 1st, 2nd & 3rd places are final round scores. 4th place and down are preliminary round scores.

		LOIN			PULLED PORK			RIBS
1	597.8	92 BBQ	1	599.5	Jack’s Old South	1	597.7	Rub Shakers Que
2	594.7	Jack’s Old South	2	594.8	Bubba Grills	2	594.3	92 BBQ
3	592.7	Rub Shakers Que	3	590.9	Cool Hand Luke’s BBQ	3	592.6	Cool Hand Luke’s BBQ
4	594.8	Rescue Smokers	4	594.51	Rescue Smokers	4	597.9	Southern Hogs
5	594.2	REAL-licious Q	5	594.5	BarBque Crew	5	594.61	Holy Smokers BBQ
6	592.7	Smoke Stack Lightning	6	592.5	REAL-licious Q	6	594.6	Rescue Smokers
7	590.9	Rib Ticklers	7	591.5	Rib Ticklers	7	594.2	Johnson Boys BBQ
8	590.8	Bubba Grills	8	591.1	Real South BBQ	8	591.2	Real South BBQ
9	590.5	Smokin’ 42 BBQ	9	590.9	Cajenn Smokin Que	9	590.8	Statesboro Blues BBQ
10	589.9	Statesboro Blues BBQ	10	589.3	Raging Smoke BBQ	10	590.5	H & J Cooking Team
11	589.6	Cajenn Smokin Que	11	588.5	Captain Jack’s Freedom BBQ Team	11	589.4	BarBque Crew
12	588.7	Holy Smokers BBQ	12	586.9	Smokin’ 42 BBQ	12	588.2	Jack’s Old South
13	586.6	Southern Hogs	13	585	Hungry Hog BBQ	13	587	Cajenn Smokin Que
14	585.3	H & J Cooking Team	14	584.6	Rub Shakers Que	14	586.9	Rib Ticklers
15	583.6	Real South BBQ	15	584.1	Smoke Stack Lightning	15	586.8	Captain Jack’s Freedom BBQ Team
16	582.4	Rib Ranch	16	584	Statesboro Blues BBQ	16	586.4	Smokin’ 42 BBQ
17	582.3	Raging Smoke BBQ	17	583.7	Southern Hogs	17	585.2	Bubba Grills
18	580.9	BarBque Crew	18	583.6	92 BBQ	18	580.5	Rib Ranch
19	573.6	Johnson Boys BBQ	19	582.6	H & J Cooking Team	19	579.1	REAL-licious Q
20	573.1	Captain Jack’s Freedom BBQ Team	20	582.6	Rib Ranch	20	576.7	Raging Smoke BBQ
21	571.7	Hungry Hog BBQ	21	578.7	Johnson Boys BBQ	21	576.5	Hungry Hog BBQ
22	563	Cool Hand Luke’s BBQ	22	566.2	Holy Smokers BBQ	22	566.3	Smoke Stack Lightning

	Reserve Grand Champion Scores	Loin	Pulled	Ribs	Total
1	Rescue Smokers	594.8	594.5	594.6	1783.9
2	Jack’s Old South	599.4	594.8	588.2	1782.4
3	92 BBQ	598.5	583.6	599.4	1781.5
4	Rub Shakers Que	595.1	584.6	598.5	1778.2
5	Bubba Grills	590.8	599.7	585.2	1775.7
6	Rib Ticklers	590.9	591.5	586.9	1769.3
7	Southern Hogs	586.6	583.7	597.9	1768.2
8	Cajenn Smokin Que	589.6	590.9	587.0	1767.5
9	Real South BBQ	583.6	591.1	591.2	1765.9
10	REAL-licious Q	594.2	592.5	579.1	1765.8
11	BarBque Crew	580.9	594.5	589.4	1764.8
12	Statesboro Blues BBQ	589.9	584.0	590.8	1764.7
13	Smokin’ 42 BBQ	590.5	586.9	586.4	1763.8
14	H & J Cooking Team	585.3	582.6	590.5	1758.4
15	Cool Hand Luke’s BBQ	563.0	594.8	600.0	1757.8
16	Holy Smokers BBQ	588.7	566.2	594.6	1749.5
17	Captain Jack’s Freedom BBQ Team	573.1	588.5	586.8	1748.4
18	Raging Smoke BBQ	582.3	589.3	576.7	1748.3
19	Johnson Boys BBQ	573.6	578.7	594.2	1746.5
20	Rib Ranch	582.4	582.6	580.5	1745.5
21	Smoke Stack Lightning	592.7	584.1	566.3	1743.1
22	Hungry Hog BBQ	571.7	585.0	576.5	1733.2

Feb 08 2016

Real South BBQ’s Perfect Ribs Take Grand at Jekyll Island BBQ Beach Bash

The Georgia Barbecue Association (GBA) convened on the coast after a couple months down time for the Jekyll Island BBQ Beach Bash. The event, sponsored by the Brunswick Lions Club, is always a favorite of both the GBA cook teams & judges. This year, the weather gods tried their best to put a damper on the event with cold temps, high winds & off and on rain. Twenty seven hardy GBA pitmasters and 12 Cooking for Fun pitmasters adapted and overcame the elements to turn in outstanding ‘Que. In fact, not one but two entries in the contest gained a perfect 600 score from the judges. The contest was also very balanced no single team gained more than one finals round call. Nine different teams qualified for the finals round across the three categories.

Grand Champion – Real South BBQ

Tim Coleman & the Real South BBQ team from Swainsboro tallied one of the perfect 600 scores with their rib entry in the finals round to earn the Grand Championship for the contest. This was the first Grand Championship for Real South BBQ.

Reserve Grand Champion – Southern Hogs.

Southern Hogs, led by Matt Sapp, made finals in ribs and finished 6th in pulled pork and 9th in loin to take home the Reserve Grand Championship. This was also Southern Hogs first Reserve Championship award.

First Place Loin – Old Henry’s BBQ

Clay and Stephanie Beal of Old Henry’s BBQ got the day of “firsts” rolling by claiming thier first category win in loin. Their 599 score in loin finals was just one point away from a perfect score. 92 BBQ, the 2014-2015 GBA Team of the Year, finished second with Smokin’ 42 BBQ coming in third place. Rescue Smokers claimed 4th place by just 0.2 of a point over CJ’s BBQ. 2 Smokin’ Pfat Boyz took 6th place. There was a 3 way tie for 7th place. Doc & Dicie’s BBQ won the tiebreaker. Forget Me Not BBQ was next in the tiebreaker to take 8th place and Southern Hogs took 9th. Lang’s BBQ Cookers rounded out the top 10.

First Place Pork – Rescue Smokers

Robby Royal & Rescue Smokers also came just a single point shy of a perfect score in pulled pork finals. Their 599 score topped the category. Just Pig Out BBQ was the runner up. Daddy O’s BBQ, Brian Bond pitmaster, recorded a perfect 600 score in the preliminary round and finals entry score gave them 3rd place. Barbecue Crew finished 4th, Holy Smokes finished 5th and Southern Hogs finished 6th. Seventh place went to Captain Jack’s & Peachtree while Mojo Smokehouse came in 8th place. CJ’s BBQ won the tie for 9th place over Raging Smoke BBQ.

Real South BBQ’s Grand Championship winning ribs topped the category. Southern Hogs took 2nd place with Forget Me Not BBQ taking 3rd. Holy Smokes BBQ walked in 4th place. The scorers had to go to the tiebreaker once again to determine 5th place. Smokin’ 42 BBQ edged out Captain Jack’s & Peachtree. Seventh place went to Barbecue Crew with 8th place going to Lang BBQ Cookers. Rescue Smokers and Bubba Grills finished 9th & 1oth respectively.

CFF Pork – Wilbur’s Smoke Pig

CFF Ribs – Okefenokee Smokers

In the Cooking For Fun division, Wilbur’s Smoke Pig BBQ won the pulled pork category. Under Construction BBQ was the runner-up with Odd Brother’s BBQ in 3rd place. The top spot in ribs went to Okeefonokee Smokers. Under Construction BBQ again was the runner-up again and Aloha Soul claimed 3rd.

GBA Division Scores: Top 3 scores below are from finals rounds. All other scores are from preliminary rounds.

		LOIN			PULLED PORK			RIBS
1	599	Old Henry’s	1	599	Rescue Smokers	1	600	Real South BBQ
2	594.2	92 BBQ	2	595.6	Just Pig Out BBQ	2	593.2	Southern Hogs
3	591.2	Smokin’ 42 BBQ	3	590.3	Daddy O’s	3	589.8	Forget Me Not BBQ
4	595.7	Rescue Smolers BBQ	4	596.1	Barbeque Crew	4	597	Holy Smokes BBQ
5	595.5	CJ’s BBQ	5	595.1	Holy Smokes BBQ	5	595.1	Smokin’ 42 BBQ
6	592.5	2 Smokin Pfat Boyz	6	594.6	Southern Hog	6	595.1	Captain Jack’s & Peachtree
7	591.22	Docs and Dicies BBQ	7	592.4	Captain Jack’s & Peachtree	7	594.9	Barbeque Crew
8	591.21	Forget Me Not BBQ	8	592.1	Mojo Smokehouse	8	594.5	Lang’s BBQ Cooker
9	591.2	Southern Hog	9	590.31	CJ’s BBQ	9	592.2	92 BBQ
10	590.2	Lang’s BBQ Cooker	10	590.3	Raging Smoke BBQ	10	591.9	Bubba Grills
11	588.2	Raging Smoke BBQ	11	589.9	Bubba Grills	11	591.5	Just Pig Out BBQ
12	586	Just Pig Out BBQ	12	589.1	Real South BBQ	12	587	.J Dub’s Stew and Que
13	583.8	Bubba Grills	13	586.6	Smokin’ 42 BBQ	13	587	Rescue Smokers BBQ
14	581	.J Dub’s Stew and Que	14	583.7	.J Dub’s Stew and Que	14	586.6	Old Henry’s
15	581	Holy Smokes BBQ	15	579.6	92 BBQ	15	584.8	Ole Sparky’s BBQ
16	579.6	Ole Sparky’s BBQ	16	577.3	Lang’s BBQ Cooker	16	584.2	Docs and Dicies BBQ
17	578.7	Daddy O’s BBQ	17	576.8	Old Henry’s	17	579.1	Raging Smoke BBQ
18	578.6	Captain Jack’s & Peachtree	18	576.6	2 Smokin Pfat Boyz	18	579	Four Fathers BBQ Crew
19	577.8	Real South BBQ	19	575.1	Docs and Dicies BBQ	19	576.6	Daddy O’s BBQ
20	574.3	Johnson Boys BBQ	20	574.8	Forget Me Not BBQ	20	575.7	Johnson Boys BBQ
21	571.8	Mojo Smokehouse	21	574.7	Statesboro Blues BBQ	21	572.1	HBBQ
22	571.8	Four Fathers BBQ Crew	22	574.5	Paranoid Pig	22	566	Island Dawgz BBQ
23	571.5	Statesboro Blues BBQ	23	573.1	HBBQ	23	565.7	Paranoid Pig
24	571.3	HBBQ	24	572.3	Ole Sparky’s BBQ	24	563	Statesboro Blues BBQ
25	571.2	Barbeque Crew	25	568.5	Four Fathers BBQ Crew	25	562.9	2 Smokin Pfat Boyz
26	571.2	Paranoid Pig	26	563	Johnson Boys BBQ	26	561.1	CJ’s BBQ
27	559	Island Dawgz BBQ	27	556.1	Island Dawgz BBQ	27	559	Mojo Smokehouse

	Reserve Scores	Loin	Pulled	Ribs	Total
1	Southern Hog	591.2	594.6	598.5	1784.3
2	Rescue Smokers BBQ	595.7	598.2	587.0	1780.9
3	Smokin’ 42 BBQ	598.5	586.6	595.1	1780.2
4	Just Pig Out BBQ	586.0	599.1	591.5	1776.6
5	Holy Smokes BBQ	581.0	595.1	597.0	1773.1
6	92 BBQ	599.4	579.6	592.2	1771.2
7	Captain Jack’s & Peachtree	578.6	592.4	595.1	1766.1
8	Real South BBQ	577.8	589.1	598.8	1765.7
9	Bubba Grills	583.8	589.9	591.9	1765.6
10	Forget Me Not BBQ	591.2	574.8	597.1	1763.1
11	Old Henry’s	599.7	576.8	586.6	1763.1
12	Barbeque Crew	571.2	596.1	594.9	1762.2
13	Lang’s BBQ Cooker	590.2	577.3	594.5	1762.0
14	Raging Smoke BBQ	588.2	590.3	579.1	1757.6
15	Daddy O’s BBQ	578.7	600.0	576.6	1755.3
16	.J Dub’s Stew and Que	581.0	583.7	587.0	1751.7
17	Docs and Dicies BBQ	591.2	575.1	584.2	1750.5
18	CJ’s BBQ	595.5	590.3	561.1	1746.9
19	Ole Sparky’s BBQ	579.6	572.3	584.8	1736.7
20	2 Smokin Pfat Boyz	592.5	576.6	562.9	1732.0
21	Mojo Smokehouse	571.8	592.1	559.0	1722.9
22	Four Fathers BBQ Crew	571.8	568.5	579.0	1719.3
23	HBBQ	571.3	573.1	572.1	1716.5
24	Johnson Boys BBQ	574.3	563.0	575.7	1713.0
25	Paranoid Pig	571.2	574.5	565.7	1711.4
26	Statesboro Blues BBQ	571.5	574.7	563.0	1709.2
27	Island Dawgz BBQ	559.0	556.1	566.0	1681.1

Cooking For Fun Scores:

		PULLED PORK			RIBS
1	594.9	Wilbur’s’s Smoke Pig BBQ	1	596.1	Okefenokee Smokers
2	594.8	Under Construction BBQ	2	592.6	Under Construction BBQ
3	590.9	Odd Brother’s BBQ	3	591.2	Aloha Soul
4	587.3	Okefenokee Smokers	4	590.2	Wilbur’s’s Smoke Pig BBQ
5	587	Tailgater’s BBQ	5	581.5	Tailgater’s BBQ
6	585.1	Hart Brother’s BBQ	6	579.3	Billy Goat Barb-Que
7	580.7	Buffalo Tucks and Wild Bill’s BBQ	7	576	Watch Me Smoke
8	578.7	Watch Me Smoke	8	573.2	Odd Brother’s BBQ
9	578	Billy Goat Barb-Que	9	571.6	Slump Buster Kookin
10	575.7	Knotted Staff	10	571.2	Knotted Staff
11	569.9	Slump Buster Kookin	11	569.2	Buffalo Tucks and Wild Bill’s BBQ
12	560.8	Aloha Soul	12	557.6	Hart Brother’s BBQ