Bar Beam Q

Bar Beam Q is a competition barbecue team with 5 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2015 and 2018. Their best overall finish is 6th of 42 at the Jim Beam BBQ Classic (2018). They are ranked #2493 of 6,491 teams in the KCBS power rankings. Also listed in KCBS results as “Bar-Beam-Q”.

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At a glance (the record in numbers)

Power ranking

#2,493

of 6,491 rated · rankings

Rating

1521

peak 1521 · rated over 5 contests

Contests

in the data

First seen

Oct 2, 2015

latest Oct 5, 2018 · 3 years on the trail

Grand champs

0 reserve

Category wins

0 podiums

Overall top-10s

20% of 5 contests

Avg finish

top 50%

overall standings

Best overall

683.9660 / 720

Master · Jim Beam BBQ Classic

Perfect 180s

Walk rate

40%

contests with a top-10 call

Best single call

173.7372

Pork Ribs · Jim Beam BBQ Classic

Consistency

±10.47

spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)

Strongest meat

Brisket

avg 168.08 · weakest Pork (163.73)

Road miles

312

across 5 mapped stops · furthest 85 mi

Schedule strength

76%

of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1599)

Master avg

665.69 / 720

5 Master contests · 0 GCs

Storylines (5 found in their record)

Each card leads with the number behind the story, straight from their results.

High-water mark

683.9660 career-best overall

95.0% of a perfect 720

Their best day on record: 683.9660 at Jim Beam BBQ Classic — 95.0% of a perfect 720.

Master
Oct 5, 2018

A tough matchup

5–0 behind in the head-to-head

SCUFFLETOWN SMOKERS ahead in 100% of their meetings

SCUFFLETOWN SMOKERS has come out ahead in 5 of their 5 shared contests.

The weak link

−4.4 points behind their best meat

Pork is where the weekend gets away from them — it averages 4.35 points below their brisket, and turns into a call 0% of the time against 40%.

Pork avg 163.73
Brisket avg 168.08
0 calls in 5 entries

A strong matchup

4–0 ahead in the head-to-head

Ahead in 100% of their meetings

They've finished ahead of Bluedog BBQ in 4 of their 4 shared contests.

The comeback

2 yrs off the trail, then back

Off the trail for 2 years, then back at Jim Beam BBQ Classic (Oct 6, 2017).

last seen Oct 2, 2015
back Oct 6, 2017

Teams like this (closest power rating)

The teams rated closest to Bar Beam Q, each with one reason worth a look.

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

That Oil Money BBQ

#2,486 of the rated field

1521 power rating

Contests: 5
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1521

Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 5, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.

rated over 5 contests
last seen Sep 12, 2025

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RANKIN COUNTY BBQ

#2,500 of the rated field

1520 power rating

Contests: 5
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 20%
Peak: 1520

They turned up 6 years after Bar Beam Q did, first appearing in 2021.

rated over 5 contests
last seen Oct 20, 2023

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Bearded Brothers Competition BBQ

#2,497 of the rated field

1521 power rating

Contests: 5
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 20%
Peak: 1521

Level with Bar Beam Q on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.

rated over 5 contests
last seen Mar 4, 2022

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WESTCOAST 2LIVEQ

#2,485 of the rated field

1521 power rating

Contests: 5
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 20%
Peak: 1521

Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 5, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.

rated over 5 contests
last seen Feb 23, 2018

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THE BUTT DOCTORS

#2,496 of the rated field

1521 power rating

Contests: 5
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 40%
Peak: 1521

Their last contest in the data was back in 2014, 4 years before Bar Beam Q's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.

rated over 5 contests

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MADAB'S BBQ

#2,495 of the rated field

1521 power rating

Contests: 6
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 17%
Peak: 1530

Careers of much the same size, 6 contests to 5, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.

rated over 6 contests
last seen Mar 14, 2025

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

Opponent	Meetings	Ahead	Behind	Win rate
BLUE CHIP BBQ	5	1	4	20%	⚔ compare
GREY STREET BBQ	5	1	4	20%	⚔ compare
SCUFFLETOWN SMOKERS	5	0	5	0%	⚔ compare

By meat

Category	Entries	Calls	Best	Worst	Average	Avg finish
Chicken	5	1	172.5716	160.5372	166.72	top 54%
Pork Ribs	5	1	173.7372	162.8000	167.17	top 48%
Pork	5	0	166.8344	161.0856	163.73	top 71%
Brisket	5	2	173.1200	163.9772	168.08	top 42%

“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 field size and state

By contest size

Field	Contests	GCs	Avg finish
Medium (20–39)	1	0	top 49%
Large (40+)	4	0	top 51%

By state / province (where the contests were held)

Where	Contests	GCs	Avg finish
KY	4	0	top 48%
IN	1	0	top 59%

Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)

Contest	Visits	Best	GCs	Avg finish	Last visit
Jim Beam BBQ Classic	3	6	0	top 48%	Oct 5, 2018

More numbers

Busiest season 2018 3 contests

Contests a season 1.7 across 3 seasons in the data

Most contests held in KY 4 of 5 contests · 2 states in all

Contests visited 3 1 of them more than once

Opponents faced 130 finished ahead 108 times, behind 109

Longest layoff 2 yrs Oct 2, 2015 → Oct 6, 2017

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

20185 milestones

Oct 5 First overall top-10 Jim Beam BBQ Classic
Oct 5 Career-best overall score683.9660 Jim Beam BBQ Classic
Oct 5 Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)173.7372 Jim Beam BBQ Classic
Oct 5 Peak power rating (1521) Jim Beam BBQ Classic
Oct 5 Most recent contest Jim Beam BBQ Classic

20171 milestone

Oct 6 First call Jim Beam BBQ Classic

20152 milestones

Oct 2 First tracked contest Jim Beam BBQ Classic
Oct 2 First overall past 90% of a perfect score660.4228 Jim Beam BBQ Classic

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

📈 Biggest rating jumps

Swing	Contest	Date
+16.5	Jim Beam BBQ Classic	Oct 5, 2018
+4.9	Grilling & Chillin BBQ	Sep 21, 2018
+0.8	Jim Beam BBQ Classic	Oct 6, 2017
+0.6	Madison Ribberfest BBQ & Blues Festival	Aug 17, 2018

📉 Toughest weekends

Swing	Contest	Date
-2.2	Jim Beam BBQ Classic	Oct 2, 2015

Scores over time (% of a perfect score — tap a meat to add it)

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

Where they finish (overall)

Best vs average (by meat)

How entries end (by meat)

Season by season

Season	Contests	Top-10s	Walk rate	Avg finish	Best overall (% of perfect)	Avg overall (% of perfect)
2018	3	1	33%	top 41%	95%	92.5%
2017	1	0	100%	top 61%	92.9%	92.9%
2015	1	0	0%	top 69%	91.7%	91.7%

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

Date	Event	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
Oct 5, 2018	Jim Beam BBQ Classic Springfield, KY	6 / 42 (683.9660)	10 (172.5716)	9 (173.7372)	22 (166.8344)	9 (170.8228)
Sep 21, 2018	Grilling & Chillin BBQ Owensboro, KY	18 / 37 (652.9484)	16 (163.9656)	20 (162.8000)	27 (161.0856)	18 (165.0972)
Aug 17, 2018	Madison Ribberfest BBQ & Blues Festival Madison, IN	32 / 54 (662.0912)	31 (167.3828)	33 (163.9428)	35 (163.3712)	26 (167.3944)
Oct 6, 2017	Jim Beam BBQ Classic Springfield, KY	27 / 44 (669.0400)	39 (160.5372)	14 (171.9656)	38 (163.4172)	10 (173.1200)
Oct 2, 2015	Jim Beam BBQ Classic Springfield, KY	31 / 45 (660.4228)	25 (169.1200)	32 (163.3828)	35 (163.9428)	31 (163.9772)

Bar Beam Q

At a glance (the record in numbers)

Power ranking

Rating

Contests

First seen

Grand champs

Category wins

Overall top-10s

Avg finish

Best overall

Perfect 180s

Walk rate

Best single call

Consistency

Strongest meat

Road miles

Schedule strength

Master avg

Storylines (5 found in their record)

High-water mark

A tough matchup

The weak link

A strong matchup

The comeback

Teams like this (closest power rating)

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

By meat

By field size and state

By contest size

By state / province (where the contests were held)

Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)

More numbers

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

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

📈 Biggest rating jumps

📉 Toughest weekends

Scores over time (% of a perfect score — tap a meat to add it)

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

Where they finish (overall)

Best vs average (by meat)

How entries end (by meat)

Season by season

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

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