One of the most popular drinks in Mexico and Central America, the michelada is a type of beer cocktail that typically includes a cold pale lager mixed with lime juice, salt, chile, and other spices.
In our riff on this base, we marinate whole chickens in beer and lime juice then serve it with a sweet beer-chili sauce. Optionally, you could grill or smoke the chicken instead of roasting it, but then you wouldn’t be able to include the pan drippings in the sauce.
Serves: 6–8
Michelada Brine
1 qt (32 fl oz/946 ml) water
6 cup (48 fl oz/1.4 l) Mexican-style lager
Juice of 6 limes
½ cup salt
¼ cup granulated sugar
Two 3–4 lb (1.4–1.8 kg) chickens, whole
In a nonreactive bowl, combine all the ingredients except the chickens and mix well. Add the chickens, turning to coat. Refrigerate and brine for at least 4 hours.
Preheat the oven to 400°F (204°C). Remove the chickens from the brine and pat dry. Place the chickens in a roasting pan and roast until the juices run clear from the leg (60–80 minutes). Save the liquid from roasting for the sweet beer sauce.
Witbier Sweet Sauce
Before all this begins, fermenting the chiles is a great start for extra flavor in the sweet beer sauce; that can take 3–5 days, depending on the tempertaure in your kitchen.
1 lb (454 g) Fresno chilies, cut in half lengthwise and seeded
2 Tbs kosher salt
¼ tsp xanthum gum powder
¼ tsp citric acid
1½ cup (12 fl oz/354 ml) Belgian-style witbier
1 cup (8 fl oz/237 ml) agave syrup
1 Tbs garlic, chopped
Place the chilies in a nonreactive container, sprinkle with the salt, and toss together. Fill a gallon zipper-lock bag half full with water and place it on top of the chilies to weigh them down. Let sit at room temperature for 3–5 days.
Skim any muck from the top of the chilies, then cook in their liquid for 10 minutes until soft. This strips most of the good fermentation Lactobacillus but ensures that the sauce is safe (for the quasi-squeamish).
Puree in a food processor with the xanthum gum powder, citric acid, beer, agave syrup, garlic, and the drippings from the roast chicken. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt if necessary.
To serve, arrange the chickens on a serving platter and pour the sauce over them. Garnish with arugula, baby mustard greens, or grilled dandelion greens.
Beer suggestions: For the cooking or pairing, great options include Burial One of Us Will Have to Bend Until We Snap (Asheville, North Carolina), Liquid Mechanics Cerveza Mecanica (Lafayette, Colorado), pFriem Mexican Lager (Hood River, Oregon), Allagash White (Portland, Maine) and St. Bernardus Wit (Watou, West Flanders, Belgium).
Alternatively, to pair something bright and hopforward to meet the spiciness of the dish, try a crisp cold IPA such as Green Cheek It Just Works (Orange, California) or Wayfinder Chronokinetic (Portland, Oregon).