The Low & Slow Barbecue Show

Title: Go Inside Town Brewing Company with Brandon Stirewalt

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Town Brewing Company Director of Operations Brandon Stirewalt sets the stage for Carolina BBQ Festival’s barbecue brunch with a detailed look inside the host site. Hear about the roots of the Charlotte-born brewing company in Wesley Heights and you’ll understand how Town Brewing combines locally sourced North Carolina products and community-minded operations to pro...

Find out how Savor Charlotte is fanning the flames of the Queen City’s thriving culinary scene that’s drawing food fans from a 400-mile radius. Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority’s Laura White shares the economic impact of Charlotte’s food and beverage industry and highlights how Savor Charlotte’s fourth year is expanding into new arenas. Don’t miss Laura’s take on the “perfect barbecue plate” – including her picks from the Char...

Midwood Smokehouse Pitmaster Matt Barry shares his perspective on Charlotte’s evolving barbecue scene and where Midwood Smokehouse fits in. Get the scoop on what Matt’s cooking up in partnership with Bojangles for the Carolina BBQ Festival’s BBQ Brunch, Brisket and Biscuits at Town Brewing Company in Charlotte. Matt also shares updates on Midwood Smokehouse locations – including a new site at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport...

Leluia Hall Chef Chris Rogienski takes you inside the surf & turf restaurant inside a rehabilitated Dilworth church, then walks you along his culinary journey. Learn how his Charlotte restaurant experiences – from Haberdish and Supperland to Leluia Hall -  season the selections his team serves to guests. Get Chris Rogienski’s perspective on the Charlotte food scene and where barbecue fits in. Don’t miss the details for his saus...

South Carolina BBQ Project creator Nathan Spainhour takes you into the signs, symbols, and stories from the Palmetto State’s barbecue pits. Find out which 4 barbecue businesses he chose to represent South Carolina barbecue traditions. Learn how Nathan turned an MFA thesis focused on brain connections between place and memory into a visual journey through Southern cuisine traditions and barbecue nostalgia. Don’t miss the unique pers...

Chef Chris Coleman takes The Low & Slow Barbecue Show into The Goodyear House, the Built on Hospitality group and the evolving Charlotte food scene. Find out where the Charlotte native’s allegiance lies in the East vs. Piedmont N.C. barbecue debate. Get Executive Chef Chris Coleman’s culinary backstory and learn how it motivates a farm-to-fork business model in the group that includes The Goodyear House, Chief’s Modern Cocktail...

Community Matters Café Executive Chef Chayil Johnson shares his story of culinary service that extends beyond the food menu. Learn how he combines his Creole heritage, traditional African foodway influences, Middle Eastern flavor, and a formal education into one-of-a-kind gumbo for Charlotte Rescue Mission’s life skills program. 

Chayil explains where Community Matters Café fits into the mission’s 180-day addiction recovery program...

American Barbecue map designer Joseph Veazey compiled barbecue history, people, and places into a one-of-a-kind map that chronicles the evolution of smoked meat traditions in the United States. Find out how Joseph decided which BBQ joints, cities and states to include in the map. Joseph explains his method for researching and crafting his unique map designs. You’ll hear his passion for barbecue and learn what’s coming next in his b...

Meet Mama Jean’s BBQ founder Madison Ruckel, who first started live-fire cooking with Home Team BBQ in West Ashley. From that foundation, hear where he assigns credit for his ongoing success (spoiler: the hard work of his wife, Kelli, and some wise business decisions play a big role). Learn what to expect during a visit to his Roanoke, VA, restaurant, which opened last year after 7 years of food truck life in a 1956 Airstream trail...

Barbecue Brunch is on the Carolina BBQ Festival’s Brisket & Biscuits menu at Charlotte’s Town Brewing Company. Hear a quick introduction to the barbecue experts and top Charlotte chefs collaborating for a Savor Charlotte barbecue brunch: Matthew Register (Southern Smoke), Chris Coleman (Built on Hospitality/The Goodyear House), Madison Ruckle (Mama Jeans Barbecue & Soulful Sides), Chris Rogienski (Supperland / Leluia Hall),...

Chigger reviews his 5 best barbecue restaurant experiences of 2025 – most of them including a meal and an adventure. Planning a day trip to Charlotte, Lexington, Winston-Salem or Hickory? Maybe you’re seeking a new lunch spot. Listen to learn which barbecue restaurants to hit, and options for orders. This episode share details about trips to Black Powder Smokehouse, Sweet Lew’s BBQ. Lexington Barbecue, Hugh’s Q and Cranford Brother...

The Low & Slow Barbecue Show ignites its fourth season with the latest Carolina BBQ news and a review of our 2025, the State of the Low & Slow Barbecue Show Union. Listen also hear the details about Blue Suede BBQ’s work to support the ALS patients and the Live Like Lou Foundation. Find out which barbecue businesses are putting out the flame after generations in the smoke. And learn why 2025 was the biggest year yet for The...

Operation BBQ Relief and Hickory Soup Kitchen partner for Thanksgiving to feed 500 families with smoked turkeys donated by the community. Austin Pearce (HSK) and Scott Jarrett (OBR) share the personal motivations that keep the Hickory region’s hunger relief effort going every year. Find out what it means when Operation BBQ Relief, volunteers and community supporters work together to provide a hot meal during times of need. Listen t...

Vicious Pig BBQ Pitmaster Bobby Brinson joins The Low & Slow Barbecue Show to talk about the 5th annual Vicious Pig Throwdown in Steadman, North Carolina. Find out how it started, why it supports the Veterans Golf Association, and what competitors can expect from this Southern BBQ Network event. Get a competition update for the 2025 SBN season and learn what keeps competitive barbecue pitmasters in the game year after year. Don...

Ultimate Tailgaters BBQ pitmaster Chris Fulmer pulls back the curtain on barbecue sauce with tips from the competition circuit. Get the details and find out about the Ultimate Tailgaters competition barbecue team that is a regular contender for the Southern BBQ Network Invitational – and a four-time SBN Cook Team of the Year. Get an inside look at the annual invitational barbecue showdown to benefit Monck’s Corner Lions Club. Event...

Sons of American Legion Squadron 147 is bringing changes for the 19th Annual Pro-Am BBQ Festival. Get the details on how this year’s competition will work. Learn how additions aim to create a more family-friendly environment and promise to provide more competition quality barbecue to event-goers. Festival Organizers Chris Nisoff and Al Simmons talk about changes to the festival and how Southern BBQ Network is involved. Like all SBN...

Join Chigger Willard on the 2025 Fall BBQ Festival road trip to Squealin on the Square and Hogs & Hens in South Carolina, then the Carolina BBQ Festival’s Pig Pickin’ in Charlotte. Listen to find out about other Old 96 District stops on the itinerary, like Hickory Knob State Resort Park. Get the details for fall BBQ festivals coming to the Carolinas in October and November, including Lexington Barbecue Festival, the SAL America...

Get ready for a trip to South Carolina’s Old 96 District and a handful of barbecue festivals that bring thousands to towns in the 5-county region every year. In this episode of The Low & Slow Barbecue Show, host Chigger Willard interviews Kimberly Snyder Griggs, Marketing Director for Old 96 District Tourism, about one of state’s biggest barbecue weekends, Oct. 17-18 for Squealin’ on the Square in Laurens and Hogs & Hens in...

Squealin’ on the Square celebrates 25 years in downtown Laurens, SC, with a people’s choice barbecue competition, pickle eating contest, live music, and small-town charm. Main Street Laurens Executive Director Brad Abercrombie shares the history of the festival and what 20,000 people will experience Oct. 17-18. Listen insight on where Laurens falls in the South Carolina barbecue divide and whether vinegar or mustard will win this y...