On the Menu – Bird is the Word

Beer Can Chicken…

I  love June. The days stretch long and golden, and the scent of cut grass and sunscreen lingers in the air. School is out, and the first day of summer arrives in the third week of the month. We celebrate dads and grads. 

And somewhere down the block, a neighbor has already fired up a grill. If there were ever a month that called for a showstopper meal cooked over fire, this is it.

Enter Beer Can Chicken — a quasi-theatrical, conversation-starting, most flat-out fun thing you can do with a bird, a beer and a backyard.

Beer Can Chicken isn’t just a party trick. The technique is genuinely brilliant. As the chicken cooks over indirect heat with the lid closed, the beer in the can slowly steams the bird from the inside out, keeping the meat moist while the dry rub works its magic on the outside. The result is chicken with perfectly crisp skin, and breast meat so juicy you’ll wonder why you ever bothered with any other method. 

The secret weapon is the rub. Brown sugar delivers a faint caramel sweetness that chars beautifully at the edges. Chili powder and paprika add depth and a perfect burnished red color. A little salt and pepper keep everything honest. It’s simple, it’s bold, and it works.

This is a quintessential Father’s Day recipe. Dads who grill already know the quiet pleasure of standing over coals with a cold drink, performing the ancient ritual of poking things with tongs. For dads who don’t grill, this is their golden opportunity. Beer Can Chicken is forgiving enough for beginners and impressive enough to earn serious bragging rights. Either way, Dad wins.

For a graduation party, it scales beautifully. Set up two or three chickens on the grill at once, and you’ve got a main dish that feeds a crowd. Set out a spread of sides — coleslaw, corn on the cob, potato salad, some good crusty bread — and you’ve got a meal that says summer celebration.

A few practical notes for the uninitiated: use indirect heat, always. You’re essentially roasting the bird on a grill, not grilling it directly over flames. Push your coals to the sides, place the chicken in the center, close the lid, and walk away. Resist the urge to peek constantly. Trust the process. 

Also — and this bears repeating — the beer can be extremely hot when you remove it. Use tongs, use gloves, use good judgment. This is not the moment to improvise. Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes before you even think about touching it, then carefully extract the can and set it aside.

As for which beer to use, the classics work best. A straightforward lager or pale ale does the job perfectly. Save the fancy craft brew for drinking alongside. And do drink alongside. It’s June. You’re grilling. And you’re kicking off summer!  • 

Beer Can Chicken

Servings: 4 || Prep Time: 15 minutes || Cook Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes 
Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Ingredients

• ⅓ cup brown sugar
• 2 T chili powder
• 2 T paprika
• ½ tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. ground black pepper
• ½ of a 12 oz. can of beer
• 1 (3 lb.) whole chicken

Directions

Step 1: Preheat a charcoal grill for medium-high heat, about 375 degrees.

Step 2: Mix brown sugar, chili powder, paprika, salt and black pepper in a small bowl. Place half-full can of beer in the center of a plate.

Step 3: Fit whole chicken over the can of beer with the legs on the bottom; keep upright. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of seasoning mix into the top cavity of chicken. (Beer may foam up when seasonings fall inside the can.) Rub the remaining seasoning mix over the entire surface of the chicken.

Step 4: Arrange coals to the sides of the grill. (If using a gas or pellet grill, set up for indirect heat.) Place chicken, standing on the can, over indirect heat. Close the lid and cook the chicken until no longer pink at the bone and the juices run clear (about 1 hour, 15 minutes). A thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh, near the bone should read 165 degrees. 

Step 5: Remove the chicken from the grill and let it rest upright for 10 minutes before carefully removing the beer can. Slice and serve. 

Article and Recipe written by:
Al Olson loves culinary arts, adult beverages and hiking in the North State wilderness. You may find him soaking up the scenery at one of our area’s many state or national parks or sitting in a barstool sipping a cold locally brewed craft beer.