Bud barbecue master Neil Rankin

Neil Rankin from restaurant chain Bodean’s will judge Bud BBQ contest

Budweiser has launched a search for Britain’s BBQ masters.

The beer brand, which is rolling out limited BBQ-themed packaging this summer, is inviting members of the public to submit, via the Budweiser website, a video or photo of themselves demonstrating their grill skills.

Judges will choose the three entrants they feel best ‘encapsulate Budweiser’s BBQ spirit by showcasing their creative and unique BBQ skills’. These finalists will be invited to a live cook-off in London in July, where they will be judged by Budweiser and Neil Rankin from London smokehouse restaurant chain Bodean’s.

The winner will get a luxury BBQ and a BBQ kit from Bodean’s including ribs, wings, burnt ends, seasonings and sauces, a trucker cap and t-shirt, and vouchers.

Budweiser launched the promo after commissioning research that found Brits lack confidence in their BBQ abilities. More than half the 1,000 adults quizzed by OnePoll reckoned Australians were the best BBQers – and just 13% thought Brits were. Despite this, 21% claimed their BBQ skills were better than their friends’.

“Our research shows that although Britons aren’t seen as number one when it comes to their BBQ prowess, they still feel passionately about their skills,” said Budweiser senior brand manager Isabelle Maratier. “Budweiser has always had a strong link with BBQ, with many young people citing us a brand they associate with BBQ in research. We wanted to create the Budweiser King of BBQs competition to reveal the UK’s unsung star of the grill.”