On March 4th Hulu started airing the “Raising the Bar” series which took place during last year’s American Royal World Series of BBQ. There was a contest that had six teams that had to construct a bar within an eight hour time limit. Each bar was judged on its uniqueness and ability to pour George Dickel Tennessee Whisky. The producers of shows like the “Deadliest Catch” and “Storage Wars” were the ones that created this series.

The first episode followed three guys who are metal workers that dubbed themselves “Team Big Steel”. They used over 4000 washers that were welded onto metal slabs to construct their bar. Their design also called for a steam powered arm that would actual pour the whisky. They had eight hours to build the bar and make sure it was in working order. I don’t want to tell you if they were able to complete the bar in time, but if you want to find out what happened click here for the video.

One of the reasons that this contest took place was to celebrate the fine art of American craftsmanship and ingenuity. George Dickel Whisky was looking to see which team would rise above the rest of the other challengers and create the perfect bar.

One of the cool concepts coming from the “Raising the Bar” series is that viewers get to voice their ideas of what they would add to the bar to make it stand out even more. The series runs for five weeks and in each episode a new bar is created from a different team. Each idea that is sent in will be given to that specific team. For instance after watching the video of “Team Big Steel” and if you feel you can add something to make it better send in your ideas on Twitter using the hashtag “RaisingtheBar.”

If your idea is selected by the winning team and Master of Whisky Gerry Graham you have a shot of winning some cool things from that team that won the contest. Use your imagination, but the items that teams do not want is anything dealing with electronics or the latest tech gear. If you are a fan of good old fashioned hard work and independent thinking watch the “Raising the Bar” series each week and send in your ideas to make the designs of the bar you love even more impressive.