Jack Daniels World BBQ Championship

This past Saturday Amanda and I headed up to Lynchburg, TN to an event that I've wanted to go to for the last four years....The Jack Daniels World BBQ Championship. This may have been one of the coolest things I have ever been to. Basically, it's all things BBQ and you have to have game to get into this thing. You either have to win a state championship or be invited. 60 teams in total...4 Categories - BBQ Sauce, Ribs, Pulled Pork and Brisket...

The food was absolutely insane. So good. Makes me want to buy a cooker and start cooking for a living. Probably not going to happen but you have to have dreams. There were several international teams there sporting their colors and bringing some good grub....

Besides for the food, the highlight of the trip was the tour of the Jack Daniels distillery. First of all, it was free and that in itself is freakin' cool. Second, we had a tour guide named Ron that was awesome. He gave a great tour of the facility that lasted for about an hour. Learned about the process from start to finish. Some interesting facts that you may have not known:
1) Built specifically on this site because of the Iron Free cave water they use
2) 77 Barrel houses around Lynchburg holding one million gallons of Jack
3) Jack builds their own barrels and torches the inside...That's where the brown color comes from
4) You can buy a single barrel of Jack for 8-10 Grand...Apparently it's a big deal...George Staight did
5) Drip raw distilled booze through charcoal - 10 ft. worth
6) Only place in county to be able to sell booze

I highly recommend this tour as well as the event. It was just cool. Lots of food and lots of cool people.

I've attached a slide show below and have all the pics right here