We recently connected with Brandan Patterson and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Brandan, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

Way before we had any idea that we would be starting our own business, my wife was going through nursing school and I was just wanting to find something to do that I thought would be fun because she needed time apart from everyone to study and be successful with school. I decided to enter a barbecue competition called Ribberfest in my hometown and each team needed a name so I thought “Meat Sweats BBQ” would be a perfect name but my wife and two daughters immediately vetoed that idea! The sauce that I was working on, had a beer in it so it made sense to maybe incorporate that in a name because after all, I wasn’t trying to be serious, I was just trying to have fun so if I put the sauce on the bones and it had beer in it, Beer Bones BBQ seemed to work and it was approved by the boss!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

As a lot of folks might already know, I’ve always had a love for cooking, especially outside. It’s not just a different way to cook, but it is a way for me to express myself through food. Our story starts as a hobby as do many other others. My wife was in nursing school and needed her space to be able to study hard and be successful. I asked her if she cared, if I entered a barbecue competition in our hometown and her exact words were “I don’t care what you do just leave me alone to study“ lol

I entered the competition and got next to last in all of the categories, and the only reason I didn’t get dead. Last was because one of the competitors chicken wasn’t cooked all the way and got disqualified! It was at that point that my wife and I had a discussion about competing and she told me that if I wanted to compete, it was fine, but I can’t get in my head and I have to do exactly as I do at home instead of switching it up at the last minute, so that’s what I did.
The very next competition I did I got second place overall and from that point on I was never out of the top five whenever I competed. I don’t say that as a flex, but I say that as a compliment to my wife Jess because she was always right there by. My side, keeping me on track and in the right headspace.

It was not too long after that that I had people requesting food and wanting me to cook for them so I had to explore the legalities and the logistics of catering people for Small meals. Once I started that it was all downhill from there and the notary, they just got our name out there by word-of-mouth and people just kept calling to order food and that is where it all began. It was not something that we intended to happen, but it is something that happened organically and naturally that has now become a business with a Food Truck on one side and Catering on the other. We have not been able to compete at any competitions because of all of the Catering that we are currently doing, which is a good problem to have!
It is without question that the only reason that we are successful with what we do is the followers and the loyal customers that we have because without them we do not exist!

We are known for our slow smoked Meats and scratch, made sides, sauces, spice blends, that are our very own recipes and we try to stay in our lane and put our twist on the craft barbecue that we produce. We use time tested methods that will keep everything very consistent so the food that you try today will taste exactly the same tomorrow next week next month and next year and I believe that is in part a very big contributor to our success as well.

Can you talk to us about how you funded your business?

we are by definition 100% grassroots in terms of our funding. My wife and I both worked full-time jobs and this was kind of a side hustle when we began. We did not borrow a dime and have not borrowed a dime since we’ve been in business. We rolled our profits over to purchase equipment And grow the business organically since our inception 10 years ago. We started underneath tents and sold at different competitions we went to and did Street vending under pop-up canopies as well for about six years. This allowed us to purchase equipment, such as warmers, tables, etc. in the first couple of years. Then it allowed us to purchase a vehicle to be able to potentially haul a larger smoker in our third year and our fourth year allowed us to have a custom built, rotisserie manufactured by a local welder in our hometown. From there we were able to take on larger events which meant more revenue coming in and it was at that point that my wife Jess and I made the decision to purchase a food trailer in the fall of 2020.
Coming through the Covid pandemic was definitely an interesting thing to do, but we weren’t as restricted as some of my friends with restaurants because we were completely Mobile and 100% outdoors so we did not have to shut down like they did which allowed us to still generate revenue.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I feel that our 100% transparency and ability to use our own recipes for scratch made sides and our own method for slow. Spoke to Meats is something that people really do appreciate.
We could pour stuff out of a can or a box and believe me it would be a lot easier, but the hard work and dedication that we put into our products are what people taste in the end. A lot of folks do not realize that there are differences between a typical barbecue trailer and a craft barbecue trailer. We would like to consider ourselves a craft barbecue trailer because probably 95% of everything that comes out of our window is 100% made by us and not purchased. From the recipes to the ingredients that we use to the locally sourced meats that we incorporate, just about the only thing we don’t create ourselves, are the buns we serve the sandwiches on and the Italian style panko breadcrumbs we put on our Iconic Piggy Mac.
I feel that the consistency that we have with our products as well is what people remember and when they come to our food trailer after having our food before they already know that they are going to be getting the best possible product that we can offer them at any given time.

Contact Info:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beerbonesbbq/
• Other: Mobile App

  https://bit.ly/Beer-Bones-BBQ