Beer Can Chicken

I made a beer can chicken a couple of weeks ago and am just getting around to posting about it. I was running a little low on beer so I ended up using a Yuengling Premium Light. I guess a more flavorful beer would have been better but it was certainly better than no beer at all. To get the beer can prepared, I cut the top off with a can opener and drank half of it. Next I squeezed in a lime and tossed it in the beer along with some black pepper and paprika. To prepare the bird I gave it a big rub down of chili powder, paprika, garlic, and salt. I also threw my herb garden at it by putting sage, thyme and basil under the skin.

After getting the bird seasoned I then got to work on my Weber. As you can see from the picture above I got the coals nice and hot and then separated them to the sides using those aluminum baskets. They can be bought at any of the hardware stores. The idea is to stand the bird up on the can of beer and then place it in the middle of the grill. This method delivers even heat to both sides of the bird. I cooked my 5 pound chicken for about 1.5 hours at around 350 degrees. A meat thermometer would be a good idea for this one. Remember that you are trying to get the meat up to least 165 degrees in the breast. The trick is to make sure the bird does not fall over. I did mine freestyle but you can also buy beer can chicken holders at the hardware store. Though it is by no means required I also tossed on some hard wood to help smoke the chicken as well. I had soaked the chips in water for a couple of hours and this time I just put it directly on the grill over direct heat.

If you get everything right the skin should turn out nice and crispy and the meat should stay nice and moist because of the beer inside the cavity. After pulling the bird off of the stove be sure to cover it for 15 minutes to let the juices settle. Don't make the cover airtight or your skin with get soft. Make sure you have a few friends over to enjoy it...or in my case bring it over to Mary's!