Beer and Kansas City barbecue for the 4th of July

Barbecue originated in the United States. A patriotic way to celebrate the 4th of July is to make your holiday menu a combination of slow-smoked beef, pork or chicken—with American-made beer. Kansas City is well-known for its barbecue. If you want to spark a debate with friends at your backyard picnic, raise the question, “where is the BBQ capitol?” Friends from Texas prefer the smokiness of their sauces and rubs; Carolinian fans favor thinner, vinegar-based sauce. Here in Kansas City, the locals have been raised on sauces that are tomato-based, with brown sugar and molasses—preferring a sweeter sauce. We can proudly proclaim that the world’s largest barbecue contest, the American Royal Barbecue is held here-- right in the “stockyards” area each October. That said, it is obvious that any celebration of Independence Day around Kansas City will include barbecue.

There are many barbecue restaurants in the city; typically visitors to our town want to taste the “local flavor.” Presidents and other VIPs include Arthur Bryant’s in their itinerary. Their classic sauce is carried in stores around the city. Sauces from numerous other BBQ “joints” and contest-winning recipes are also sold in KC grocery stores—making it easy to put together a flavorful feast on the patio or deck at home. The selection of barbecue sauces in local supermarket chains is impressive—HyVee’s carries dozens of varieties of sauce; those made in Kansas City include widely distributed Arthur Bryant’s, Gates’, KC Masterpiece and Zarda. Smaller brands include Smokestack, Hayward’s, Kansas City Cowtown, Three Little Pigs, Summit Hickory Pit, Four Men & A Pig, Mean Dean’s, Blues Hog, and Brother Isaac.

Pairing barbecue with beer is a natural favorite. What makes this a wonderful combination is the hop-bitterness component of beer that complements the sweetness of KC-style sauces. Beer and food pairings often work to match intensities; one might expect that a beer with lots of hops and bitterness (expressed as IBUs) would be the way to go. However, with barbecue it is better to use careful bitterness partnering—selecting beers that are on the low to moderate range of bitterness, so as not to overwhelm the palate. In other words, a spicy barbecue sauce doesn’t work well with a highly hopped beer such as an IPA.

Thinking locally, it would be a matter of Missouri pride to present your holiday guests with beers produced in this state. Of course, there is St. Louis-produced Budweiser—a traditional American lager. However, superior pairings of barbecue/beers will call on beers that have a balance on the maltier side—found in craft beers made with all-malt. Keeping in mind that summertime thirst-quenchers are on the lighter side, my recommendations for midwestern beers to include in your Red, White & Blue themes are: Michelob Hop Hound Amber Wheat, Schlafly Hefeweizen, O’Fallon’s Unfiltered Wheat, or their “Wheach”—a wheat beer infused with a peach flavor, and produced in O’Fallon, Missouri (just west of St. Louis). On the other side of the state is Boulevard Brewing Company. Either their best-selling Unfiltered Wheat, Pale Ale, or their new Pilsner would be good with summer barbecue. This new Pilsner is more like a premium American lager, with some malty sweetness and low bitternesss. Boulevard is truly the hometown success story, and Missouri’s 2nd largest brewery.

When cooler weather returns in the fall, other styles will be even better suited to barbecue. For all homebrewers, now is the time to brew an Oktoberfest beer--to have time for lagering before the American Royal. This malty beer style is one of the best matches for barbecue.

For more info:

• American Royal Barbecue
• Boulevard Brewing Co.
• Beer and Food