Houston Company BrisketU Expands Its Smoke Ring By Offering Franchises

    HOUSTON, TX, November 03, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Houston-based BrisketU (Backyard Pitmasters, LLC) has expanded to Bryan and Austin, and is now franchising its three-hour brisket smoking class business model throughout Texas and beyond. The brainchild of local ad agency colleagues Mike Albrecht and Jon Kane, BrisketU offers tips and tricks from the pitmasters, and is typically held at local breweries on weekends. Albrecht holds a BBA in marketing from Texas A&M University and Kane holds a BS in business management/marketing from North Carolina State University.

The classes, which cost $74 per session, currently take place at local breweries around Houston, Bryan and Austin. Class topics include selecting firewood, choosing a rub, trimming a brisket, smoke profiles, and controlling the temperature during cooking. So far, they have put over 3,000 people through the course. Now another pitmaster offers BrisketU classes in Austin and Bryan-College Station.

"We thought we would be successful, but we never expected people would be calling us and begging to be added to one of our classes, so this is the perfect time to expand," Albrecht said.

Doug Worgul of Oklahoma Joe's Bar-B-Cue in Kansas City spoke to Texas Monthly and had this to say about barbecue and the business surrounding it: "The primary change in the barbecue business over the last 20 years has been the dramatic increase in the popularity of barbecue, nationally and internationally. Even as globalization has had a universalizing and homogenizing effect on culinary developments, barbecue is rightfully understood to be a genuine and original food tradition that is deeply rooted in regional histories and represents a return to something authentic. People have sought it out for this reason. It's real, and it's local. Plus, it's delicious. Related to this development is the boom in food tourism. People are traveling great distances to experience foods that are different and unique. Barbecue is a natural beneficiary of this."

"Our brand embodies a culture of true Texas hospitality, celebrating life through the pit master's trinity of family, friends and feasting," said Kane. "This fact, coupled with a quick start-up time and affordable cost, make this the perfect franchise for someone who wants to make money, while having a great time."

Albrecht and Kane have partnered with local brothers and franchise experts Judd and Gordon Miller to develop BrisketU into a national franchise system. Judd Miller, who has a BS in business and finance from the University of Houston, developed companies like Amazing Lash Studio, European Wax Center and Money Mailer into successful franchises. Gordon Miller is CDO of Full Psycle Franchising, indoor cycling studios, and was previously CEO of Stonebridge Homes in Houston. He holds a BS in construction engineering from the University of Houston.

"We were drawn to BrisketU because it is a great concept in barbecue education and entertainment, created to be a more casual and less competitive way to learn the art of Texas barbecue," said Judd Miller. "We know this fun and efficient format can translate across state lines."

Partner breweries for BrisketU include: Spindletap, 11 Below, Town in City, No Label, and Southern Star breweries (Houston), Blackwater Draw (Bryan), Rentsch Brewery, Whitestone Brewery, Oskar Blues and 4th Tap Brewing Co-Op (Austin).

In addition to brewery events, BrisketU offers private corporate events. Spirit Airlines, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, Google, Prudential, and NASA are a few companies that have held these events. "Which makes it interesting," Albrecht said, "because [at NASA] we were literally teaching the finer points of cooking a brisket to rocket scientists."

Franchise start-up time is 8 to 12 weeks, and costs are extremely reasonable. BrisketU offers franchisees support on how to promote events and pre-sell classes, as well as a comprehensive proprietary back-end system for operations. Franchises come complete with a custom branded trailer pit, eliminating the need for costly overhead like a building lease.

To inquire about a franchise, visit: https://brisketu.com/franchise/.

About BrisketU
BrisketU is the perfect setting for indoor and outdoor hands-on instruction on smoking brisket and other cuts of beef, pork and fowl. Experienced pit masters, passionate about the barbecue culture, teach proven techniques for mastering your own barbecue pit. In a casual atmosphere, BrisketU will endow you with the tools and skills to choose the right meat, trim it, rub it, smoke it, baby it, cut it, serve it and eat it. In addition, BrisketU imparts the finer points on wood selection and smoke profiles, fire ignition tips and heat management, and best practices to ensure you a consistent outcome every time you crank up the pit as a BrisketU Certified Backyard Pitmaster. For more information, visit brisketu.com or facebook.com/brisketuniversity.

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