Feb 4–5, 2017 · Melbourne, Australia · AUSTRALIA · 📍 Flemington Ralecourse
EUREKA SMOKE won Grand Champion at the Yak Ales Melbourne Barbecue Festival on February 4, 2017 in Melbourne, 8008 at Flemington Ralecourse, scoring 679.4972 in a field of 43 teams. STICKYPITS BBQ took Reserve Grand Champion with 662.2284. Category winners: Chicken — Moist BBQ (172.6172); Pork Ribs — EUREKA SMOKE (174.8572); Pork — RUB WON OUT (173.2000); Brisket — BIG BOY BBQ Australia (170.8800).
Overall totals, every team on the board — tall stacks are where the pack sat.
Every board on one scale — the bar runs last score to first, the dot is the median.
Everything below is read straight out of the results — the number on each card is the one that made it a story.
The ratings favoured the top seed the other 76 times in 100
EUREKA SMOKE came in rated below the field's top team, BUNCH OF SWINES, and took the Grand Championship anyway — roughly a 24-in-100 shot on pre-contest ratings.
Wider than 98% of the 4,713 championships in the data
The champion won by 17.2688 points — a wider margin than 98% of championships in the data.
STICKYPITS BBQ finished 2nd overall in the first contest the data has them cooking at all.
Chicken places 5–6: ALL UP IN MY GRILL and SUCK KNUCKLE SMOKERS tied on 166.8572 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Pork places 9–10: Sons of Hickory edged Southern Boys Barbecue by 0.0112. Pork places 4–5: Gettin' Piggy With It edged Sandgroper BBQ by 0.0112.
EUREKA SMOKE took the title on 3 calls from 4 meats, with 1 outright win — their weakest board was chicken at 13th.
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 172.6172 | 166.8572 | 165.1200 |
| Pork Ribs | 174.8572 | 166.3088 | 162.8228 |
| Pork | 173.2000 | 171.4172 | 163.4516 |
| Brisket | 170.8800 | 166.2972 | 163.4400 |
43 entries · top 679.4972 · median 630.1828
43 entries · top 172.6172 · median 159.4056
43 entries · top 174.8572 · median 155.4056
43 entries · top 173.2000 · median 158.2744
43 entries · top 170.8800 · median 156.5600
Run by the organizers alongside the sanctioned contest. These are judged on their own terms and do not count toward the overall score, so they're kept out of the meat stats above.
33 entries · top 173.7256 · median 159.3712
32 entries · top 177.2000 · median 160.5828