Beat the Heat BBQ & Brews

2023-08-11 – 2023-08-12 · Alamosa, CO · 📍 502 2nd Street · State championship

Reps: DEL ANDERSON, MICHAEL WINTER · Prize money: $10,365.00

Grand Champion: Chucho Q (693.6688) · 27 teams

Reserve Champion: 🥈 Crossed Rifles BBQ

🥇

Chucho Q

693.6688 · Master Series — Overall

🥈

Crossed Rifles BBQ

691.9316 · Master Series — Overall

🥉

Colorado Bulldawg BBQ

689.0628 · Master Series — Overall

The contest at a glance (read off the scored boards)

How the field scored

Overall totals, every team on the board — tall stacks are where the pack sat.

592.81 median 666.77 693.67 🏆

How the meats cooked

Every board on one scale — the bar runs last score to first, the dot is the median.

Chicken 176.56
Pork Ribs 175.42
Pork 177.70
Brisket 179.44

134.77 179.44

Winning score by edition

What it has taken to win here, 2022 to 2024 — this edition picked out.

Entries

4 judged meats

Top score

693.6688

Winning margin

1.7372

GC over RC

Field average

663.34

592.81693.67

median 666.77 · last place to winner

Perfect 180s

Tightest race

Chicken

2.2972 pts across the top 5

Top-10 cutoff

674.7316

592.81693.67

10th place overall

Field spread

100.8576

winner to last place

Prize money

$10,365.00

on the line

Most consistent

Crossed Rifles BBQ

avg finish 5.50 across 4 meats

Double threats

teams with 2+ top-5 calls

Widest winning margin

Brisket

won by 2.2972 pts — BARREL FEVER BBQ

How hot was the win?

Top 58%

beats 42% of 4707 Master Series wins in the data

Came back for more

49%

17 of 35 teams from the previous edition returned

Form held

Moderate

ρ = -0.6 between pre-contest rating and finish

Field strength

1519

avg power rating going in · stronger than 13% of contests

Top-rated in the field

Texas Smoke Whisperer

rated 1783 pre-contest

Storylines (4 found in this contest's numbers)

Everything below is read straight out of the results — the number on each card is the one that made it a story.

An upset on the books

17-in-100 shot on pre-contest ratings

The ratings favoured the top seed the other 83 times in 100

Chucho Q came in rated below the field's top team, Texas Smoke Whisperer, and took the Grand Championship anyway — roughly a 17-in-100 shot on pre-contest ratings.

champion 1505
top seed 1783

A first Grand Championship

13 tracked contests to get there

This was Chucho Q's first Grand Championship in the data — it arrived at their 13th tracked contest.

Photo finishes

Tie closest of 10 calls decided inside half a point

Chicken places 2–3: Good To Go BBQ and DOUBLE J SMOKERS tied on 176.0000 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Chicken places 9–10: Colorado Bulldawg BBQ and TEXAS SMOKE WHISPERER tied on 170.8228 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Pork Ribs places 2–3: At Ease and Kanned Heat tied on 173.1428 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker.

Chicken 2–3 · tie
Chicken 9–10 · tie
Pork Ribs 2–3 · tie
Pork 7–8 · tie

How the title was won

3 of 4 meats called to the stage

Chucho Q took the title on 3 calls from 4 meats, with 1 outright win — their weakest board was pork at 11th.

Chicken 4th
Pork Ribs 1st
Pork 11th
Brisket 6th

Score curves (score by finishing position — steep cliffs mean a spread field, flat lines a knife fight)

Category showdown (top / average / median score per meat)

Biggest rating movers (power-rating points won and lost at this contest)

Did form hold? (pre-contest rating vs overall finish — ratings called it if the dots climb to the right)

This contest over the years full contest page →

Date	Where	Venue	Teams	High score	Grand Champion	Reserve Champion
2022-08-05	Alamosa, CO	502 2nd Street	35	701.1200	Gettin' Basted	Colorado Bulldawg BBQ
2023-08-11 ← this one	Alamosa, CO	502 2nd Street	27	693.6688	Chucho Q	Crossed Rifles BBQ
2024-08-09	Alamosa, CO	506 2nd Street	29	709.1200	Bushmaster BBQ	SMOKIN HOT BUTTS BBQ

What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)

Category	1st	5th	10th
Chicken	176.5600	174.2628	170.8228
Pork Ribs	175.4172	171.9888	168.5488
Pork	177.7028	173.1200	169.1084
Brisket	179.4400	174.2628	169.1200

Official results on kcbs.us ↗

Master Series

Overall

27 entries · top 693.6688 · median 666.7656

#	Team	Score
1	Chucho Q	693.6688
2	Crossed Rifles BBQ	691.9316
3	Colorado Bulldawg BBQ	689.0628
4	Kanned Heat	684.5140
5	BRACKEN RACKS BBQ	680.4804
6	POPPA PIG AND PORKCHOP	679.3488
7	Good To Go BBQ	678.2056
8	LA PASADITA	678.1712
9	TEXAS SMOKE WHISPERER	675.3256
10	Needs More Cowbell BBQ	674.7316
11	BARREL FEVER BBQ	670.7660
12	62nd St BBQ	667.3372
13	At Ease	667.3372
14	BOVINE INTERVENTION	666.7656
15	ROCKET BOYS PYRO BBQ	666.1256
16	Fire & Forget BBQ	664.4572
17	Pig In A Pit	663.8744
18	Cluster Cluck Barbecue	663.8172
19	DJ's Smokin' BBQ	662.1028
20	ROOSTER'S COMPETITION BBQ TEAM	661.5312
21	Monarchbbq	660.4116
22	PIG FARMER'S BBQ	646.0572
23	DOUBLE J SMOKERS	643.2916
24	DragonFyre Smoke	641.4972
25	SMOKIN TRIGGERS	639.8288
26	The Outback Cookin' Company	606.6740
27	Service Dog BBQ	592.8112

Chicken

27 entries · top 176.5600 · median 168.5256

#	Team	Score
1	Crossed Rifles BBQ	176.5600
2	Good To Go BBQ	176.0000
3	DOUBLE J SMOKERS	176.0000
4	Chucho Q	175.4288
5	DragonFyre Smoke	174.2628
6	LA PASADITA	173.1428
7	At Ease	171.9772
8	Needs More Cowbell BBQ	171.9656
9	Colorado Bulldawg BBQ	170.8228
10	TEXAS SMOKE WHISPERER	170.8228
11	BRACKEN RACKS BBQ	169.6800
12	Cluster Cluck Barbecue	169.6684
13	Kanned Heat	169.1428
14	ROCKET BOYS PYRO BBQ	168.5256
15	62nd St BBQ	167.9772
16	Fire & Forget BBQ	167.9656
17	BOVINE INTERVENTION	167.4056
18	SMOKIN TRIGGERS	166.2284
19	BARREL FEVER BBQ	165.1088
20	Pig In A Pit	164.5488
21	The Outback Cookin' Company	161.1200
22	PIG FARMER'S BBQ	161.1088
23	POPPA PIG AND PORKCHOP	159.3716
24	DJ's Smokin' BBQ	158.2056
25	Monarchbbq	157.0744
26	ROOSTER'S COMPETITION BBQ TEAM	155.3600
27	Service Dog BBQ	148.4800

Pork Ribs

27 entries · top 175.4172 · median 164.5256

#	Team	Score
1	Chucho Q	175.4172
2	At Ease	173.1428
3	Kanned Heat	173.1428
4	Colorado Bulldawg BBQ	173.1316
5	Crossed Rifles BBQ	171.9888
6	POPPA PIG AND PORKCHOP	170.8572
7	62nd St BBQ	170.2972
8	ROCKET BOYS PYRO BBQ	170.2628
9	BRACKEN RACKS BBQ	169.7032
10	Needs More Cowbell BBQ	168.5488
11	PIG FARMER'S BBQ	167.3828
12	BOVINE INTERVENTION	165.6800
13	LA PASADITA	165.0972
14	ROOSTER'S COMPETITION BBQ TEAM	164.5256
15	DJ's Smokin' BBQ	163.9544
16	Pig In A Pit	162.8344
17	The Outback Cookin' Company	162.8000
18	Good To Go BBQ	162.2744
19	TEXAS SMOKE WHISPERER	161.7028
20	Fire & Forget BBQ	160.5716
21	Cluster Cluck Barbecue	159.3716
22	Monarchbbq	159.3716
23	BARREL FEVER BBQ	157.6916
24	SMOKIN TRIGGERS	155.9544
25	DragonFyre Smoke	154.7888
26	DOUBLE J SMOKERS	150.2288
27	Service Dog BBQ	149.0628

Pork

27 entries · top 177.7028 · median 168.5256

#	Team	Score
1	Good To Go BBQ	177.7028
2	Monarchbbq	175.4172
3	TEXAS SMOKE WHISPERER	174.2744
4	BRACKEN RACKS BBQ	173.7028
5	Cluster Cluck Barbecue	173.1200
6	Kanned Heat	173.1084
7	ROOSTER'S COMPETITION BBQ TEAM	171.9772
8	POPPA PIG AND PORKCHOP	171.9772
9	Crossed Rifles BBQ	170.2628
10	LA PASADITA	169.1084
11	Chucho Q	168.5600
12	Colorado Bulldawg BBQ	168.5484
13	BOVINE INTERVENTION	168.5372
14	BARREL FEVER BBQ	168.5256
15	PIG FARMER'S BBQ	167.3944
16	Fire & Forget BBQ	167.3828
17	Needs More Cowbell BBQ	167.3828
18	62nd St BBQ	165.1200
19	ROCKET BOYS PYRO BBQ	165.0972
20	At Ease	164.5372
21	DJ's Smokin' BBQ	163.3828
22	Pig In A Pit	162.2284
23	Service Dog BBQ	160.5028
24	DOUBLE J SMOKERS	155.9656
25	SMOKIN TRIGGERS	152.5144
26	DragonFyre Smoke	148.5028
27	The Outback Cookin' Company	143.3484

Brisket

27 entries · top 179.4400 · median 167.3944

#	Team	Score
1	BARREL FEVER BBQ	179.4400
2	POPPA PIG AND PORKCHOP	177.1428
3	Colorado Bulldawg BBQ	176.5600
4	DJ's Smokin' BBQ	176.5600
5	Pig In A Pit	174.2628
6	Chucho Q	174.2628
7	Crossed Rifles BBQ	173.1200
8	LA PASADITA	170.8228
9	ROOSTER'S COMPETITION BBQ TEAM	169.6684
10	Kanned Heat	169.1200
11	Monarchbbq	168.5484
12	Fire & Forget BBQ	168.5372
13	TEXAS SMOKE WHISPERER	168.5256
14	BRACKEN RACKS BBQ	167.3944
15	Needs More Cowbell BBQ	166.8344
16	BOVINE INTERVENTION	165.1428
17	SMOKIN TRIGGERS	165.1316
18	DragonFyre Smoke	163.9428
19	62nd St BBQ	163.9428
20	ROCKET BOYS PYRO BBQ	162.2400
21	Good To Go BBQ	162.2284
22	Cluster Cluck Barbecue	161.6572
23	DOUBLE J SMOKERS	161.0972
24	At Ease	157.6800
25	PIG FARMER'S BBQ	150.1712
26	The Outback Cookin' Company	139.4056
27	Service Dog BBQ	134.7656

Beat the Heat BBQ & Brews

The contest at a glance (read off the scored boards)

How the field scored

How the meats cooked

Winning score by edition

Entries

Top score

Winning margin

Field average

Perfect 180s

Tightest race

Top-10 cutoff

Field spread

Prize money

Most consistent

Double threats

Widest winning margin

How hot was the win?

Came back for more

Form held

Field strength

Top-rated in the field

Storylines (4 found in this contest's numbers)

An upset on the books

A first Grand Championship

Photo finishes

How the title was won

Score curves (score by finishing position — steep cliffs mean a spread field, flat lines a knife fight)

Category showdown (top / average / median score per meat)

Score distribution

Biggest rating movers (power-rating points won and lost at this contest)

Did form hold? (pre-contest rating vs overall finish — ratings called it if the dots climb to the right)

This contest over the years full contest page →

What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)

Official results on kcbs.us ↗

Master Series

Overall

Chicken

Pork Ribs

Pork

Brisket