Cooking With Beer: Samuel Adams Beer Roasted Chicken

Just in time for the release of Samuel Adams Octoberfest, a recipe from the Sam Adams website using the Octoberfest beer for roasted chicken. The recipe as it appears on the website:

Beer Roasted Chicken

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups Samuel Adams® OctoberFest
3-4 pound chicken, cleaned of fat, rinsed, and patted dry
Juice of one lemon
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt (to taste)
1 teaspoon freshly crushed black pepper
1 large clove garlic
1 tablespoon dried sage or thyme (for fresh sage, use 1 teaspoon)
4 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened

Instructions

Rub chicken inside and out with lemon juice. Sprinkle inside with half the salt and pepper. With side of cleaver, mash garlic and remaining salt to form paste and mix with sage and butter. Carefully lift skin on each side of the chicken breast and push some of the mixture under. Rub the remaining mixture over the outside. Tie it up and place the chicken breast side down on well greased rack in a shallow pan. Pour Samuel Adams® OctoberFest into pan and place in 425 degrees F oven for 40 minutes, basting every 10 minutes with beer and pan drippings. Turn breast side up and roast 25 minutes, basting every 8 minutes. The juices should run clear when you puncture the skin at the thigh joint.

Remove from pan and place on a heated platter. Cover with foil and allow to rest 10 minutes before carving. Serve with pan juices or make into gravy.

*****

And now the notes since I am incapable of following a recipe exactly...

• I used a package of bone-in chicken breasts instead of a whole chicken.
• I added a bit of rosemary at my wife's suggestion.
• I used a bottle of Samuel Adams Double Bock in lieu of an Octoberfest.

Other than that, the recipe went off without a hitch. I did not use the dripping for gravy but in retrospect, that sounds like a good idea. The chicken turned out moist and flavorful and I served it with some broccoli rice and steamed vegetables.