THE BARKTENDERS

At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)

Power ranking

#1224

of 6,413 rated · rankings

Rating

1584

peak 1584 · rated over 25 contests ⓘ

Best runs

straight top-10s

Contests

in the data

First seen

2016-04-30

latest 2019-03-23

Best ToY finish

#326

Master 2016

Grand champs

2 reserve

Category wins

28 podiums

Overall top-10s

of 27 contests

Avg finish

top 40%

overall standings

Best overall

682.2860 / 720

Master · Prime UVE INVITATIONAL BARBECUE CHAMPIONSHIP

Perfect 180s

1 🔥

Current form

644.40 ▼

last 5 Master vs avg 656.97 (-12.57)

Walk rate

93%

contests with a top-10 call

Top-10 streak

best run (overall)

Best single call

180.0000 🔥

Pork · Bardo-Q BBQ Competition

Consistency

±40.79

std dev of Master overall scores (lower = steadier)

Strongest meat

Pork

avg 169.32 · weakest Brisket (161.95)

Road miles

9,337

mi across 27 mapped stops · furthest 743 mi

Schedule strength

24%

of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1533)

Master avg

656.97 / 720

27 Master contests · 0 GCs

⚔ Compare with another team

Storylines (14 found in this team's record)

Each card leads with the number that made it a story — read straight out of their results, no editorialising.

The heartbreaker

1.7256 points from the title

Came within 1.7256 points of the Grand Championship at Wild West Fest On Fire (2018-08-11).

Perfect scores on the board

1 perfect 180s

1 perfect 180 in the data — every judge at the table handing back a nine, all in pork.

Pork ×1

On the rise

+31 rating points in a year

Their power rating has climbed 31 points across 7 contests since 2018-03-24 — from 1553 up to 1584.

7 contests since 2018-03-24
now 1584

Multi-meat days

2 contests with 2+ category wins

They've won two or more meats on the same day 2 times — the best of them 2 category wins at W.E.S.T. Winter Extreme South Tyrol BBQ Contest (2019-01-19).

Pork 1st
Brisket 1st

They almost always walk

93% of contests with a top-10 call

A call in 25 of 27 contests

A top-10 category call in 93% of their 27 contests — they get to the stage more often than not.

High-water mark

682.2860 career-best overall

94.8% of a perfect 720

Their best day on record: 682.2860 at Prime UVE INVITATIONAL BARBECUE CHAMPIONSHIP — 94.8% of a perfect 720.

Master
2017-07-01

The one to beat

2× one call ahead of them

S.W.A.T. BBQ has finished one call ahead of THE BARKTENDERS 2 times — their closest competition in the data.

A tough matchup

11–2 behind in the head-to-head

BBQ LONGHORN RANCH HANDS ahead in 85% of their meetings

BBQ LONGHORN RANCH HANDS has come out ahead in 11 of their 13 shared contests.

The weak link

−7.4 points behind their best meat

Brisket is where the weekend gets away from them — it averages 7.37 points below their pork, and turns into a call 70% of the time against 70%.

Brisket avg 161.95
Pork avg 169.32
19 calls in 27 entries

A strong matchup

10–1 ahead in the head-to-head

Ahead in 91% of their meetings

They've finished ahead of BURROS BBQ in 10 of their 11 shared contests.

Announced themselves early

4th at their very first contest

Finished 4 of 20 at their very first tracked contest, Smoke By the River (2016-04-30).

2016-04-30
20-team field

Looking over their shoulder

2× one call behind them

DRAGON BBQ has landed one call behind them 2 times.

An April team

Top 27% average finish in April

Something about April: average finish in the top 27% across 5 contests, versus top 40% the rest of the year.

5 April contests
top 40% the rest of the year

The long haul

9,337 road miles between contests

Contest to contest, they've covered roughly 9,337 miles across 27 mapped stops — the longest single trip being 743 miles to Smoke in the North.

27 mapped stops
furthest 743 mi

Teams like this (closest power rating)

The nearest teams in the power rankings, with a different reason on each card — six teams on one rating are rarely on it for the same reason. Rating decides who makes the list; where teams tie on it, the ones this team has actually cooked against come first, then teams at a similar point in their own career. KCBS doesn’t publish where a team is from, so nothing here is inferred from geography.

36 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.

BIG PAPA'S COUNTRY KITCHEN

#1219 of the rated field

1584 ▲ 0 power rating

Contests: 22
GCs: 1
Top-10s: 50%
Peak: 1597

No shared contest yet.

Careers of much the same size, 22 contests to 27, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.

rated over 22 contests
last seen 2019-04-12

⚔ Head-to-head

Burn Barrel BBQ

#1228 of the rated field

1583 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 35
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 17%
Peak: 1616

No shared contest yet.

They've been 1616 at their best, 33 points above where they sit today — they're arriving at this rating from above.

rated over 34 contests
last seen 2026-04-03

⚔ Head-to-head

Gardenvalley Smokers

#1218 of the rated field

1584 ▲ 0 power rating

Contests: 20
GCs: 1
Top-10s: 40%
Peak: 1606

No shared contest yet.

Their rating is built on 1 Grand Championship in 20 contests, alongside a 40% overall top-10 rate.

rated over 18 contests
last seen 2024-03-01

⚔ Head-to-head

Needs More Cowbell BBQ

#1221 of the rated field

1584 ▲ 0 power rating

Contests: 41
GCs: 1
Top-10s: 34%
Peak: 1591

No shared contest yet.

They turned up 6 years after THE BARKTENDERS did, first appearing in 2022.

rated over 39 contests
last seen 2025-04-25

⚔ Head-to-head

Beefy Bros BBQ

#1229 of the rated field

1583 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 16
GCs: 2
Top-10s: 56%
Peak: 1583

No shared contest yet.

Level with THE BARKTENDERS on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.

rated over 16 contests
last seen 2026-04-18

⚔ Head-to-head

HARLAN CO. COAL BURNERS

#1225 of the rated field

1584 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 55
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 20%
Peak: 1588

No shared contest yet.

A longer road to the same neighbourhood — 55 contests to 27.

rated over 55 contests
last seen 2019-07-26

⚔ Head-to-head

Familiar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)

Opponent	Meetings	Ahead	Behind	Win rate
White Squirrel BBQ	21	10	11	48%	⚔ compare
DRAGON BBQ	18	8	10	44%	⚔ compare
GRILLKUNST	15	8	7	53%	⚔ compare
BROS HOG	15	5	10	33%	⚔ compare
BBQ LONGHORN RANCH HANDS	13	2	11	15%	⚔ compare
GECKO BBQ	12	6	6	50%	⚔ compare
BURROS BBQ	11	10	1	91%	⚔ compare
BRIGBOYS BBQ TEAM	11	4	7	36%	⚔ compare
STICKY FINGERS BARBECUE TEAM	10	4	6	40%	⚔ compare
MISS PIGGY'S U.K.	10	0	10	0%	⚔ compare
ITALIAN STYLE BBQ TEAM	9	7	2	78%	⚔ compare
ROKENDE REGAHS	9	6	3	67%	⚔ compare
GOOD OLD BBQ	9	5	4	56%	⚔ compare
SOUTHERN DUTCH BBQ	9	3	6	33%	⚔ compare
BOHEMIAN BBQ	8	6	2	75%	⚔ compare

By meat

Category	Entries	Calls	Wins	Podiums	Best	Worst	Average	Avg finish
Chicken	26	8	1	2	177.1772	156.5256	166.26	top 56%
Pork Ribs	27	14	2	6	173.1544	150.2516	165.60	top 46%
Pork	27	19	6	11	180.0000 🔥	150.2284	169.32	top 34%
Brisket	27	19	3	9	177.7028	20.0000	161.95	top 38%

“Calls” = top-10 category finishes (getting called to the stage). Scores here are the final weighted totals KCBS publishes; per-criterion appearance/taste/tenderness marks aren’t in the public results feed.

By state / province

Where	Contests	Avg finish
BZ	3	top 54%
IT	2	top 46%
NL	1	top 100%
SE	1	top 26%
DE	1	top 24%
FR	1	top 30%
CZ	1	top 59%
CH	1	top 20%

By contest size

Field	Contests	Avg finish
Small (<20 teams)	6	top 38%
Medium (20–39)	18	top 38%
Large (40+)	3	top 59%

Contest-by-contest record (recurring contests they've cooked twice or more)

Contest	Visits	Best	Avg finish	Last visit
W.E.S.T. Winter Extreme South Tyrol BBQ Contest	3	5	top 54%	2019-01-19
Bardo-Q BBQ Competition	2	2	top 26%	2018-04-21
Brew N Q (OPEN)	2	6	top 44%	2017-05-27

The story so far (16 numbers that describe this team)

On the trail 2.9 yrs 2016-04-30 → 2019-03-23

Busiest season 2017 10 contests

Contests a season 6.8 across 4 seasons in the data

Cooks most in BZ 3 of 27 contests · 8 states/provinces in all

Contests visited 23 3 of them cooked more than once

Most-entered meat Pork Ribs 27 entries · 2 wins · 14 calls

Strongest meat Pork averages 169.32 · weakest Brisket (161.95)

Walk rate 93% a top-10 call in 25 of 27 contests

Overall top-10 rate 63% 17 of 27 contests

Best top-10 run 4 straight contests

Master average 656.97 out of 720 · 27 contests · 0 GCs

Perfect 180s 1 every judge at the table handing back a nine

Opponents faced 266 392–273 across every shared overall standing

Road miles 9,337 27 mapped stops · furthest 743 mi

Schedule strength 1533 average field rating faced — tougher than 24% of rated contests

Power rating 1584 peak 1584 · #1224 of 6,413 rated

Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)

2016
Apr 30 First tracked contest Smoke By the River
Apr 30 First call Smoke By the River
Apr 30 First overall top-10 Smoke By the River
Apr 30 First overall past 90% of a perfect score659.9660 Smoke By the River
Jun 25 First overall podium Cookin Camargue
Jul 23 First category win (Pork) Black Forrest Smoke & Wine Festival
2017
Apr 8 10th tracked contest Meat Smoke and Beer Festival 2017
Apr 22 First perfect 180 (Pork) Bardo-Q BBQ Competition
Jul 1 Career-best overall score682.2860 Prime UVE INVITATIONAL BARBECUE CHAMPIONSHIP
2018
Apr 21 First Reserve Championship Bardo-Q BBQ Competition
Aug 11 First multi-meat day Wild West Fest On Fire
Oct 20 10th category win SMOKE IN SCHLIEREN
Oct 20 Peak power rating (1584) SMOKE IN SCHLIEREN
2019
Jan 19 25th tracked contest W.E.S.T. Winter Extreme South Tyrol BBQ Contest
Mar 23 Most recent contest Country Road & BBQ Contest -Day2

Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)

📈 Biggest rating jumps

Swing	Contest	Date
+13.1	Wild West Fest On Fire	2018-08-11
+12.7	Bardo-Q BBQ Competition	2018-04-21
+11.5	Smoke By the River	2016-04-30
+10.8	W.E.S.T.Winter Extreme South Tyrol BBQ Contest	2017-01-14
+10.8	Meat Smoke and Beer Festival 2017	2017-04-08

📉 Toughest weekends

Swing	Contest	Date
-16.8	4th Annual BBQ Society Cook-off	2016-10-08
-16.6	W.E.S.T. Winter Extreme South Tyrol BBQ Contest	2019-01-19
-4.7	The War of Barbeque	2018-03-24
-3.6	Italian Barbecue Championship 2016	2016-06-11
-3.5	Brew N Q (OPEN)	2017-05-27

Category scores over time

Overall finish over time (top-% of field, lower is better)

Where they finish (overall)

Best vs average (by meat)

How entries end (by meat)

Team of the Year rank by season

Season by season

Season	Contests	Top-10s	Category wins	Walk rate	Avg finish	Best overall (% of perfect)	Avg overall (% of perfect)
2019	3	2	2	100%	top 50%	94%	87%
2018	6	4	4	100%	top 37%	94.6%	92.6%
2017	10	6	5	100%	top 36%	94.8%	92.8%
2016	8	5	1	75%	top 44%	94.5%	89.8%

Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)

Date	Event	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
2019-03-23	Country Road & BBQ Contest -Day2 Torreglia, Pa 30027	7 / 25 (677.1320)	7 (173.7488)	3 (173.1544)	24 (157.0972)	3 (173.1316)
2019-03-22	Country Road & BBQ Contest -Day1 Torreglia, Pa 30027	5 / 20 (677.0856)	12 (165.7144)	5 (172.0000)	3 (175.4056)	10 (163.9656)
2019-01-19	W.E.S.T. Winter Extreme South Tyrol BBQ Contest Rein in Taufers, BZ	29 / 30 (525.6916)	—	8 (171.9772)	1 (177.7144)	1 (176.0000)
2018-10-20	SMOKE IN SCHLIEREN Goldschlagiplatz, 5735	6 / 20 (670.1716)	14 (159.9544)	1 (171.9772)	2 (173.1316)	11 (165.1084)
2018-08-11	Wild West Fest On Fire Zbilje, Medvode, 1215	2 / 21 (671.9088)	17 (159.9544)	2 (171.9772)	1 (171.4056)	1 (168.5716)
2018-04-21	Bardo-Q BBQ Competition Bardonecchia, 10098	2 / 15 (681.1428)	4 (169.7600)	3 (170.8800)	6 (168.5372)	2 (171.9656)
2018-03-24	The War of Barbeque Noventa di Piave, 30020	11 / 18 (663.9084)	12 (167.4056)	12 (161.1200)	8 (168.5600)	9 (166.8228)
2018-02-17	Meat, Smoke & Beer Festival- BBQ on Ice Weissensee, 9762	10 / 17 (662.1600)	14 (165.1200)	14 (158.8000)	16 (160.5372)	3 (177.7028)
2018-01-13	W.E.S.T. Winter extreme South Tyrol BBQ Contest Rein in Taufers, BZ	15 / 30 (653.0744)	11 (167.9656)	28 (150.2516)	18 (158.8572)	1 (176.0000)
2017-10-14	*Tallya BBQ Fesztival Tallya,	7 / 40 (665.1428)	25 (160.0000)	9 (169.1428)	12 (167.4628)	6 (168.5372)
2017-09-16	*Slovenia BBQ Open Medvode,	8 / 25 (666.7432)	20 (161.0972)	12 (163.9544)	3 (173.1544)	5 (168.5372)
2017-07-22	2nd Black Forest Smoke & Wine Festival Bad Bellingen, 79418	24 / 40 (657.0512)	40 (156.5256)	30 (161.1544)	6 (174.8456)	22 (164.5256)
2017-07-01	Prime UVE INVITATIONAL BARBECUE CHAMPIONSHIP unrated Gaiarine, 31018	8 / 18 (682.2860)	1 (177.1772)	8 (169.7488)	3 (174.2628)	16 (161.0972)
2017-05-27	Brew N Q (OPEN) Burton Upon Trent, DE14 1NG	22 / 34 (651.3832)	7 (171.9884)	25 (159.4632)	1 (174.8572)	33 (145.0744)
2017-05-26	Brew N Q (INVITATIONAL) unrated Burton Upon Trent, DE14 1NG	6 / 26 (669.7028)	15 (167.4056)	1 (170.8800)	4 (172.0000)	19 (159.4172)
2017-04-29	3rd Barbecue Bulls Championship Salzburg 2017 Salzburg Austria, 5020	12 / 28 (669.6916)	20 (164.5828)	21 (161.6916)	6 (174.2628)	7 (169.1544)
2017-04-22	Bardo-Q BBQ Competition Bardonecchia, 10098	11 / 28 (679.9316)	28 (159.3944)	20 (166.2744)	1 (180.0000)	2 (174.2628)
2017-04-08	Meat Smoke and Beer Festival 2017 Wels, 4072	3 / 14 (669.7028)	10 (161.7372)	9 (162.8456)	1 (178.2972)	8 (166.8228)
2017-01-14	W.E.S.T.Winter Extreme South Tyrol BBQ Contest Rein in Taufers, BZ	5 / 30 (673.1092)	15 (166.2628)	19 (162.8460)	4 (173.1660)	3 (170.8344)
2016-10-08	4th Annual BBQ Society Cook-off Hoofddorp. Netherlands, NL	46 / 46 (508.5144)	33 (163.3828)	19 (166.3088)	38 (158.8228)	46 (20.0000)
2016-09-10	Brixia 4 Star Championship Brescia, IT	8 / 26 (674.2856)	7 (171.4744)	6 (169.1428)	7 (171.4056)	19 (162.2628)
2016-08-06	Smoke in the North Gothenburg, SE	8 / 31 (657.6456)	13 (163.4172)	14 (160.5600)	16 (160.5256)	3 (173.1428)
2016-07-23	Black Forrest Smoke & Wine Festival Millheim, DE	7 / 29 (679.9772)	14 (171.4056)	27 (159.3944)	1 (179.4400)	7 (169.7372)
2016-06-25	Cookin Camargue Saintes Maries De La Mer, FR	3 / 10 (680.5256)	3 (176.0000)	2 (169.7256)	5 (166.8228)	4 (167.9772)
2016-06-11	Italian Barbecue Championship 2016 Perugia, IT	18 / 29 (666.3428)	15 (169.7256)	15 (169.7256)	27 (158.8572)	14 (168.0344)
2016-05-21	Bohemian BBQ Prague, CZ	13 / 22 (643.9772)	6 (168.5944)	10 (162.8800)	20 (150.2284)	7 (162.2744)
2016-04-30	Smoke By the River Brugg, CH	4 / 20 (659.9660)	15 (162.8572)	10 (163.4172)	2 (171.9772)	7 (161.7144)

Career map (orange GC · green top-10 · grey the rest — tap a pin)

Team of the Year standings (rank per category by season — year links to the full board on kcbs.us)

Year	Series	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
2019 ↗	Master	#776 (380 pts)	#1030 (265 pts)	#630 (545 pts)	#615 (555 pts)	#537 (625 pts)
2018 ↗	Master	#346 (981 pts)	#519 (706 pts)	#341 (991 pts)	#348 (986 pts)	#242 (1251 pts)
2017 ↗	Master	#337 (1084 pts)	#561 (709 pts)	#546 (739 pts)	#122 (1724 pts)	#273 (1259 pts)
2016 ↗	Master	#326 (1117 pts)	#380 (1012 pts)	#383 (1002 pts)	#322 (1127 pts)	#322 (1127 pts)