Beer for Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

Anyone have a good recommendation for a beer (or beer style) to use in a crock pot with a pork butt for pulled pork?

I made a brown ale and a dubbel to use with brats. If I'm going to use home brew to cook with I want to be able to taste it in there. Maybe a porter?
Good luck!

Any smoked beer sounds about right to me.

I have some SIerra Nevada Tumbler. What do you guys think about that?

Tumbler is good. I like to drink Tumbler. It's a little mellow for a brown. Smoked beer sounds really good!

So is the verdict that malty is better than hoppy for pulled pork?

Normally I'd just experiment and see what happens. But, this if for a big batch over the weekend for a bunch of guests. So I want something that works and is popular.

smoked porter or Rauchbier

How about Schlenkerla Helles Lagerbier. A pale beer with some subtle smoke.

More specific.... Are you doing it in a crock pot, or are you cooking it on a smoker. Th reason I ask is because I do competition BBQ and I would only recommend using any kind of brew if you are doing it in a crockpot. If you insist to inject a beer into you pork shoulder that you are putting on your pit I would only recomend something with a low ABV and very low IBU. When you cook in a smoker you at going to developed a bark that will not allow moisture to escape. Finishing temps on a shoulder are 190f so you really get those malt and hop flavors to stand out. There are a lot better options to inject with, apple juice, vinegar, molasses, etc. Now for chicken.... I rock the brew with it!

I'll be putting a 7lb pork butt in a large crock pot

jamest22 said:

I'll be putting a 7lb pork butt in a large crock pot

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Yeah I would would say don't use that precious home brew... Go buy a six pack of something commercial. Make a dry rub of your favorite spices... Paprika, garlic, onion, chili powder, etc. Trim the fat cap off the top.... Unless you like that hard fat(not me). After you trim it slather it with a thin layer of yellow mustard( this will help your dry rub stick during the cooking process). Apply your rub, the make 4 golfball size balls of aluminum foil and place them in the crockpot so that the pork shoulder won't sit on the bottom and get soggy. Pour the beer in the cockpit first.. Not on top of your shoulder cause it will wash the rub off... Add maybe a tablespoon of liquid smoke to the crockpot and you should be G2G!

moorerm04 said:

Apply your rub, the make 4 golfball size balls of aluminum foil and place them in the crockpot so that the pork shoulder won't sit on the bottom and get soggy.

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I'm taking this idea and running with it. Simple, yet effective. I stopped doing shoulder in the crock pot for this very reason.

moorerm04 said:

Yeah I would would say don't use that precious home brew... Go buy a six pack of something commercial. Make a dry rub of your favorite spices... Paprika, garlic, onion, chili powder, etc. Trim the fat cap off the top.... Unless you like that hard fat(not me). After you trim it slather it with a thin layer of yellow mustard( this will help your dry rub stick during the cooking process). Apply your rub, the make 4 golfball size balls of aluminum foil and place them in the crockpot so that the pork shoulder won't sit on the bottom and get soggy. Pour the beer in the cockpit first.. Not on top of your shoulder cause it will wash the rub off... Add maybe a tablespoon of liquid smoke to the crockpot and you should be G2G!

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SWEET! Thanks man.

Liquid smoke?

No way , never !

You can make decent pulled pork in a crockpot.... However go spend 60 bucks and buy a brinkman bullet style charcoal smoker and you will make way better pulled pork. That's what I started with before I upgraded to a SFB style smoker and my competition unit.

samc said:

Liquid smoke?

No way , never !

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Best last resort to smoke flavor...... I use it in my brisket brine and took second in brisket at my last comp.

whats the pulled pork recipe? I love crock pot ideas

jamest22 said:

So is the verdict that malty is better than hoppy for pulled pork?

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Definitely. Hoppy beers cook down and get even more bitter. I guess that isomerization is still occurring. I made a Sierra Nevada reduction once and it was nasty and way too bitter. Malty English ales are usually great to cook with.

jamest22 said:

So is the verdict that malty is better than hoppy for pulled pork?

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Absolutely. Learned that lesson this week - used an Oaked Arrogant Bastard as a risotto starter. Got the oak flavors we were looking for, but went real bitter in the process.

We use a brown ale for our beer brats, and the cheapest beer we happen to have on hand in a drip pan when we smoked pork or chicken.

+1 to rauchbier. They just had a recipe in the latest NB catalog for this exactly.

8-10lb pork shoulder
1 vidalia onion
3 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
22oz rauchbier

Something smoked would be my vote - or maybe a Billy's Chili's for something spicy.

I've use porter with a venison roast in the same application. Pulled venison. It turned out phenominal!

And more recently I used a reg'lar APA with pork loin ends and pulled that. Again it was great.

Pretty much if the beer is great to drink it will be great to cook with. Unfortunately you can't salvage a bad beer by using it in cooking.

Hops with meats is just fine.

I made some beer cheese soup with a dark and hoppy beer and didn't like it much.

moorerm04 said:

Yeah I would would say don't use that precious home brew... Go buy a six pack of something commercial. Make a dry rub of your favorite spices... Paprika, garlic, onion, chili powder, etc. Trim the fat cap off the top.... Unless you like that hard fat(not me). After you trim it slather it with a thin layer of yellow mustard( this will help your dry rub stick during the cooking process). Apply your rub, the make 4 golfball size balls of aluminum foil and place them in the crockpot so that the pork shoulder won't sit on the bottom and get soggy. Pour the beer in the cockpit first.. Not on top of your shoulder cause it will wash the rub off... Add maybe a tablespoon of liquid smoke to the crockpot and you should be G2G!

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What time & temp would you recommend for a 7.15 lb pork butt in a crock pot? Thanks again for your help!

.

Moorem04...He did post he was cooking in a crock pot but being a guy that loves to brew and cook you got my curiosity going. How do you do your chicken with the beer? Any special recipe or beers you use? I would love to hear any if your willing to share them.

I used some of my irish red along with some mole sauce it was pretty good.

jamest22 said:

What time & temp would you recommend for a 7.15 lb pork butt in a crock pot? Thanks again for your help!

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You will want to do it low and slow.... I try and maintain my cookers at 225-250. You are looking for an internal temp of 190-200, so typically I end up with a cook time of 45min per pound. The key is you should be able to pull the bone out of the pork shoulder with just two fingers, and it should be clean... No meat stuck too it. If you are cookin a boneless shoulder you should be able to pull the meat apart with two forks and little effort when it's done.

Rauchbier

TAPPOOL said:

Moorem04...He did post he was cooking in a crock pot but being a guy that loves to brew and cook you got my curiosity going. How do you do your chicken with the beer? Any special recipe or beers you use? I would love to hear any if your willing to share them.

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There are a couple ways I use beer with my chicken recipe's.... My favorite being drunken chicken. I usually try and buy the biggest whole roaster chicken I can find because you are shoving a beer can up it's south end and the smaller birds don't seem to work as well. I absolutely love craft beet but unfortunately I have a soft spot for one commercial and cheaply produced beer..."Bush Light"! I know flaming is welcome! Rinse the chicken and trim off excess fat. I sepperate the skin from the breast an thigh's just getting my fingers in under the skin and forcing it up. I use a simple dry rub of salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder and dust the meat under te skin, and the entire outside of the bird as well. I take my unopened can of Bush over the sink and stick it with a fork several times to make a bunch of hikes in it(you will get beer on you). Drain aprox half of the beer out of th can and shove it on the chicken with the holes facing up. Use a peice of and onion to plug the neck hole shut so that the vapor from the beer can't escape from the chicken. Place it in the over on a broiler pan, or in you smoker like I do and cook at 300 until the chicken is 180 internal temp. I promise it will be the most moist and juicy chicken you have ever eaten.

Schlenkerla Urbock - very malty, very smokey.

Thanks for everyone's advice on this one. I crock potted the pork butt as moorerm04 described and it turned out great. i kept it on low and it took about 9.5 hours to get the 7.2 lb butt up to 190 F internal temp. I ended up using 1 bottle of Helles Schelnkerla Lager (very subtle smoke) and one bottle of Bellhaven Scottish ale. I was going for sweet with a hint of smoke. None of the smoke came through, so if I use beer again I would go for the smokier Schlenkerla Urbock or Marzen. I think Bellhaven works well though.

One recipe I have lists:


ROOT beer

cookin pulled pork in a crock pot today,,,,,,,got a recipe to die for?