For a guy who says he gets grumpy when he has to work too much, Jeff Greenberg, 52, certainly stays busy. Between his job as a union stagehand and his barbecue sauce business, Greenberg keeps himself entertained running the spotlight for the Ringling Bros. circus while it’s in town, and travelling to sauce contests around the country.
In August, two of his Grumpy’s Private Reserve sauces won first place in the second annual Gettin’ Sauced contest in Austin, Texas. And he just got home from Kansas City, Mo., where he took second place in the “hot tomato” category with his Bold XX Texas-style sauce Oct. 2.
The Northglenn resident was just putting a pizza in the oven when we called and said he had about 20 minutes to talk barbecue.
Q: How did you get started making barbecue sauce?
A: I started in December of ’04. I could never find any barbecue sauce I liked in the store. I looked at the label on a bottle of sauce and I thought, “I don’t have this high-fructose corn syrup, but I do have some brown sugar.” I just started cooking on the stove.
I was talking to friends about it, and they said, “Oh you’ll never follow through,” but everybody seemed to like it, and I just went for it. I made a bunch of sauce but didn’t have anywhere to sell it. Somebody told me to take it down to the Fiery Foods show in New Mexico and that I’d sell it all. I drove down with 200 cases and came back with 160.
Q: So was that a success or a failure?
A: Well, I thought I’d sell them all, but 40 cases wasn’t too bad. I came back to Denver and got it into some small stores. Then, the Rocky Mountain region of Whole Foods picked it up in 2007. (You can order sauce and find retail locations at .)
Q: Is sauce-making your full-time job?
A: Ha, I eventually hope to pay myself. I still work as a stagehand with the Denver Theatrical Stage Employees union. I’m running a spotlight for the circus while it’s here in town. I hope to work on “The Lion King” when it comes.
Q: Where do you make your sauce now — not still in the kitchen?
A: I make it at Silver State Foods, a co-packer in north Denver. I started on the kitchen stove with a quart here and a pint there, but they use a computer program to upsize the recipes. It’s trial and error, I have to make sure the thickness is correct and that it tastes right to me.
Q: Do you have any advice for people who think they have a great sauce recipe?
A: First, just to go for it. But, you have to put in a lot of time — the competition is so hard. Being your own boss, that’s the best part.
Q: Sounds like your pizza is ready. Are you going to put barbecue sauce on it?
A: I put my sauce on everything. I take it to the circus for the crew.
Q: Why did you call your company Grumpy’s?
A: I like to get paid for 8 hours but work only 4, so I get a little grumpy at the end of my shift.
Kristen Browning-Blas: 303-954-1440 or kbrowning@denverpost.com
