Yankton, South Dakota has become something of a second home to me while I’m out on the road. I have good friends in Ted & Alice Miller that live just outside of town, and I’ve had some of my more enjoyable shows at The AME Church, Ben’s Brewing, and The 6th Meridian Hop Farm. The second weekend in November had me back in Yankton for two more shows at the aforementioned Ben’s Brewing and AME Church. Friday night and Saturday night respectively. I got to split the Friday evening bill with The Millers and both of my shows went off without a hitch. Well, save getting pulled over Saturday night. No worries though, the Cedar County Sheriff’s Department deputy was kind. In between shows, my wife and I found more Midwest sushi and, you guessed it, BBQ.

If you’re still reading, it’s for the beans.

At Backroad BBQ, you have two different baked bean sides to choose from. I, of course, picked the "Smokey Baked Beans". My order was served up nice and hot in a classic ceramic bowl. This side dish was intriguing at first glance. Even though it was only a single bean variety, there was brisket and plenty of black pepper sprinkled in. These beans were cooked to a near perfect consistency and the brisket cooked down to be even more tender in the pot.

On a side note, I had their brisket burnt ends as a main course and they were delicious. Perfectly tender, served without sauce, and given a simple salt and pepper rub down before being smoked.

Anyhow, there was finely chopped white onion cooked in with the beans and that helped add to the sweetness of the sauce these beans were served in. Overall, this side dish did not have the smokey gusto that their name would suggest. Though, the brisket did help add a little smoke flavor to the dish.

Ratings (On a scale of 1-5)
Appearance: 3
Flavor: 3
Mouthfeel: 4

Total Score: 10

For what it’s worth,
6th Meridian Hop Farm's Craft Beer Garden: 5

My right hand man, and drummer, Tim Schroeder took a trip up to Mason City to work an afternoon show at Fat Hill Brewing. I had really been looking forward to this show and getting into this new venue. The show went well, despite being subjected to being background for some newlyweds wedding pictures. The joke is on them, though. They’re going to have my mug peeking up behind them in their wedding pictures for the rest of their lives. I must say, "Sweat Equity" ended up being a pretty decent first dance song. On top of that excitement, J.D. Scholten happened to stop into the tap room towards the end of our set. I did have a chance to talk to him, and he’s a fine man. I’m really disappointed his senate run didn’t turn out differently. Tim and I ate at The Rib Crib after the show. Then, like real “rock stars”, we grabbed several specialty bottles of beer and drank them in the hotel room. It had a pool, and we used it.

But, back to that dinner

At The Rib Crib, the baked beans are served up in the customary small black side dish. This batch was a single bean variety. The beans were over cooked and slightly mushy, unfortunately. However, there were large chunks of bacon and diced green peppers in the mix to help improve the dish’s consistency. The sauce on these beans was straight sweetness and there was no heat or smoke flavor present in this traditional BBQ side. My offering had a very high "sauce-to-bean" ratio, bordering on soup.

Ratings (On a scale of 1-5)
Appearance: 3
Flavor: 3
Mouthfeel: 2

Total score: 8

For what it’s worth,
​Fat Hill Brewing’s Brut IPA: 5