As promised, and despite some inclement weather, my Weber was put to good use today in, for us, a final experiment with beer butt chicken. We cooked two chickens, both in "sitting style", one with a half full can of Bud, the other with an empty can of Bud. Of the six people eating (a blind tasting, in that none knew which was the one with the beer inserted) none could discern a difference in taste. Both chickens were moist, and flavoursome. We had a long discussion and came to the conclusion that using beer was a waste of good lubricant, and that even the suggestion of replacing the beer with water was irrelevant, as both were equally flavoursome. So, I suspect that the improvement in the flavours and succulence of the chicken is entirely down to the position it is cooked in, and the natural release of juices from the cavity. I rather suspect our next move will be to try without the beer can in place as the trays we have will support the chicken without. I'm sure others may have tried this, but I recommend that the beer be retained for the "chefs" use.
Smudge
