Summer has landed and although the sun seems to have disappeared behind a few clouds we are never one to grumble at the oh- so- British weather so we decided to make a summer BBQ favourite this weekend- Beer-Can chicken.

On inspection, we sadly discovered that the BBQ gas wouldn’t have gone the distance so the chicken, and the beer can both ended up in the oven instead. This is a great alternative to the BBQ since the weather can never be 100% guaranteed meaning you don’t need to change meal plans at the last minute.

If you’ve never made, or even heard of Beer-Can (or Beer-Butt) chicken then this is how it is done…

What you’ll need

• One chicken- small, medium or large depending on family size (we went with small)


• One can of beer- size dependent on size of chicken. For this we used Allendale Vienna- a light a fruity pale ale. (Featured in our Best of British Yard of Ale)


• A few herbs- Paprika, thyme, coriander (whatever your preference). We used paprika and olive oil to rub the chicken, and popped some fresh coriander leaves in the beer can prior to it ending up at the business end of the chicken


• A baking tray


• Oven or BBQ

[caption id="attachment_381" align="alignleft" width="225"] The chicken should fit neatly on top of your beer can with some room at the top for it to breath[/caption]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Method

• Pre heat the oven to gas mark 180


• Rub chicken with olive oil and herbs of choice (we went with paprika)


• Add herbs to beer can- you could use thyme, or lemongrass but we went with coriander as the Allendale beer we used was a light, fruity beer and felt this was a great accompaniment


• Sit the chicken on top of the beer can (you need the can to go as far in as possible to allow the beer to permeate the chicken, but not too far in that the beer doesn't have room to breathe)


• Cook chicken according to weight- instructions are usually found on the chicken- This one said 45 mins per kg plus 25 mins and was 1.25kg so it went in for 1.5 hours

[caption id="attachment_382" align="alignleft" width="225"] A Paprika rub was used to coat the chicken prior to it going in to the oven[/caption]

 

Whilst the chicken was in the oven, we set about our usual Sunday chores- lawn mowing, washing etc and after 30 mins checked on the chicken to find it had fallen over in the oven with the beer now covering the bottom of pan.

Oh dear.

Plan B- The chicken will now be fully roasted in the beer, which actually turned out to be a great alternative since we used the chicken juices and beer to make a great boozy gravy to accompany our meal!

 

So after 1.5 hours the chicken looked deliciously  like this:

[caption id="attachment_383" align="alignright" width="225"] The chicken smelled amazingly beery![/caption]

 

 

 

And after adding some lovely herby potatoes and garden pea’s our beer-butt chicken was ready to be served with our impromptu and delicious boozy gravy! Alternatively you could enjoy an Al fresco meal in place of the BBQ and serve with a garden salad and fresh bread and butter.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Could we taste the beer?

Definitely. The chicken was very moist, with a hint of fruit, coriander and definite subtle undertones of beer. The gravy gave a real beery boost to the meal which we will definitely consider making again in place of the beer-but chicken which (hopefully) might stand up-right on a BBQ!

Next week- Honey and Beer glazed pork.

Cheers!

Lynne

Despite the drop in temperature over the last few days, we still seem to have a huge amount of slugs in our garden – easily enough for a large family of hungry hedgehogs to consider it an ‘all you can eat buffet’. While our closest relatives in the animal kingdom might be chimpanzees, we do share a few traits with the common or garden slug; one of these is a fondness for a glass of beer.

At Best of British Beer, we are always keen to promote responsible drinking; however we don’t extend this advice to gastropods and we’re glad their liking for a beer can get them into a lot of trouble. The beer trap has to be the simplest way of keeping the slimy characters off your cabbages. To make your own Slug Pub, simply bury a glass jar in the soil and half fill it with beer. The slugs will sniff the brew, slither over to it and plop into the liquid, never to be seen again. At least they will die happy !

Inspired by a recent conversation with Kieran, our chemistry graduate Warehouse Manager, I thought I would try a little experiment with a few bottled beers.  I didn’t really associate slugs with having a sense of taste, so I wasn’t sure if giving them a choice of beers in which to meet their maker was worthwhile. In Jar A I poured half a pint of a well-known refreshing Dutch lager. To Jar B I added a generous measure of cheap, mass produced no nonsense bitter. As I was drinking my new favourite bottled beer, Cleric’s Cure from The 3 Tuns Brewery in Shropshire, I decided to spare a (very) small amount for Jar C.

I declared my Slug Pubs open before retiring to the lounge with what was left of my Cleric’s Cure to let nature take its course overnight. In the morning I checked to see which beer had been the most popular amongst our slimy clientele and to see if I could apply for a grant for further chemical research. The scores were 5 for the foreign lager, 2 for the pasteurised bitter and not a single visitor to my real ale pub. My conclusion therefore is that while slugs have not woken up to the quality of British beer, foreign mass produced lager does indeed refresh the pests other beers cannot reach.