Cooking With Beer – Sierra Nevada Grilled Beer Can Chicken

Festive foods take on new meaning when made with serious beer. And Beer Can Chicken is a classic that’s easy to pull off and it’s especially delicious when made with a great beer.

This tasty recipe comes from Sierra Nevada Brewing and it uses the brewery’s iconic Pale Ale, an assertive yet balanced 5.6% ABV American Pale Ale, and one of the beers that sparked the American craft beer revolution when it debuted in 1980.

This easy Beer Can Chicken Recipe guarantees moist meat that falls off the bone and spicy-crisp, ultra flavorful skin. Carve it up and grab another cold one.

So let’s do this!

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Beer Can Chicken

Ingredients

2 tablespoons brown sugar

3 teaspoons smoked paprika

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

2 sprigs of fresh thyme, stems removed

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 can Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

3.5- to 4-pound whole chicken

Directions

Step 1

Prepare a grill for medium-high indirect heat. Mix dry rub ingredients in a small bowl.

Step 2

Pat chicken dry inside and out. Season chicken with the spice rub, all over the surface and inside the cavity.

Step 3

Open and drink half of your Pale Ale. Fit the whole chicken over the can of beer, and carefully place upright chicken on the preheated grill.

Step 4

Cover and cook for 1 to 1.5 hours, until fully done and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chicken reads 165°F. Let rest for 10 minutes, then carve and serve.

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Want more Cooking with Beer recipes?

We’ve got them…

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FIERY TORPEDO IPA STEAK TACOS

GUINNESS BEEF STEW

OSKAR BLUES CITRUS-CHILI WINGS

DALE’S PALE ALE STUFFED PIZZA BREAD

SIERRA NEVADA HAZY IPA BEEF SLIDERS

BEER CAN TURKEY

CHOCOLATE STOUT BROWNIES

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(Image credits: Sierra Nevada Brewing)