2009 BBQ competition season comes to
an end…
It was the best year yet for
Blind Pig BBQ! We had some great finishes and participated
in some outstanding events, although the big KCBS win still
eludes us. The team came together well and is now more of a
family event with cousins Joe Cylc and Steve Calvert and my
brother Jeff Bera chipping in. The highlight of the season
was the overall win in ribs at the Garry Maddox Challenge
(and not just because we won World Series tix!). In 2005
this was the event that started my BBQ obsession (addiction
is more like it), making this year's win even sweeter.
During the off season I plan to get some modifications done
to the cooker by Melvin at Meadow Creek BBQ and possibly add
a rotisserie pig cooker to my ever growing inventory of toys
– did I mention the addiction part? I’ll be posting update
pics of the cooker and the 2010 BBQ schedule to the web
site. Thanks to everyone who supported us and to those who
came out and help with the beer consumption! A special
thanks to Joe Kelly of the Fairmount Sports Association for
having us cook for their annual golf outing this year, it
was a great experience and hopefully we can do it again.
See ya in 2010!
Cheers,
Tom Bera
August 8th, 2009
Citizen Bank Park, Philadelphia, PA
Overall winner of the Garry
Maddox Ribfest!
August 8th, 2009 1st
Place Ribs in the Pit
Masters Division,
1st Place Ribs in Garry’s Rib Challenge! --
(Overall winner of the combined Pit Master and
Restaurant division.)
Garry
Maddox Ribfest - Citizen Bank Park, Philadelphia, PA
See
the Pictures Here
July 10 - 12, 2009 2nd Place
Pork/3rd Place Brisket/3rd Place Overall!
NJ State BBQ Championship - Wildwood, NJ
See
the Pictures Here
June 5 - 6, 2009 4th Place Ribs!
The Art of BBQ - Mays Landing, NJ
See
the Pictures Here
About Blind Pig BBQ
It all started for me
in August 2005 with a phone call from my friend
Steve from the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame. He
asked me to help cook ribs at a competition charity
event run by Garry Maddox at Citizen’s Bank Park - I
agreed. This was the first time I ever cooked “real”
BBQ. We used two $30 brinkman smokers and finished
in the top 5!
We are now the greatest BBQ’ers in the world ...
in our own minds. We upgraded our equipment to a
couple of Weber Smoky Mountains and a Big Green Egg
smoker, then planned our KCBS debut in 2006.
Our first competition was at “BBQ on the Farm” in
Bristol, PA. We finished 8th in ribs and dead last
in brisket and had a great time. We also gained a
new member to the team, Jack
Rhubright, who I still cook with today. Mid-way through our
2006 season Jack and I officially changed our team name to
Blind Pig BBQ. -Tom Bera
The origin of the name "Blind
Pig" stems from the prohibition days in Chicago. A "Blind
Pig" was an establishments that illegally provided alcoholic beverages.
The saloonkeeper would charge customers to see an attraction
(such as an animal), and provide a "complimentary" alcoholic
beverage, thus circumventing the law.
7/13/2008
Last Place Sauce!
NJ State BBQ
Championship - Wildwood, NJ
See the
Pictures Here
Pig BBQ Barbeque - NJ State BBQ
Championship - Wildwood, NJ 2008
