What Kind Of Beer For Beer Can Chicken?

What kind of beer do you use to make beer can chicken?

What Beer is Best for Beer Can Chicken? I always say that for any recipe that has alcohol as an ingredient, use something you like to drink. Beer can chicken is no exception. The most popular choice is lager — something middle of the road, and not too hoppy or bitter.

Can you use any beer for beer chicken?

4. Alcohol Content – Less is More – Finally, the alcohol content in your beer can also affect how your chicken tastes! If the beer has more alcohol, it can dry your chicken and make it not so tasty. So, it’s better to use beers with a lower alcohol content when cooking beer can chicken. Use beers like lagers and pilsners, which usually have less alcohol than darker beers like stouts,

What is the best beer to smoke a chicken with?

Time to let it rest – Once the chicken probes 165°F, remove from the smoker and place on a cutting board. Allow the bird to rest for 10-15 minutes still on beer can to allow the juices to redistribute throughout the chicken. This will result in a tender and juicy smoked beer can chicken! Do NOT cover the chicken in aluminum foil when resting, this will result in soggy skin. We DON’T want that! You worked hard for that crispy skin, let’s keep it that way!

What beer is better for beer batter?

Cooking: –

▢ 4 – 5 cups peanut oil (or vegetable, canola or cottonseed oil)

• Dry & cut fish: Pat fish dry using paper towels or a tea towel. Cut into 7 x 3cm / 3 x 1¼” batons, or larger fillets if you prefer. If you have very thick fillets, cut in half horizontally (Note 1)
• Dusting bowl: Place ¼ cup rice flour in a shallow bowl.
• Heat oil: Heat 6cm / 2″ – 3″ oil in a large heavy based pot over medium high heat to 190°C/375°F.
• Salt & dust: While oil is heating, sprinkle 3 or 4 pieces of fish with a pinch of salt, then coat in rice flour and shake off excess. You can leave them like this for up to 10 minutes.
• Cold batter: Just before cooking, whisk together the flour, rice flour, baking powder and salt. Add very cold beer into the batter and whisk just until incorporated evenly into the flour. Do not over-mix, do not worry about flour lumps (Note 4). It should be a fairly thin batter but fully coat the back of a spoon. If too thick, add beer 1 tsp at a time.
• Dredge fish: Dunk a piece of fish in the batter, the let the excess drip off very briefly.
• Fry 3 minutes: Carefully lower into oil, dropping it in away from you, one piece at a time. Don’t crowd the pot; fry in batches. Fry for 3 minutes, flipping after about 2 minutes, until deep golden.
• Drain: Drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining fish. Serve hot! However it will stay crisp for 15 – 20 minutes. (Note 5 for larger batch cooking).
• Serve with Tartare Sauce, lemon wedges and a leafy green salad on the side dressed with a classic vinaigrette, Serve with Crispy French Fries or oven baked wedges !

Note: Light crispy batter requires a cold batter, so if it’s hot where you are, keep it in the fridge between batches. Recipe makes more batter than you need – you can cook up to ~1kg/1.2lb of fish. It’s hard to dredge fish properly with any less. 1. Fish for frying – You can use virtually any white fish fillet such as: hoki, whiting, snapper, barramundi, cod, flathead (my favourite!), tilapia, hake, haddock and ling.

Fish to avoid: Meaty fish prone to drying out (like swordfish, tuna), delicate or thin fish (like flounder or sole). I personally wouldn’t use oily fish like salmon, but it works just fine. Cutting: Recipe works for fish cocktail size pieces (ie. pick-up-and-dunk size), batons or whole fillet sizes. Remember that the batter puffs up considerably when fried.

If your fish is very thick (3cm / 1.25″+), cut in half horizontally to make thinner pieces, otherwise the fish may not cook through by the time the batter is golden and crispy. Also the ratio of fish to batter will be too high.2. Rice flour – Essential ingredient for a really good crispy batter, and to keep it crispy for a reasonable time (15 minutes+).

If you only use normal wheat flour, it will go soggy within minutes. Find it in the baking aisle at the supermarket. Substitute with cornflour/cornstarch or potato starch (not quite as crispy, but still crispier than using only plain flour).3. Beer: Must be ice cold, in fridge 2 hours+. Key for crispy batter! Best types: Pale ale and lagers are most commonly used, but I’ve used all sorts in my time and they’ve all worked out fine.

Doesn’t really matter because you can’t taste it, but avoid dark, heavily flavoured beer like stout or porter (will discolour and flavour batter). Non alcoholic sub: Ice cold soda water + ¼ tsp extra baking powder. It’s basically the same as the batter used for Honey Chicken, slightly adapted to be suitable for fish.4.

Batter thickness: Thinner batter = crispy, delicate crust like you get at good fish and chip shops.70% fish, 15% crispy batter, 15% empty cavern between fish and batter (the “puff”!). Thicker batter = thicker crust, which some people like, but I am disappointed if I bite in only to find it’s 50% batter, 20% fish, and 30% empty cavern! Do minimal whisking of batter, don’t worry about lumps, just make the beer mix through the flour evenly.

If you over-mix, it will activate the gluten and the batter won’t be as light and delicate, it will be thicker, greasier and chewier.5. Large Batch cooking: The nice thing here is that the fish cooks in 3 minutes so you can just keep them coming out. But if you want to do one large batch, you can do a double fry to reheat & it actually makes the batter less greasy because we use a higher heat (read up on this in my Stay-Crispy Honey Chicken ): – First fry : Fry fish in batches for 2½ minutes until crispy and golden, but not a deep golden.

• Drain on paper towels, continue with remaining fish.
• Second fry: This is to reheat and make it deep golden and crispy.
• Increase oil temperature to 200°C/390°F.
• Add fish and fry for 1 minute until deep golden.
• For Fry #2, you can crowd the oil more (ie.
• If you cooked fish in 4 batches, you can do this in 2 batches).

Drain and repeat with remaining fish. Voila! All fish, piping hot! 6. Reuse oil – Can be used twice more because flavour of batter is neutral, and doesn’t infuse oil with flavour. Cool oil in pot, line mesh colander with paper towel, strain oil. Store until required.

I personally would stick to savoury uses rather than sweet. More fry-worth foods here,7. Source – Partially adapted from this recipe by Chef John of Food Wishes, He knows his stuff, I trust him – and he’s pretty funny too! 8. Make ahead – Can’t be done I’m afraid! Fried fish will be soggy if reheated, and the batter needs to be made fresh.

Sorry folks! 9. Nutrition per serving, assuming 4 servings. It’s nowhere near as bad as you think, and I have allowed for a very generous 1/3 cup of oil consumption (across whole recipe). There is no way the batter for 700g/1.4lb of fish will hold that much oil, but I’ve included it to be conservative, so actual calories will be far lower.

What beer is the best beer to cook with?

Which Kind of Beer to Use? – Just like white and red wine, light and dark beers have distinctive flavor profiles. Often a recipe calls for beer without giving you an idea of where to begin. Here are some general guidelines for how to cook with beer:

Wheat beers are great with chicken and seafood Ales, porters, and stouts are perfect for pork, beef, and lamb. Belgian ales go great with hearty meat and game. Nut-brown ales pair well with stews and cheesy dishes. Fruity beers are good choices for desserts, unless your recipe specifically calls for a particular beer.

If you’re still overwhelmed with all of the choices, pale ale is a versatile choice: it’s hoppy, rich and fruity, without being overpowering. But, look out for the India Pale Ales (IPA’s): they might be great to drink, but are often too bitter to cook with.

What beer is good for marinade?

Beer Marinade –

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp mild vinegar (Sherry or rice, optional)
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 shallot
• 2 cloves garlic
• 5-6 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp Kosher salt
• red pepper flakes to taste (optional)
• 6 oz beer (use Munich helles, Czech pils, German pilsner, American craft lager or Vienna lager)

Is an IPA good for beer can chicken?

How do you kick beer can chicken up a notch? Swap out that Budweiser for a specialty craft beer! When you get tired of burgers, hot dogs and ribs (or in addition to all those burgers, dogs and ribs!), a roasted chicken on the grill is a great way to shake things up at your yearly barbecues. Remember Memorial Day is just around the corner! This is the perfect way to celebrate. Craft beer can chicken is one of the simplest recipes I know and it packs a lot of flavor, especially if you are using a floral IPA. This isn’t your typical dry, bland chicken breast! The flavor of the beer enhances the spice rub, leaving you with a tender, moist bird with perfectly crisp skin. Plus, it’s a way to sneak in half of a craft beer into your day – who can say no to that? INSTRUCTIONS: Preheat grill to approximately 400 degrees. If you are using an oven, preheat to 425 degrees and remove all oven racks except one, set to the lowest rung. Combine chili powder, paprika, cumin, brown sugar, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and garlic powder in a small bowl. Stir to combine. Remove the gizzards from the chicken and rinse with cold water, both inside and out. Pat dry with paper towels. Rub the entire exterior of the chicken with the spice mixture. Place the half empty can on a solid surface and carefully lower the chicken over the can until the chicken fully covers the can. Set the chicken on the grill over the cooler side of the grill. You may need to use aluminum foil rolled into a ball to balance it so it does not tip over. Remove from grill, remove the beer can and allow to rest 5 minutes before carving.

Is stout good for beer can chicken?

Light Beer vs. Dark Beer – While some people believe that dark beers are better for beer can chicken, others prefer a light beer. Ultimately, the type of beer you choose will depend on your personal preference. Light beers, like a lager or pale ale, tend to have a milder flavor.

A Mexican lager might impart more lime flavor, while an American Pale Ale would include the hoppy bitterness, fruity notes, and earthy undertones that are characteristic of pale ales. The beer can also add a slight sweetness and malty flavor to the chicken. Dark beers are more full-bodied and flavorful.

Stouts, for instance, are typically dark and rich beers that contain roasted malts, which can give the chicken a smoky, slightly bitter flavor. The beer can also add a sweetness to the chicken, as many stouts have notes of chocolate, coffee, and caramel.

Additionally, stouts may have a creamy mouthfeel that can make the chicken more tender and juicy. A brown ale or golden amber beer is a good choice. Brown ales typically have a nutty, caramel-like sweetness, which can complement the natural flavors of the chicken. The beer can also add a slight bitterness, as well as earthy and toasty notes.

Similarly, amber beers can add a sweet, malty flavor to the chicken, as well as a slight hoppy bitterness. Amber beers may also have fruity notes, such as apricot or peach, which can add a pleasant sweetness to the chicken. The specific flavors that are imparted can depend on the type of brown ale or amber beer used, as different varieties may have different flavor profiles.

Can I use beer instead of chicken broth?

Eat ” src=”https://static01.nyt.com/images/2011/09/04/magazine/04eat_span/mag-04Eat-t-000_CA0-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale” srcset=”https://static01.nyt.com/images/2011/09/04/magazine/04eat_span/mag-04Eat-t-000_CA0-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp 600w,https://static01.nyt.com/images/2011/09/04/magazine/04eat_span/mag-04Eat-t-000_CA0-jumbo.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp 1024w,https://static01.nyt.com/images/2011/09/04/magazine/04eat_span/mag-04Eat-t-000_CA0-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp 600w” sizes=”((min-width: 600px) and (max-width: 1004px)) 84vw, (min-width: 1005px) 60vw, 100vw” decoding=”async” width=”600″ height=”459″> Credit. Yunhee Kim for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Megan Schlow. Prop Stylist: Deborah Williams. Here’s a rough history of my beer-drinking career: at age 18 (then the legal drinking age in New York), I started with Rheingold — cheap, watery stuff that later went off the market. Down the road, after messing around with Narragansett (or ‘gansett), I moved “up” to Heineken. (Up in status, I suppose. In quality? Questionable.) Eventually I discovered real beers: Bass Pale Ale, no longer favored by the cognoscenti but then a beacon of refinement, became a favorite. Before too long, the beer world exploded, and I found myself visiting the Good Beer store in Manhattan, which has something like 600 types of craft beers. I learned how to drink beer with food (beyond hot dogs, Indian food and the like) from Garrett Oliver, the brewmaster of New York’s Brooklyn Brewery and editor in chief of the soon-to-be-published “Oxford Companion to Beer.” So it seemed only natural, when I found myself cooking with beer more often, to ask Garrett how to determine what’s best. Cooking with beer makes sense: not only is it more flavorful than water, but it’s also more flavorful than any store-bought chicken stock and less ethically objectionable as well. And unlike wine or liquor, you can substitute beer cup-for-cup for stock or water when you’re braising or making soup. Yet like wine, beer is acidic, which comes in handy when you’re baking quick bread, cake or fried foods, because you need a little acidity to activate baking soda. In fact, beer’s flavors are arguably more varied and complex than any ready-made liquid besides wine. And like bread, to which it’s closely related, beer loves to team with meat, cheese and strong flavors like onions, garlic and spices. Image Credit. Yunhee Kim for The New York Times. Food stylist: Megan Schlow. Prop stylist: Deborah Williams. I knew all this in theory, and I had done some work on these things before contacting Garrett. For starters, I wanted to make a beer bread; a basic quick bread with whole-wheat flour and a little cornmeal. I had experimented with this a couple of times and loved both the ridiculously easy method (stir, pour, bake) and the finished loaf’s tender crumb and warm, yeasty flavor. (Yeast bread with no yeast. Interesting.) Similarly, I had made carnitas — that irresistible Mexican pork shoulder braised for hours with spices, then fried in its own fat until crisp — with beer as the braising liquid, but I wanted further guidance. Lastly, a kind of old-fashioned cheddar-beer soup is less my style, but still intriguing — I was eager to try that as well. Most versions of this soup contain copious amounts of cream in addition to the cheese, but I was confident I could come up with a version using cauliflower to provide the velvety body. The dishes I made were good but could be better; the difference could be the right beers. So I consulted Garrett, and he did not disappoint. In fact, he was so specific that I had to ask him for common substitutions for those of us who are not fanatics (see the recipes). For the bread, he suggested a doppelbock (double bock), often referred to as liquid bread: a semisweet, supermalty, high-alcohol beer whose aroma reminds you of bread baking in an oven. Belgian wheat beer (witbier), he said, would be best for the carnitas, because these beers are often spiced with coriander and bitter orange, obviously akin to braised meat, Mexican-style; they are also a little sour, which lends the meat a nice complexity. Finally, for the soup, he had me use Belgian dark abbey ale (and plugged his own, but, hey — we owe him that), whose yeast strain, he said, “has its own funky sulfurous quality and caramel notes” that show off both cauliflower and cheese nicely. It’s delicious, but frankly this all gets a little over my head. You can use any full-bodied, full-flavored beer in any of these recipes. Rheingold, you’ll be pleased to know, is back on the market with a reformed recipe. COMMENT your thoughts are welcome at nytimes.com/magazine, Follow Mark Bittman on Twitter: @bittman.

What is the best cooking alcohol for chicken?

Again, white wine or light beer works best for chicken and fish, while red wine and darker beers are best for red meat. More: The best roast chicken with garlic and herb pan sauce.

What beer is best for BBQ marinade?

You can use any local wheat beer or Hefewizen style beer. I find this style of beer works very well in this marinade. One of the best things about using a beer in a marinade is that it pretty much guarantees that you will end up with a food that pairs well with the beer that you used.

What beer is best to smoke meat with?

Beer Town: The best beers for grilled and smoked meats

• First we must stipulate thatin some variation of a pit.
• That said, firing up a grill with a bunch of hamburgers and hot dogs is a perfectly fine, even all-American way to celebrate Father’s Day and the Fourth of July.
• And when it comes to the question of what kind of beer goes best with bratwurst or steak or pulled pork or fatty brisket, most grilled meats and barbecue really do have a lot in common.

Which is to say, don’t sweat it too much. When pairing almost any kind of food and drink, the easiest path to enlightenment is to think in terms of harmony or contrast.

1. For barbecue, harmony means darker beers like brown ales and porters that will match the roasted and smoky flavors of the meat.
2. Contrast could be lighter German or Belgian-style wheat beers or even some kinds of fruit beers that will play against the heaviness and the richness.
3. In between, classic German Oktoberfest lagers or American amber ales will pair with almost anything from the grill or smoker, and satisfy almost anyone.

Of course, beers with smoked malts, such as classic German Rauchbier, can be a really fun way to lock in to the deepest essence of barbecue. One of my favorites is Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Weizen, a German smoked wheat beer that manages a bit of harmony and contrast in the same bottle.

• In collaboration with Justin and Jonathan Fox of Atlanta’s popular Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q.
• It took the Fox Bros.
• Crew several days to smoke 1 ton of malt on their wood-burning Lang smokers.
• And to add that extra bit of barbecue flavor to the malt, they tossed in some racks of bacon.
• Pairing the Pulled Porter with Fox Bros.

pulled pork sandwiches at a charity event at SweetWater seemed to make everyone happy. Recently, I asked Jonathan Fox what he thought about the Pulled Porter experience. “I didn’t know how well it would come across,” Fox said. “But when I tasted it, the natural hickory smoke and the flavor of bacon really came through.

I was surprised. And I thought the porter style really worked.” Naturally, I also wondered what kind of beer Fox generally liked to drink with barbecue. “I’m kind of a traditionalist,” he said. “I like my American pilsners, which may not be so American anymore. But I’m a Budweiser guy. And I’m from Texas, so I do like Shiner Bock and Lone Star.

I think the Shiner Ruby Redbird with grapefruit is a great summertime beer that’s good when you’re grilling or smoking. I like something a little lighter and a little more refreshing with my barbecue.” Explore Explore Explore Explore Read more stories like this by, following Find us on,

Is Heineken good for beer batter?

How To Make Beer Batter? – I tell you, this fish fry batter is seasoned enough to please even the most discerning palates. It starts with seasoning the flour with garlic powder, cayenne pepper, paprika, baking soda, salt, pepper, and beer. As for the beer, use whatever beer you’d like to drink.

• But I prefer a lager type of beer (like Heineken for instance) for the fish batter.
• Cold beer somewhat results in a lighter and crispier batter though, but feel free to use those at room temperature, too.
• To make the batter, simply add the beer to the bowl of the flour mixture and whisk until fully incorporated.

Then that’s it!

Is lager OK for beer batter?

Beer batter – we’ll drink to that! – We’re a nation of beer drinkers, throwing back around 8.5bn pints of the dark stuff in 2018 (although we imagine that figure will have risen each year since!). Whether yours is a pint of something fruity, malty or hoppy either at home, in the pub or while watching the footie, have you ever thought about using beer to make a batter for your fish? The flavour complements fish and chips perfectly while the carbon dioxide in the beer makes the batter expand, giving it a super light and really crispy texture.

• If you want to give it a try, our School of Frying Excellence trainers have put together their top tips to get you started.
• So good luck and cheers from us! 1.
• You can make a beer batter with any kind of beer really but if it’s a fizzy one, like a lager or something carbonated, you’re best mixing it with plain flour.

If you’re using a more traditional beer you’ll want to use self-raising flour so you still get the bubbles in your batter.2. The darker the beer you choose the more sugar it will contain and the batter will caramelise in the oil, go dark quickly and look burnt before it’s even cooked.

So preferably choose a lighter beer, a good one is a pale ale or a German wheat beer. If you are going dark, choose a craft beer like Spitfire or Hobgoblin and ensure your oil is 100% fresh.3. Experiment as there are so many wonderful beers to choose from. At the training school we encourage shops to find a local brewery because then you can say you’ve partnered up with someone local, you’re keeping the food miles low and you’re giving each other a bit of cross-promotion on a local level.4.

Once you’ve chosen your beer, slowly add it to your flour and whisk it gently to the consistency of single cream.5. Make your beer batter little and often rather than in big batches as it won’t have the same shelf-life as your conventional batter. And don’t give it time to rest, mix it and use it straight away.6.

Is Budweiser good for beer batter?

Plus actual beer batter recipes, of course. – Beer does some amazing things in batter for deep-fried foods. The CO2 gas in a can of Bud keeps things light and airy, and helps the batter cook fast, meaning the cod underneath can emerge moist and properly à point.

• But what kind of beer is best for beer batter recipes? Aggressively hoppy beers ( West Coast IPA, for example) can leave those zucchini fritters trailing a bitter aftertaste, but that doesn’t mean your best option is a bland factory macrobrew (although sometime those do work beautifully).
• A deeper, richer flavor can be important in some battered fry foods—think of the malty, bready flavors in a porter, for instance, in that batter for sweet apple fritters.

Other times, you’ll want to let the fried item itself shine through. Here, in random order, is a brace of beers you should consider adding to your fry-batter mix—plus, seven recipes to help you use them. And if you’re looking for something to wash every crispy bit down, check out our favorite beer clubs and subscriptions,

What is a good cheap beer for cooking?

You Should Be Cooking with Cheap Beer Cheap beer gets a bad rap, but I’ve been choosing it over the fancy stuff more and more these days. Unlike heavy IPAs, generic lagers don’t compete with food or give me a hangover, and they’re an absolute joy to cook with.

1. Wine has the cooking-with-booze market pretty cornered; outside of beer-can chicken or Guinness cake, you don’t hear much about beer-centric recipes.
2. For wine, the rule of thumb is to only cook with stuff you like to drink, which is great advice for those with access to tasty, cheap wine, but it can be hard to strike a balance between “good enough to drink” and “cheap enough for stew.” This is why I love cooking with beer so much, and why I think more people should give it a try, especially those who’ve ruined a difficult dish with bad wine and are afraid to try again.

I like a wide variety of beers, but if you open up my fridge you’ll mostly find those cold Obviously, beer can’t replicate the flavor you’d get from wine, but it offers all of the benefits of cooking with booze with very few risks. Here’s what a can of your favorite beer has over wine:

Mild flavor and low alcohol: Alcohol dissolves fat-soluble flavor compounds more readily than water, which helps develop rich, deep flavors. Since beer is lighter in flavor and alcohol than wine, you can really dump it in without overpowering the other ingredients. Body: Thanks to a blend of starches and sugars, beer adds a downright luscious vibe when reduced. Carbonation: Bubbles physically lift a dish—think beer-battered fish or beer quick bread—and tenderize meat. Single-use containers: Gross wine has a way of sticking around to remind you of your choices. Whether you drink bottles or pounders, beer would never hurt you like this. Access: In Pennsylvania, twenty-five bucks gets me a case of Miller Lite or maybe two bottles of wine, a no-brainer of a fiscal choice. Plus, depending on your local laws, you can buy beer at the grocery store with your other ingredients without having to stop off at a liquor store for some spicy grape juice.

Most importantly, though, beer is a known quantity. You can probably imagine the taste of your favorite beer without too much effort, but buying an unfamiliar bottle of cheap wine is like playing tasting-note roulette. There exists cheap wine that isn’t an unholy union of paint thinner and sugar water, of course—but one unlucky guess can ruin dinner.

Speaking of paint thinner and sugar water, skip the malt liquor when cooking with beer; IPAs, strong ales, sours, and yeasty Belgians are generally out, too. Any cheap lager works great—I like Miller Lite—as do semi-wimpy dark beers like Sheaf stout. Basically, use your favorite cheap, whatever it may be.

The beauty of cooking with a somewhat neutral alcohol like beer is that the possibilities are truly endless; unless you’re looking for a specific wine flavor, like in coq au vin or chicken Marsala, use beer wherever you’d use wine. These are my personal favorites:

Steak Fajitas: I pound the bejesus out of a thick chuck steak, slice the onions, and marinate them together overnight in a mixture of beer, lime juice, oil, and plenty of salt and spices. Mushroom Stroganoff: Beer plays especially well with anything earthy. I nearly caramelize the onions and garlic, deglaze with beer, and then add the mushrooms. Braised Greens: Next time you make your greens of choice, add some beer and do a long, slow oven braise with plenty of garlic. Anything with Cabbage: Beer and cabbage, My love for beer-spiked borscht and is powerful; with stout is divine. Sausage and Peppers: Braise browned sausages and sautéed peppers and onions in beer; done and done. French Onion Soup: Finish the onions off with a bit of stout instead of—or in addition to—stock. Chili: Whether you’re making chili con carne, Cincinnati-style chili, or vegan chili with squash, a can of beer (and maybe some cocoa powder) is just what you need.

If you also cook with beer, I’d love to hear about your favorite recipes—especially if you use it to make pizza dough. So many people swear by it, but I haven’t found a recipe I like yet and I’d really like to start. : You Should Be Cooking with Cheap Beer

Is lager a good beer to cook with?

Lagers – For breads or beer-battered fried foods, you should go with a full-flavored lager or pilsner. This will create an airy and crisp batter, give foods a rich beer flavor, and will create a deep golden color when the food is fried.

What beer to serve at a BBQ?

Photo courtesy of Urban Roots Photo courtesy of Urban Roots Ah, beer and barbecue. It’s a matchup for the ages, a love story that knows no bounds, a thrilling romance of intoxicating flavor combinations worthy of a worthy of a TikTok duet. It’s creeping waves of melt-in-your-mouth, grilled meat deliciousness quelled by cascading waterfalls of refreshing carbonation and sharp, hoppy bitterness.

It’s the very definition of summer. “That’s one thing that I can say unequivocally: Beer and barbecue go together well,” says Sam Cruz, co-founder of Louisville brewery Against The Grain, Cruz and his crew have been serving up boundary-pushing craft beer alongside classic Kentucky ‘cue out of their downtown smokehouse since 2011.

“Two common flavors in barbecue are sweet and spicy. Beer by nature is slightly bitter, no matter what style it is. That bitterness cuts through the spiciness and complements the sweetness—and helps it from becoming overwhelming or heavy.” Across the country in California, Urban Roots Brewing & Smokehouse co-founder Peter Hoey shares Cruz’s devotion to this ultimate summertime pairing.

1. You can either complement or you can contrast,” explains the Sacramento-based brewmaster, delving into the combo’s more subtle nuances.
2. Complementing would be pairing a beer with lots of caramel flavor like a Red Ale or Amber with grilled or smoked meats to pick up on that caramelization.
3. Contrasting would be pairing a hoppy pilsner or dry IPA with a fatty brisket—the beer’s bitterness cuts through the richness of the fat.” Finger-licking good as it may be, Hoey notes that the bond between beer and barbecue extends far beyond taste and mouthfeel.

Grilling is an inherently communal and leisurely form of cooking, one tailormade for friendly afternoon gatherings. It’s standing around the grill and soaking up the hot sun with some buddies, flipping burgers or rotating dogs as you crack open another cold one.

• Beer for us has always been about community,” he says.
• We wanted to keep with that theme and nothing brings people together like barbecue.
• It’s a social food to pair with a social beverage.” Whether you’re sitting down at the picnic table for a massive meat fest or just starting to fire up the coals, a good beer can be a near constant companion—but that doesn’t mean barbecue and brews are a one-size-fits-all scenario.

In the same way that peppery Alabama-style white sauce makes a pulled chicken platter sing and tender burnt ends shine beneath a thick layer of Kansas City’s tomato-spiked finest, what you’re preparing heavily influences what you’re imbibing. “If it’s going to be a long day of grilling, smoking, and hanging out, I’ll seek out a lower ABV but flavorful beer,” Hoey says.

Traditional German lager or session versions of traditional styles are the way to go for me, a classic that you can sip all day while minding your smoker.” Cruz echoes that sentiment, pointing out that a lighter beer is ideal to quench your thirst while standing over a grill. Plus, you’ve gotta play it safe while dealing with hot flames.

But once you’re ready to sit down and dig in, all bets are off. “Then I’m going to have a four pack of Citra Ass Down on hand as my finisher,” says Cruz referencing Against the Grain’s robust and widely beloved hop monster. “It’s a big double IPA, but it’s not overly alcoholic in terms of flavor.

1. It’s not overly sweet, not overly bitter, it’s just balanced.
2. And it goes so great with wings.” So dust off the old family Weber, season some choice meats, and cram your cooler full of these grill-worthy beers.
3. American Lager, 4.5% Louisville, Kentucky “Of the beers that we brew, A Beer is my barbecue go-to,” Cruz says.

“We call it a Super American Premium Lager – it’s got just enough bitterness and hop floralness to make it crafty but it’s also light and refreshing. It’ll wash down big flavors like Texas brisket or smoked turkey with white barbecue sauce and it leaves you less full so that you can consume more.” Against the Grain Imperial IPA, 8.2% Louisville, Kentucky Sticky, full-bodied, and glistening with ripe fruit notes, this badass IPA gets its potency from a whole boatload of Citra hops. The malt bill, a deeply layered blend of Munich, Pale, Vienna, white wheat, and oat, showcases all those juicy hops with gusto. Urban Roots American IPA, 6.2% Sacramento, California One of Urban Roots’ most popular releases to date, Hoey calls his West Coast-inspired creation “clean, crisp, fruity, and dank.” Think applewood smoked pork, fall-off-the-bone ribs, and sweet, sticky sauces.

American Wheat Beer, 4.4% Breckenridge, Colorado Real agave syrup adds a little pep in the step of this crisp, smooth Colorado-born crusher, which weighs in at a sessionable 4.4% ABV and drinks as bright and sparkly as it pours. An earthy, citrusy edge and subtle, cereal-laced sweetness means this bad boy is a surefire bet with grilled vegetables, barbecue chicken, smoked turkey, and similarly easy-breezy backyard fare.

Czech Pilsner, 4.4% Plzeň, Czech Republic “I’m a big fan of Pilsner Urquell,” Cruz says. “It’s a delicious lager, one of my favorites.” The Czech brewing giant laid out the blueprint for the Pilsner style more than 175 years ago and continues to hit it out of the park. Victory Beer German Pilsner, 5.3% Downingtown, Pennsylvania According to Hoey, this old-school craft favorite slices through fatty brisket and other slow-and-low delights like a razor sharp machete. “Light but full of flavor, it will stand up to smoked meats while refreshing your palate for the next bite.” Gose, 4.4% Tarboro, North Carolina Goses, with their fruity, puckery start, even-keel booze level, and ever-stunning kissed-by-the-ocean dry, salty finish, are pretty much every cookout’s top scorer. Miller High Life Adjunct Lager, 4.6% Milwaukee, Wisconsin “If we’re talking American beers, domestic, the macro stuff, I can get down with Miller High Life all day long,” says Cruz, giving the Champagne of Beers its due. “Now that’s a good grilling beer.” Saison, 4.5% Brooklyn, New York Saisons were traditionally brewed to quench the thirst of hardworking farm laborers in the French-speaking region of Belgium, and while you’re probably not harvesting your own corn stalks or slaughtering your own sows nowadays, you can still get in on this lemony refresher. Russian River Brewing Imperial IPA, 8% Santa Rosa, California “Beers are iconic for a reason,” states Hoey. “This beer set the standard for DIPA and it’s a great choice for assertive, spicy barbecue.” Aggressive in the best way possible, this coveted California legend rolls deep with fiery hot links, thick steaks, and sauce-laden ribs. Cigar City Beer American IPA, 7.5% Tampa, Florida Hoey describes this canned Floridian crusher as “citrus-forward and balanced, a bigger beer for fighting back the heat of spicy wings or hot barbecue sauce.” Imperial IPA, 10.5% Brooklyn, New York There’s no shortage of high and mighty hop-goblins on this list, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t throw in a shout out to this Jay-Z-inspired double IPA icon from famed Brooklyn outpost Other Half. Stock Catalog/Flickr Mexican Adjunct Lager, 4.4% Mexico City, Mexico Craft beer might have Cruz’s heart, but this ubiquitous Mexican bubbler has his shelf space. “I have to say, my all time favorite, what I always keep stocked in my fridge, is Modelo Especial,” he admits. “I love it with a lime. It’s just great.” Allagash White Witbier, 5.1% Portland, Maine “Classic, approachable, but complex,” says Hoey of this bright and cheery New England wheat beer. “Pairs great with lighter fare like grilled chicken or anything with citrus.” Oatmeal Porter, 7.5% Boston, Massachusetts If you’re smoking something slow-and-low (as you should be), it’s a good idea to reward your efforts with a stunner of a beer that’s at once approachable, soothing to the palate, and deeply complex.

Enter Boston-based Trillium and its outstanding signature porter, a silky, medium-bodied web of chocolate, roasted malt, stone fruit, espresso, and lightly spiced tobacco that only gets better the longer it lingers in the glass—much like that pork butt you’ve been prodding for the past eight hours. Crack one of these next to anything smoky, from bark-laden brisket to whole hog barbecue and even a scoop or two of ham hock-infused beans.

Want more Thrillist? Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, TikTok, and Snapchat, Meredith Heil is a former freelancer, former-former Staff Writer, and current Senior Cities Editor at Thrillist. Follow her @mereditto,

What is the best beer for meat?

Red ales are heavy with a roasted aroma allowing them to enhance the taste of the grilled juicy meat. Porters are also a good pair with a steak, especially a porterhouse steak. The full flavour of a porter is able to compete with the rich meaty texture of a steak from rare to well done.

Is an IPA good for beer can chicken?

How do you kick beer can chicken up a notch? Swap out that Budweiser for a specialty craft beer! When you get tired of burgers, hot dogs and ribs (or in addition to all those burgers, dogs and ribs!), a roasted chicken on the grill is a great way to shake things up at your yearly barbecues. Remember Memorial Day is just around the corner! This is the perfect way to celebrate. Craft beer can chicken is one of the simplest recipes I know and it packs a lot of flavor, especially if you are using a floral IPA. This isn’t your typical dry, bland chicken breast! The flavor of the beer enhances the spice rub, leaving you with a tender, moist bird with perfectly crisp skin. Plus, it’s a way to sneak in half of a craft beer into your day – who can say no to that? INSTRUCTIONS: Preheat grill to approximately 400 degrees. If you are using an oven, preheat to 425 degrees and remove all oven racks except one, set to the lowest rung. Combine chili powder, paprika, cumin, brown sugar, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and garlic powder in a small bowl. Stir to combine. Remove the gizzards from the chicken and rinse with cold water, both inside and out. Pat dry with paper towels. Rub the entire exterior of the chicken with the spice mixture. Place the half empty can on a solid surface and carefully lower the chicken over the can until the chicken fully covers the can. Set the chicken on the grill over the cooler side of the grill. You may need to use aluminum foil rolled into a ball to balance it so it does not tip over. Remove from grill, remove the beer can and allow to rest 5 minutes before carving.

Can I use beer instead of chicken broth?

Eat ” src=”https://static01.nyt.com/images/2011/09/04/magazine/04eat_span/mag-04Eat-t-000_CA0-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale” srcset=”https://static01.nyt.com/images/2011/09/04/magazine/04eat_span/mag-04Eat-t-000_CA0-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp 600w,https://static01.nyt.com/images/2011/09/04/magazine/04eat_span/mag-04Eat-t-000_CA0-jumbo.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp 1024w,https://static01.nyt.com/images/2011/09/04/magazine/04eat_span/mag-04Eat-t-000_CA0-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp 600w” sizes=”((min-width: 600px) and (max-width: 1004px)) 84vw, (min-width: 1005px) 60vw, 100vw” decoding=”async” width=”600″ height=”459″> Credit. Yunhee Kim for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Megan Schlow. Prop Stylist: Deborah Williams. Here’s a rough history of my beer-drinking career: at age 18 (then the legal drinking age in New York), I started with Rheingold — cheap, watery stuff that later went off the market. Down the road, after messing around with Narragansett (or ‘gansett), I moved “up” to Heineken. (Up in status, I suppose. In quality? Questionable.) Eventually I discovered real beers: Bass Pale Ale, no longer favored by the cognoscenti but then a beacon of refinement, became a favorite. Before too long, the beer world exploded, and I found myself visiting the Good Beer store in Manhattan, which has something like 600 types of craft beers. I learned how to drink beer with food (beyond hot dogs, Indian food and the like) from Garrett Oliver, the brewmaster of New York’s Brooklyn Brewery and editor in chief of the soon-to-be-published “Oxford Companion to Beer.” So it seemed only natural, when I found myself cooking with beer more often, to ask Garrett how to determine what’s best. Cooking with beer makes sense: not only is it more flavorful than water, but it’s also more flavorful than any store-bought chicken stock and less ethically objectionable as well. And unlike wine or liquor, you can substitute beer cup-for-cup for stock or water when you’re braising or making soup. Yet like wine, beer is acidic, which comes in handy when you’re baking quick bread, cake or fried foods, because you need a little acidity to activate baking soda. In fact, beer’s flavors are arguably more varied and complex than any ready-made liquid besides wine. And like bread, to which it’s closely related, beer loves to team with meat, cheese and strong flavors like onions, garlic and spices. Image Credit. Yunhee Kim for The New York Times. Food stylist: Megan Schlow. Prop stylist: Deborah Williams. I knew all this in theory, and I had done some work on these things before contacting Garrett. For starters, I wanted to make a beer bread; a basic quick bread with whole-wheat flour and a little cornmeal. I had experimented with this a couple of times and loved both the ridiculously easy method (stir, pour, bake) and the finished loaf’s tender crumb and warm, yeasty flavor. (Yeast bread with no yeast. Interesting.) Similarly, I had made carnitas — that irresistible Mexican pork shoulder braised for hours with spices, then fried in its own fat until crisp — with beer as the braising liquid, but I wanted further guidance. Lastly, a kind of old-fashioned cheddar-beer soup is less my style, but still intriguing — I was eager to try that as well. Most versions of this soup contain copious amounts of cream in addition to the cheese, but I was confident I could come up with a version using cauliflower to provide the velvety body. The dishes I made were good but could be better; the difference could be the right beers. So I consulted Garrett, and he did not disappoint. In fact, he was so specific that I had to ask him for common substitutions for those of us who are not fanatics (see the recipes). For the bread, he suggested a doppelbock (double bock), often referred to as liquid bread: a semisweet, supermalty, high-alcohol beer whose aroma reminds you of bread baking in an oven. Belgian wheat beer (witbier), he said, would be best for the carnitas, because these beers are often spiced with coriander and bitter orange, obviously akin to braised meat, Mexican-style; they are also a little sour, which lends the meat a nice complexity. Finally, for the soup, he had me use Belgian dark abbey ale (and plugged his own, but, hey — we owe him that), whose yeast strain, he said, “has its own funky sulfurous quality and caramel notes” that show off both cauliflower and cheese nicely. It’s delicious, but frankly this all gets a little over my head. You can use any full-bodied, full-flavored beer in any of these recipes. Rheingold, you’ll be pleased to know, is back on the market with a reformed recipe. COMMENT your thoughts are welcome at nytimes.com/magazine, Follow Mark Bittman on Twitter: @bittman.

Is stout good for beer can chicken?

Light Beer vs. Dark Beer – While some people believe that dark beers are better for beer can chicken, others prefer a light beer. Ultimately, the type of beer you choose will depend on your personal preference. Light beers, like a lager or pale ale, tend to have a milder flavor.

A Mexican lager might impart more lime flavor, while an American Pale Ale would include the hoppy bitterness, fruity notes, and earthy undertones that are characteristic of pale ales. The beer can also add a slight sweetness and malty flavor to the chicken. Dark beers are more full-bodied and flavorful.

Stouts, for instance, are typically dark and rich beers that contain roasted malts, which can give the chicken a smoky, slightly bitter flavor. The beer can also add a sweetness to the chicken, as many stouts have notes of chocolate, coffee, and caramel.

1. Additionally, stouts may have a creamy mouthfeel that can make the chicken more tender and juicy.
2. A brown ale or golden amber beer is a good choice.
3. Brown ales typically have a nutty, caramel-like sweetness, which can complement the natural flavors of the chicken.
4. The beer can also add a slight bitterness, as well as earthy and toasty notes.

Similarly, amber beers can add a sweet, malty flavor to the chicken, as well as a slight hoppy bitterness. Amber beers may also have fruity notes, such as apricot or peach, which can add a pleasant sweetness to the chicken. The specific flavors that are imparted can depend on the type of brown ale or amber beer used, as different varieties may have different flavor profiles.