HotMess Barbecue

10/10/2026

Good morning Jack!!!! Hurricane started creeping in about 3am. Turn-ins moved an hour early due to the storm. It’s going to be a wild one. Good luck to everyone that is here in the Hollow.

10/07/2026

We are super grateful to be at The Jack this weekend. It’s has been a long road of hard work and great partners. Special thanks to Rick Manzi and Sue Manzi for their constant support and their amazing Award-Winning Disruption Rubs.

10/07/2026

IYKYK… HotMess BBQ has arrived.

10/03/2026

Beautiful day at the Keystone Classic Barbeque State Championship. Good luck to everyone competing today.

09/26/2026

To all our friends in the Nor’easter… It’s 75 and sunny in Louisville, KY. Go Cards!!!!

08/12/2026

08/12/2026

🔥 HOTMESS IS HEADED TO THE JACK! 🔥

This one is special.

Since the day we jumped into competition BBQ, there have been a few contests we've dreamed about cooking. Sitting right at the top of that bucket list has always been The Jack Daniel's World Championship Invitational Barbecue.

And now… Team HotMess is headed to Lynchburg for our first trip to The Jack! 🥃

But nobody gets to The Jack alone.

They say it takes a village, and HotMess has one hell of a village behind us. We're incredibly fortunate to have sponsors and friends who believe in this crazy BBQ adventure and help us do what we love.

A HUGE HotMess thank you to:

🔥 Disruption Rubs - Bold flavors. Big results. They've been riding with HotMess and helping us build some damn good boxes along the way.

🥩 Korte Meats - When you're headed to The Jack, you bring your best. For us, that starts with incredible meat and the people at Korte who make sure we have it.

🪵 Heritage Tree - Great BBQ starts with great fire. Perfectly seasoned and split wood that keeps our pits clean, hot, and rolling smoke all the way to turn-ins.

We couldn't make this journey without the people, companies, friends, family, and BBQ family who have supported us along the way.

Now it's time to go cook. 🔥🥃🐷

Stay Messy.

05/25/2026

As we get ready to celebrate Grace's graduation and the next wild chapter of life at University of Louisville, I've been thinking a lot about where this whole HotMess journey started.

The truth is… there isn't a HotMess BBQ without Grace.

People see the trophies, the calls, the banners, and the occasional chaos… but they don't always see the person behind the scenes helping build recipes, refining cook processes, organizing contest prep, keeping timelines moving, and making sure we don't completely fall apart at in a muddy parking lot somewhere.

She's been there for all of it.
The wins.
The heartbreaks.
The "this brisket is perfect" moments that absolutely were not perfect.
And the emotional rollercoaster that is… me.

Most teams have a pitmaster.
HotMess has Grace.

At contests, she holds a special title nobody else will ever earn:

**Official Manager of Dad's Attitude.**

And trust me… this is a FULL-TIME position.

She has complete authority to tell me to calm down, stop overthinking, quit spiraling, stop touching things, quit "fixing" things that aren't broken, eat something, drink water, and occasionally just sit down and shut up.

Nobody else has that clearance level.

What makes me most proud isn't just what she's helped build with HotMess -- it's the person she's become along the way. Smart. Tough. Loyal. Driven. Calm under pressure. And somehow still willing to put up with me after all these years of BBQ madness.

Louisville is getting an incredible young woman.
And HotMess will never be the same without you.

Love you Grace.
Thank you for helping turn this crazy dream into something bigger than BBQ.

Now go make Louisville nervous. 🔥🖤