By Brian Walrath, MABA Secretary and Pitmaster for Brown Liquor BBQ

Fredericksburg has quickly grown into one of the marquee events on the east coast for KCBS competition barbecue.  Contest organizers, James Sharon and Jeremy Bullock do a great job for the teams and have grown this event every year since their first in 2010.  This year would again be the most teams for this event as 72 top notch teams would battle it out for the $12,500 purse!  And, this event is the official MABA state cup for the state of Virginia – extra incentive for teams from the Commonwealth!

The weather forecasts for Friday and Saturday were to be laced with periods of thunderstorms and some rain.  Friday afternoon was mostly a beautiful day with mild temps, but the storm we were promised by weather forecasters came to fruition and about 2pm or so, we were hit with a big thunderstorm and a good soaking of rain for about a half hour.  Teams dried out from the rain blast and settled in.

The cooks meeting went as most do, but this one would be interrupted by a special presentation.  Jerry and Roxanne from Redneck Scientific presented newly minted MABA President Luke Darnell with the new president’s jacket and sash bearing the title, “El Presidente.”  Thanks to previous President Mike Fay, for several years of service building and running MABA into the great organization it is today!

Speaking of Mike Fay, he spearheaded a couple of noteworthy events and cooking challenges.  The “Cheesy Beer Challenge” was first – teams wanting to participate, brought a case of inexpensive, or “cheesy” beer (under $20) and the winner of the chicken category would be awarded all the beer!  Second was the Whiskey-A-Go-Go – this would be for the highest brisket entry and entry into that was a bottle of good whiskey.  Congratulations to Aporkalypse Now for winning all the beer and to 270 Smokers for winning all the whiskey!  One last thanks to Mike for also organizing a MABA potluck dinner after the cook’s meeting.  Many delicious offerings were brought and shared and the group had a nice time eating and drinking together!

One last thunderstorm after turn-ins and before awards would pass through and wreak havoc on teams who didn’t quite finish their packing.  Awards came and saw 3 Eyz BBQ taking the grand champion position, congrats to Dan and Rick for a great cook.  Don and Sandy Wallace from Life is Good But BBQ is Better would land their best finish to date with an impressive reserve grand champion AND the Virginia State Cup…way to go everyone who heard their name on this day in a deep and tough field!

First place winners:
Chicken – 3 Eyz BBQ
Ribs – 270 Smokers
Pork – Life is Good But BBQ is Better
Brisket – 3 Eyz BBQ

Grand Champion – 3 Eyz BBQ
Reserve Grand Champion – Life is Good But BBQ is Better

Check out the full competition results here.