| Sarah Blair — Positive News For You |
There is something to be said about hard work, love, and passion. Anyone can dream something up, it is those that make their dreams their reality that is truly remarkable. Those who aren’t afraid of the work it takes and who have the determination to become self-made that are incredible. Some of us are gifted with natural talent, it is a matter of what you do with this talent that counts. There is no B.S. about it, there is something to be said about B.S. Smoking Sauces & BBQ.
I first discovered B.S. Smoking Sauces & BBQ, while hosting one of my test tours for Country Brew Tours. You can find Sean and Brittany at Frogg Brewing Co. in Marlboro, NH every other weekend during the spring through fall. When I arrived at Frogg Brewing, I didn’t know what to expect in terms of food. They had mentioned they were having a BBQ food truck for that particular weekend and I thought perfect, my guest can grab a bite. I didn’t have any information to provide my guests at the time. It was new to all of us. One bite and I was hooked! I swear I am not crazy, but I am telling you I could taste the love, passion, and soul behind this BBQ. I have hands down never had BBQ taste so good!!! I couldn’t contain my enthusiasm over it. One bite and this ball of anxiety (ME) felt nothing but relaxation and pure joy. I am not even kidding. I was so nervous about that test tour. I hardly knew my friends over at Frogg, I knew nothing about these guys and I had a group of somewhat estranged Vermonters, that I had just driven an hour to come do a New Hampshire brew tour. This BBQ was the cure I needed! It was love with the first bite! This held true for the whole group and the group that followed.
“Without a sense of caring, there can be no sense of community.” – Anthony J. D’Angelo
I was drawn in by the smell of smoked meats. I was captivated by the flavors. I was inspired by the visionaries behind the magic that is B.S. Smoking Sauces & BBQ. The B.S. stands for Brittany and Sean, a married couple from the Hinsdale, NH area. Although if you ask them the B.S. in B.S. Smoking Sauces & BBQ has become whatever your imagination wants it to be. But I can assure you there is no B.S. happening when it comes to these guys. They are as genuine as they come. When we first got together and discussed a collaboration; I was enthused by these guys. They already stole my heart with their BBQ, but they stole my soul when I saw one of their social media announcements. Within a few of weeks of coordinating between the two companies, B.S Smoking Sauces posted on their Facebook that they would be at Frogg Brewing Co. and that in support of a local couple who had lost everything due to a home fire, they were donating 75% of all sales that day to this particular couple to help them get back on their feet. 75% is a HUGE donation!!! How many people do you know that would do something of this magnitude? That was when I knew 100% I had made friends with two incredible people. I just didn’t realize till later how truly remarkable they are. B.S Smoking Sauces & BBQ is having a benefit weekend we will be donating 75% of our sales to them. on Sunday they lost everything they know in a devastating fire. On July 27th Frogg Brewery will be having the band inclover there also so come out get some BBQ Brews and music.
“A dream doesn’t become reality; it takes sweat, determination, and hard work.” – Colin Powell
Now you might be thinking I am biased, and well I guess you can say that I am a little bit. But I would argue with you that I am not biased. Instead, I like to think that I have high standards and I only team up with kind, compassionate, hardworking, soulful people. I cannot think of a more worthy pair for this, than Frogg Brewing Co. and B.S. Smoking Sauces & BBQ.
Both companies are not shy when it comes to hard work, passion, and COMMUNITY! I am saving more on Frogg for another story. This story I want to display the passion, heart, and soul that B.S. Smoking Sauces & BBQ has.
Before writing this story I reached out to my friends Brittany and Sean, to ask them a few things about how they got started. These guys truly have their heart and soul in everything they do, including answering my questions. They took their time in responding. When I received their emailed reply it all made sense to me. They wrote their story out for me. I have been wracking my brain on how to write their story and give it the justice it deserves. Honestly, I don’t think I can write it better. These guys have poured their sweat, heart, and soul into this business. Everything they do contains passion. Their story blew me out of the water. It confirmed what I already believe to be true. I am telling you when you taste their food, you can taste the love and passion that went into it. The only B.S. about them is their initials, so… with this said I have decided I am not going to B.S. anyone by rewriting their story. Instead, I am going to share it with you, from the visionaries themselves. I want you to understand the dedication and passion they have. The only way to do that is if you hear it from them directly. I will include my commentary but this is their tale to share not mine. They have certainly earned the right and you will quickly understand why I am saying this.
“The Telling of your stories is a revolutionary act.” – Sam Keen
The first question I asked was how did they get started?
Our story is different from most BBQ places. For us, the sauces came first and then the food followed. In 2015 my wife said to me, four words I will never forget… YOU SHOULD SELL THESE! Meaning my sauces. For the previous four years, I made BBQ sauces as Christmas gifts for family and friends. After hearing her words I decided to bring a few samples into work for the guys to try, and they LOVED them. They began offering to buy them. (I guess his wife was certainly right; as many of us wives are. Wink, wink) I decided to make a batch of 12 sauces four of each type of sauce. I brought them into work and they bought them ALL! The local Christmas and Craft Bazaar was coming up. I decided to sell my sauces at the event. For this, I made two dozen of each kind. The Bazaar started at 9:00 am. By 11:30 am we were sold out and packing up our station. People were amazed.
After this, I decided to get into the local farmers market in Hinsdale, NH. I soon realized there was another guy there selling BBQ sauces. So, I am like, I gotta do more than just sauces!
I decided to build a 7 foot offset smoker. “Ole Smokey” With a lot of research I was able to build a successful smoker. It took a lot of late nights and hair-pulling to make it successful.
The only way to cook REAL BBQ is with real wood. The way the south has been doing for generations. I cooked my FIRST pork shoulder; 10 hours later it was done. I then sold it at the farmers market and it was a success. We continued selling at the farmer’s market until 2017.
I told my wife I wanted to build and run a BBQ food truck; without any culinary training or experience. She looked at me like “Okay, another one of his crazy dreams.”
Did you catch that????? He told me and Yes, I clarified this… He NEVER had any culinary training or experience. Ok. FREEZE!!! This means, even with his sauces he was making as gifts for friends and family were from the good ole fashion NATURAL TALENT. Now, this makes a lot of sense why his wife would give him that look ok crazy dream….
Fellow couples, have we not all been here before. I know my husband gave me the same look when I told him I wanted to start Country Brew Tours. But then again… she is also the one who encouraged him to pressure selling his sauces. When you have passion for something, there is no stopping you. No matter how crazy those around us think we are. It is our job to show them that the risk is worth the reward. When we are passionate, it only makes it more difficult for those we are closest with to not be in support of us. They love us for crying out loud, of course, they are going to encourage us to chase our dreams! We cannot allow the fear of hard work or failure to deter us. If you never try then you will never know what could be. If you do not believe me just see what Sean has created.
I did crazy amounts of research. I read a couple of food truck books. Which were the first books I have read since like 7th grade! I designed the whole inside the Cadkey program. I figured out what I needed and what I didn’t. I then started to save money from the profits being made and used them to order a brand new BBQ porch trailer from Georgia in full. I then drove the 1800 miles down and back to pick it up. The day after returning with it, I started tiling the inside. My Mom and wife called me crazy. 
Fast forward two years; I am making 36 of each kind of BBQ sauce monthly. Along with running a growing and thriving BBQ food truck. I have people enjoying and loving my amazing slow wood-smoked BBQ, the way it is supposed to be cooked; Low and slow wood-fired. The new technology of pellet smokers or propane is killing the old tradition that made American BBQ Great! “If you don’t see no smoke rolling from a BBQ joint; it ain’t real BBQ in my eyes.” We cook our pork for 8-10 hours. Our brisket for 18-20 hours. Our chicken for 2-3 hours. Everything we do is slow, delicate and with love.
Made with love indeed! This made my mouth drop in all seriousness. Most of us would have done one of two things. We would have given up at the sheer idea of a little competition at the farmers market. Most of us probably would not have thought to up the ante and start cooking up some food to go with our sauces. ESPECIALLY never have doing it before!!!! Take this out of the equation however and pretend we knew how to BBQ and had culinary experience…. How many of us would have worked our full-time day job, and built by hand our own food truck from the ground? No judgment here I swear. I am not even sure I would do that. Sean has put love into every aspect of his business from the sauces to the time spent educating himself, to the back-breaking labor to build it literally from the ground up, to finally cooking up food that will touch your soul. When you have passion and love put into what you do, everyone around you will feel it. It made sense why that very first bite of food took to me in ways I honestly can’t describe. Honestly, though, we cannot define LOVE in a simplistic way. Even still Sean and Brittany are working their day jobs and then putting in the long hours to full fill their dream. This is what the American Dream is all about. We all have the opportunity and privilege to become self-made if we only want to put the work into it. A few weekends ago I watched these two busting out delicious BBQ for those who attended Trivia Night at Frogg Brewing Co. All of us there had worked our day job by day and we’re spending our evening chasing our dreams, Frogg, Me and B.S. Smoking Sauces. The only thing is… Sean’s day job isn’t a day job. He works the graveyard shift. He is truly a REMARKABLE Man!!!!
My second question for Sean and Brittany was “How did you name your business?”
B.S. Smoking Sauces & BBQ stands for Brittany and Sean. Now, we tell people it’s for whatever there imagination. “Bull S***” “Barbecue sauce” Etc. But the real meaning is our name.
What is your Slogan? This made me chuckle for probably a good couple of minutes.
Our slogan is “Your Meat Can’t Compete”. Funny story about this… My wife and I were sitting on the couch trying to figure a slogan out for T-shirts. I think over 20 different things were said. I wanted something funny to catch someone’s attention. She jokingly and kinda perverted said, “Your meat can’t compete.” The perverted in me smirked and said YES! She was like OMG! I was joking! I was like NOPE! THAT IS IT!
B.S. Smoking Sauces & BBQ where “Your Meat Can’t Compete!” Oh, I was dying of laughter. I lied, I was laughing for more than a couple of minutes. You see I am an extremely corny person. I get it from my Dad. Anything corny funny will crack me up. Between the name, the slogan and my active imagination picturing this adorable married couple laughing with one another over this. I found myself laughing hysterically. This is something my husband and I would find ourselves doing. We all have away about us that can turn something so innocent into something a tad bit more provocative. What matters is that we all get a good laugh about it. Laughter is the best medicine after all.
“What is made with love is done well.” – Van Gogh
When you are passionate, compassionate and hardworking; you are unstoppable. Biased yes… but I am telling you, I didn’t start out this way. These guys seriously stole my heart with their food. After learning their story all the puzzle pieces fit together. We all want our food made with love. You are not going to find a demonstration of that like this one. These dream chasers are remarkable people. They care about their community. They are passionate about the work they put into their business and honestly they are excellent examples for us all. Life doesn’t just hand you the things you want. Instead, it throws you the tools to make it happen. We have the choice to work for the things we want or just say Nah… Let these two be an example for us all that anything is possible. Two small towners, chasing the American Dream the way many Americans have before them… With a vision, determination and dedication to see it happen.
Visit their website to find out where they are located for the weekend. If you visit while they are at Frogg Brewing, grab a brew with your BBQ. You won’t be disappointed.
Till our next adventure friends.
-Sarah E. Blair
