When it comes to grills and grill-outs, or even just an oven-cooked meal, there are tons of little ways that you can make your cooked meat and foods stand out from everyone else’s, and make your grill-out THE get-together to go to.
Some people will cook rare and exotic meats to introduce a flavor or texture that no one has tried before, such as wild boar or emu.
Some people like to create the perfect marinade that they can soak their foods in, creating a flavor combination that few others can match.
However, one of the simple ways that we’ve found to create stunning food to eat is by using beer cans. It adds tons of moisture, as well as a little extra flavor, to a classic grill-out staple.
This is especially true for chicken, which can be notoriously difficult to keep soft and succulent, and with little flaking as it is cut into.
If you want to try this little handy cooking hack for yourself, then we have the perfect guide for you!
In this list, we have collected the best micro-brewed craft beer can chicken recipes that you can find out there so that you can try this method out for yourself!
Beer Can Chicken
Starting this list with a recipe that is perfect for the summer cookout, this is a great classic take on what a good beer can chicken recipe looks like.
Like many of the best recipes for this type of cooking, this one uses plenty of extra herbs and spices to create the perfect rub that will flavor the chicken from the outside, while the beer from the micro-brewed beer can add its flavor and texture from the inside.
Like many other recipes, the chicken is placed rear-down on the pen beer can for cooking, making it look as if it is sitting on the beer can!
Once you stop laughing at how ridiculous it looks, however, you’ll start to appreciate the delicious smells coming from this recipe!
Grilled Beer Can Chicken
Like the previous recipe that we just outline, this beer can chicken is best cooked on a grill (the way we think all chicken was intended to be cooked, in our humble opinion).
What we love about many beer can recipes is how simple they are to try out for yourself.
Simply pick a beer, empty half the can, place the chicken on top of it, and place it on the grill! It is as simple as that!
The evaporating beer, once it has started to heat up in the grill will enter the chicken (again, through the rear), to allow the moisture from the beer to steam (as strange of a sentence that sounds like), creating a beautiful flavoring that you can only get from these kinds of recipes!
Juicy Beer Can Chicken
Speaking of moisture in your chicken, this recipe is a perfect example of the sort of gorgeous results that you can get from beer can recipes like this.
Crispy and textured by all the extra herbs, spices, and rubs on the outside, and moist and juicy on the inside, this is a great recipe for people who want to try and avoid accidentally grilling all their meats to a crisp when making a grill out.
One of the best things about a good beer can recipe is that, outside of the steps to getting a chicken ready, there is plenty of customizability in these recipes.
You can choose whatever micro-brewed beer that you like, from whatever brewery or flavor that you enjoy the most.
Love a somewhat bitter stout? Why not try adding that to chicken?
This is the perfect way of crafting a recipe that is truly yours and yours alone!
Beer Can Chicken Tacos
Of course, once you have a good recipe for your beer can chicken, you’re going to want to start trying out other recipes that you can combine this new chicken recipe with, too.
So, why not try and combine your beer-flavors chicken with this taco recipe?
While this recipe uses a particular pale ale for its chicken, you can easily swap out the recommended beer of choice with your own if you so wish.
However, we do recommend that you cook this recipe by the books at least once, just so you can see for yourself what this recipe is supposed to taste like.
BBQ Beer Can Chicken
This recipe is the perfect recipe for BBQ flavor-lovers.
While we have talked at length so far in this guide about how much the beer adds to the flavors of whatever chicken or whole bird you’re cooking, we should also be giving a shout-out to the rub and seasonings that you will be used alongside a good pale ale!
After all, your beer is only handling one side of the flavor equation here.
The rub that you decide to put together, such as the BBQ-flavored one that this recipe outlines, is another vital step.
After all, you don’t want an uneven spread of extra flavors on your chicken!
Dale’s Super Juicy Beer Can Chicken
Of course, just because you have found your favorite beer can and chicken combination of flavors, doesn’t mean that you can’t draw inspiration from others out there too.
This recipe is a perfect example of that idea.
This recipe doesn’t just leave you with a cooked beer-flavored chicken but prepares a ton of food on the side as well.
There will be plenty o cooked carrots, onion, and potatoes ready for any hungry mouths by the end of the cooking time.
And because they are roasted with the chicken, there is even a hint of the underlying flavor for all of them.
With that in mind, make sure you’re picking a beer that is brewed with your favorite flavors!
Healthy BBQ Beer Can Chicken
Just because you’re prepping a good BBQ beer can chicken, doesn’t mean that you can be diet or health-conscious about it too!
Like all the best beer can recipes, this one is a beautiful succulent dish that creates chunks of juicy chicken for you to tuck into at a grill out.
However, what sets this recipe apart from the others recipes that we have covered is the healthiness of the food for you (at least, when compared to many other grilling favorites. Not everything can be a zero-calorie rice cake)!
The lack of extra oil needed helps cook down on unhealthy grease and fat many recipes for grilling tend to have.
Plus, the molasses marinade that this recipe also prepares for you makes sure that it won’t just be the inside of the chicken that is
Jerk Marinated Craft Beer Can Chicken
Many people, when they hear about beer can chicken, often have one of two reactions to it.
Either, they are completely confused and have never heard of the concept before.
Alternatively, they have a look of apprehension. As if it is some kind of weird concept, and is low-brow food because of it.
However, we know that all it takes to change someone’s mind on food is to give them a great example of it in action.
Case in point, this jerk beer can chicken recipe!
The jerk marinade is the perfect way of flavoring and keeping the outside of the chicken as juicy as the inside is.
Beer Can Chicken
Of course, sometimes it is best to keep your beer can recipe simple. After all, having more parts to a food item only adds to the complexity, and can accidentally become a literal recipe for disaster!
This recipe takes things back to basics, keeping the seasoning simple, with just a little olive oil lemon juice, and Sonoma pepper seasoning for good measure.
However, the combination of the pale ale of choice here, combined with the lemon juice, means that you have a chicken that isn’t just juicy, but is pretty zesty too!
Big Bud’s Beer Can Chicken
However, when it comes to being the centerpiece for a grill out, sometimes simplicity doesn’t quite cut it.
Sometimes, you need a chicken that is packed full of flavor and has tons of extras in it to make it the best it can be.
If you’re feeling bold, and want to make a show-stopping beer can chicken, then this final recipe that we have in store is the recipe for you.
Combining a ton of seasonings to make the perfect rub and filling, as well as plenty of extra salt, and even a coating of bacon to boot, this is an over-the-top recipe that everyone will love.
And, of course, don’t forget about the beer too!
Final Thoughts
As you can see, despite it seeming like such a simple recipe concept, to begin with, there is plenty that can be done with just a can of beer, a chicken, and a grill!
Now, all you have to do is try these for yourself!