Last night, my wife and I were sitting in the living room and I said to her "I never want to live in a vegetative state, dependent on some machine and fluids from a bottle. If that ever happens, just pull the plug." She got up, unplugged the computer, and poured my wine down the drain.
Champagne with barbecue?
It's surprisingly good! The bubbles cleanse the palate of the sweet and heat, the acidity cuts the fat, and it just makes everything more festive. Madame Bollinger (1884 - 1977), one of the grande dames of French Champagne, said it best: "I drink it when I'm happy and when I'm sad. Sometimes, I drink it when I'm alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I'm not hungry and drink it if I am; Otherwise I never touch it - unless I'm thirsty."
Brew for Cue, Wine for Swine, and Booze Too
"I only like two kinds of men, domestic and imported." Mae West
The key in selecting the right drink to accompany ribs is to focus on your choice of sauce because barbecue sauces are so aggressive and tend to dominate the flavor profile. I put this proposal to some experts, and below is a list of some pretty good options. Click here for websites that have good buying guides for wine, beer, and spirits.
For hot sauces
Advertisement
Matching drinks with hot spicey food is very difficult. The best thing for putting out a capsaicin fire is lipids. Fats. A drink with fats? Milk. Or better still, a milk shake! The next best thing to put out the fire is sweetness. The traditional choices are sweet tea, lemonade, or soft drinks, like Coke or Dr. Pepper. In any case, go low alcohol. Only flames the fire.
Brew. If the sauce is hot, I usually reach for a beer that has a noticeable sweetness and does not have a lot of hops and its attendant bitterness. That's often a standard boring old American lager. I asked my beer maven friend Marty Nachel, author of Beer Across America, Beer for Dummies, and Homebrewing for Dummies for some other recommendations. He says "Try a Munich helles, a Marzenbier/Oktoberfest, a Vienna style beer, or an English brown ale. If you appreciate dark beers, give bock, doppelbock, or Belgian dubbel a look."
Wine.You want a chilled wine with low alcohol, light body, and a hint of sweetness, say 2-4%, to help cool the fire. Try a rose, blush, a New York Riesling, or a German Kabinett. German red wines are hard to find but work great with these sauces because they are fresh and fruity and have that hint of sweetness.
Spirits. Once again, the key is to keep the alcohol down and the sweetness up. I like a minty mojito or a Kentucky Bourbon mint julep.
For sweet sauces
Brew. Go dry and hopsy. Nachel says "Consider an English Extra Special Bitter (ESB), German Schwarzbier (black beer), or an Altbier."
Wine. There are two paths to follow: (1) Go for something dry with bubbles such as French Champagne, dry American sparkling wines, or Spanish Cava, or (2) go for a big red such as a zinfandel or syrah from California or a Shiraz from Australia (shiraz and syrah are two names for the same grape).
Spirits. Whiskey on the rocks. My first choice is an All-American Bourbon or its cousin Tennessee sippin' whiskey like Jack Daniels, aged brown rum, Canadian, Scotch, or even Cognac.
For hot and sweet sauces
Brew. According to Nachel, "You need the malty sweetness to offset the heat, yet you want something drier to balance the sweetness. A good Czech Pilsner or a Dortmunder will do the job."
Wine.If the sauce is both hot and sweet, try sweet sparkling wines like Asti Spumante or Kir Royale, which is a blend of sparkling wine with creme de cassis.
Spirits. Go for a good brown whiskey on the rocks with a splash of water.
Tell Meathead what you think, or ask him a question
But please, please, please read this first:
1) Please use the sitemap or the search box, at the top of every page. There's a good chance the answer is already on this site.
2) Please read this article about thermometers.Chances are your thermometer is the problem! I cannot help you troubleshoot unless you tell me that you are using a digital oven thermometer at meat level (not in the lid), and/or a digital meat thermometer. You simply cannot believe your grill's built-in bi-metal dial thermometer. They are often off by as much as 50°F!
3) Please tell me everything I need to know to answer your question.
4) Please don't ask me "What grill (or smoker) should I buy?" Read my Buyer's Guides and follow the links. I've shared just about everything I know on those pages. I cannot pick the right cooker for you any more than you could pick the right car for me. But I've explained everything you need to know to make your decision.
AmazingRibs.com is all about the Zen of barbecue, grilling, and outdoor cooking, with great BBQ recipes and techniques: Barbecue baby back ribs, spareribs, pulled pork, beef brisket, steak, burgers, chicken, smoked turkey, lamb, barbecue sauces, rubs, and side dishes, with the net's best buying guide to barbecue smokers and grills. It is written, photographed, illustrated, and coded solely by Meathead.
My philosophy about food is simple. First of all it must taste great. It must be easy to make and emphasize fresh seasonal products with a minimum of processed ingredients. I think that people need to know why as well as how, and that there are no rules in the bedroom or dining room.
About Product Reviews and Meathead's Hot Stuff Awards. Meathead's Hot Stuff Awards are highly recommended products that I have tested personally or that have been tested by reliable sources. Awards are based on features, quality, and value. Rest assured that when I recommend a product, it is really because I like it, not because someone has paid me to say so or because the company is an advertiser or sponsor. I purchase most products I review although occasionally suppliers send me samples.
About links on this site. Other than clearly marked ads, links and recommendations on this site are all products, services, and websites I truly admire, and are never paid endorsements. Your suggestions are always welcome. If you would like me to link to your website, click here to read my links policy first. Advertising policy. I do not accept ads from products that I review such as grills, charcoal, etc. Click here for more on my advertising policy.
Meathead's Personal Privacy Promise.I promise to never sell or distribute any info about you individually without your express permission, and I promise not to, ahem, pepper you with email or make you eat spam. Click here for more details of my privacy promise.
Disclaimer. The information on this website is for educational purposes only. All material within comes without warranties of any kind. I am human, and capable of mistakes, so I make no guarantees as to the accuracy, completeness, or safety of the information. Under no circumstances am I liable for any damages that result from use of the site (so you can't sue me if you burn your tongue on hot ribs, or get a tummy ache, OK?).
GrillGrates are the best new product I have tested in years and the best thing to happen to beef since salt and pepper. The base superheats, eliminates hot spots, smokes, and blocks flareups. This is the concept behind the expensive new infrared grills. Click here for more about GrillGrates.
The Smokenator:
A Necessity For Weber Kettles
If you have a Weber Kettle, you need the amazing Smokenator and Hovergrill. The Smokenator turns your grill into a first class smoker, and the Hovergrill can add capacity or be used to create steakhouse steaks. Click here to read more.
ThermoWorks Pocket Thermometer - No More Guessing
A good thermometer is why I never serve overcooked or undercooked food. No more guesswork. This one has a very thin tip with a tiny thermocouple so it gives an accurate reading in just six seconds. I cannot recommend it more highly. It will improve your cooking overnight. And it is inexpensive. Click here for more about thermometers.
This link takes you to Amazon.com and tags anything you buy with my affiliate code so I get a small referral fee. It works on anything from grills to diapers and it has zero impact on the price you pay. Low prices, fast delivery (often free), good refund policies, and often there is no sales tax, are the best reasons to buy from Amazon.com, but clicking on that link before you shop helps me devote more time and money to you. Thanks!