Barbeque on the Bow Festival
2023-09-02 – 2023-09-03 · Calgary, AB · CANADA · 📍 5151 101 St. NW
Reps: BRENDA BLACK, KEN BLACK
Grand Champion: Meat Sweats BBQ (702.2972) · 40 teams
Reserve Champion: 🥈 Brisket Butts
Entries
Top score
Winning margin
Field average
Perfect 180s
Tightest race
Top-10 cutoff
Field spread
Double threats
How hot was the win?
Traveled in
Form held
Field strength
Storylines
🧳 Out-of-towners took the title
Meat Sweats BBQ took the Grand Championship home to WI.
🧹 A double category winner
Brisket Butts won Pork Ribs, Pork — a double.
📸 Photo finishes
Master Series — Chicken places 7–8: DIDY SMOKE IT and Smokapalooza tied on 173.7144 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Master Series — Pork Ribs places 4–5: Panther BBQ and YOU NEED A BBQ tied on 174.8572 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Master Series — Pork places 1–2: Brisket Butts and Kreiser Barbecue tied on 179.4400 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker.
🃏 An upset on the books
MEAT SWEATS BBQ AB came in rated below the field's top team, SMELLAQUE, and took the Grand Championship anyway — roughly a 29-in-100 shot on pre-contest ratings.
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)
Where the field came from (home regions on file)
This contest over the years full contest page →
| Date | Where | Venue | Teams | High score | Grand Champion | Reserve Champion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-09-02 ← this one | Calgary, AB | 5151 101 St. NW | 40 | 702.2972 | Meat Sweats BBQ | Brisket Butts |
| 2024-08-31 | Calgary, AB | 5151 101 St. NW | 35 | 699.4172 | Colorado Bulldawg BBQ | SMELLAQUE |
| 2025-08-30 | Calgary, AB | 5151 101 Street NW | 38 | 697.6684 | SmellaQue | Q Cartel |
| 2026-09-04 | Calgary, AB | — | — | — | — | — |
What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Master Series — Chicken | 179.4400 | 174.2744 | 171.9656 |
| Master Series — Pork Ribs | 179.4400 | 174.8572 | 171.9656 |
| Master Series — Pork | 179.4400 | 174.8456 | 173.1200 |
| Master Series — Brisket | 178.8800 | 171.9772 | 168.5372 |
| Backyard Series — Chicken | 176.6172 | 167.3944 | 161.0856 |
| Backyard Series — Pork Ribs | 176.0000 | 169.6684 | 161.7144 |
Official results on kcbs.us ↗
Master Series
Overall
40 entries · top 702.2972 · median 660.7082
Chicken
40 entries · top 179.4400 · median 166.8342
Pork Ribs
40 entries · top 179.4400 · median 168.2744
Pork
39 entries · top 179.4400 · median 166.2628
Brisket
40 entries · top 178.8800 · median 162.2514
Backyard Series
Overall
14 entries · top 346.2284 · median 330.8344
Chicken
14 entries · top 176.6172 · median 164.8458
Pork Ribs
14 entries · top 176.0000 · median 164.3028
Ancillary categories
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.
Kids-Q — Kids-Q
11 entries · top 180.0000 · median 170.8228 · 🔥 perfect 180
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lil Meat Sweats | |
| 2 | Little Smokas | |
| 3 | O-Dawg BBQ | |
| 4 | Cameron Q Jr | |
| 5 | Toasted Carrots | |
| 6 | BBQnicorns | |
| 7 | 3000 Degrees | |
| 8 | Fire Bandits | |
| 9 | The Little LebowsQ | |
| 10 | Kids Gotta Cook | |
| 11 | Bacon Bits |