by Brian Walrath, MABA Board Member and Pitmaster for Brown Liquor BBQ

Ayden is home to barbecue in the barbecue proud state of North Carolina.  It’s also home to Bum’s Restaurant and Skylight Inn…two eastern North Carolina landmarks for barbecue.  Now, in only its second year, the Kings of Q BBQ cook off and Festival in Ayden, NC has become truly a hidden gem of KCBS contests in the Mid-Atlantic.  This small town of just under 5,000 folks, rolls out the red carpet for us barbecue competitors.  Everything we need is taken care of.  And if it’s not, you won’t go an hour without someone from the town checking in on you to make sure they get it right!  Even the mayor stops by multiple times during the event to check in on you and see that you have all you need!  And if you need a ride on a golf cart…just see our old buddy the fire marshall and his boys and they’ll hook you up!  Power, water, ash barrels and grease barrels are literally steps from our site!  And, it’s always nice to get a little further away than normal and experience southern hospitality and catch up with some teams we don’t see all the time in our usual stomping grounds.

A couple big questions about who would take the top prize were soon to be answered.  Would Redneck Scientific defend their title among the craziness this year of opening a restaurant and vending the event?  Would Old Virginia Smoke pull of wins in back-to-back weeks?  Would Muttley Crew continue it’s hot start to the season?

The results were interesting…here they are:

Congratulations to Jerry Stephenson and Roxanne Manley for repeating as Ayden Grand Champions!

GC: Redneck Scientific
RGC: Macadoo Heights BBQ

Chicken: Hickory Barbecue Company
Ribs: Bobo’s Que
Pork: Bobo’s Que
Brisket: Macadoo Heights BBQ

Full results here.