Beer and BBQs—a classic summer pairing! Cookouts are also one of my favorite times to try new beer and food pairings, because you can include the beer at different stages for different effects. Begin with a marinade made with the beer of your choice, and follow up by cooking the meat over beer-infused wood chips for a smoky flair.
In the Meat
If you grill, then you’re familiar with marinades—they add flavor to the meat and also help to tenderize it. Recently, another reason to marinate with beer has surfaced: Beer helps to reduce the carcinogens that form on grilling meat by up to half. These carcinogens are absorbed by the meat during grilling, but studies have found that marinating meat in a black ale for four hours before cooking reduced the absorption by 53 percent. (Marinating in a pilsner resulted in a 12 percent reduction.)
The Beeroness’s Maple and Beer Glazed Salmon
Fish
For delicate flavors like fish, many people believe you should use a lighter beer as marinade. However, I’ve seen recipes that use stouts and porters, and this recipe from the Beeroness for Maple and Beer Glazed Salmon is excellent with Talon Double Smoked Porter.
Another marinade I like to use, especially if I’m cooking trout, is this one for Beer and Lime Marinated Salmon. It’s fast and simple, and pretty open to interpretation. I like to use either Red Tail Ale or Peregrine Pilsner in this recipe, and it’s always delicious either way.
Chicken
I love garlic, so my main go-to chicken marinade is Plain Chicken’s Garlic Beer Marinade. The flavors are so good, I usually make extra to eat as leftovers. This chicken is also very good cold and cut up into pieces to top a salad. For the beer, I like to use an amber or an IPA like White Hawk. IPAs go surprisingly well with lemon, I’ve learned.
Steak
Steak! Yes! I love steaks marinated in dark beer almost as much as I love dark beer itself. This Beer and Brown Sugar marinade for steak is super-easy and delicious. Plan ahead and marinate the steaks overnight for the best flavor.
In the Wood
The ancient art of smoking meat.
In a smoker
To add extra flavor to smoked meats or vegetable, soak your smoker’s wood chips in beer before cooking. Cover the chips with beer and soak them for at least 30 minutes. Drain the chips before putting them in the grill, but save the excess beer. It can be added to the drip pan of the smoker to help keep the meat moist and add even more flavor.
In a charcoal grill
This method of cooking with beer-soaked chips won’t give quite the same results as a true smoker, but will still deliver a tasty dish.
Build the charcoal fire as you normally would, light it, and wait until the coals die down. Spread the damp, soaked wood chips on the coals, then put the lid on the grill. When smoke begins to seep out from under the lid, your charcoal smoker is ready. Open the lid, and quickly place your food on the grill. Replace the lid, making sure the vents will allow the air to enter under the fire and blow the smoke over the food. Keep the lid closed during the cooking process, and add charcoal as needed to maintain a steady heat.
What’s on your grill?
What are some of your favorite beer-inspired grilling marinades and recipes? Let us know, and we’ll feature our favorites on the blog!
