Chipotle Beer-Can Chicken

We've always wanted to make beer-can chicken, but for some reason never have ... until now. We were going to just pick an ol' can of beer and create a spice rub, but then, coincidentally, my mom gave Nate a small cookbook, Cooking With Beer (a PIL Cookbook), she picked up while checking out groceries. And what do you know, the book contains not one but TWO beer-can chicken recipes.

We decided to go with the Chipotle Spice Rubbed Beer-Can Chicken one because we had everything in-house already. The recipe was super easy, and Nate seemed to have an easy enough time getting the chicken situated on the grill.

• 2 Tbs. packed light brown sugar


• 2 teas. smoked paprika


• 2 teas. ground cumin


• 1 teas. salt


• 1 teas. garlic powder


• 1 teas. chili powder


• 1/2 teas. ground chipotle powder


• 1 whole chicken (3.5-4 lbs.)


• 1 can beer (12 oz.)


• (not part of the actual recipe: 1/4 of an onion)

Prepare grill for indirect grilling. Grease grid.

Combine all spices and sugar in a small bowl. Gently loosen skin of chicken over breast, legs and thighs. Rub mixture under and over skin and inside cavity. Discard (or drink!) one fourth of beer or reserve for another use. Hold chicken upright with cavity pointing down; insert beer into cavity. Put onion in neck to seal in juices.

Place chicken on prepared grid, standing upright on can. Spread legs slightly for support. Cover and cook 1.25 hours or until chicken is tender and cooked through.

Lift chicken off beer can using metal tongs. Let rest on cutting board 5 minutes, standing up. Carefully remove beer can and discard. Slice chicken.

The chicken was soooo juicy, it was delicious. The spice rub was great, too, and you could really do anything you want with it.

We served the chicken with a side salad and some pan-fried potatoes. It was a great Fourth of July meal!