[A humble request: If you can, please donate to help me carry on tracing word histories. Thank you.]

 

Of American-English origin, the expression beer-can chicken designates a dish consisting of a chicken which has been cooked (typically upright) with an open can of beer wedged inside the cavity, allowing the beer to steam and moisten the meat from within.

This expression occurs, for example, in the following from The Guardian (London and Manchester, England) of Saturday 4^th March 2023 [page 20, column 3]:

Waste not
Beer
Tom Hunt
Even though it’s vulgar-looking, I’ve always wanted to cook beer-can-chicken. More than just a novelty, it helps to moisten the meat, but it’s also a fun way to use up beer dregs. So next time you get to the end of a can and find it warm, flat and undrinkable, think beer-can-chicken.

These are, in chronological order, the earliest occurrences of the expression beer-can chicken that I have found—the first two indicate that the dish may have originated in Louisiana:

1-: From Readers uncover recipes for fried turkey, ornaments, by Joyce Piland, published in the San Angelo Standard-Times (San Angelo, Texas, USA) of Wednesday 31^st January 1996 [page 2B, column 2]—the reference is to Monroe, in Louisiana:

Alice Stultz of San Angelo […] has another brother-in-law in Monroe who makes “Beer Can Chicken.” Alice said it is delicious and sounds like something you West Texas barbecuing guys would want to try, if you haven’t already.
He starts with a half a can of beer into which he adds some Worcestershire sauce. He then rubs some Nature’s Blend seasoning on the outside of the chicken and shoves the beer can into the chicken’s cavity. The chicken is then placed on the grill (a covered grill) or in a smoker so that the can and the chicken’s legs are sitting on the grill, and the beer can is upright. He uses a vinegar-base marinade and cooks the chicken on a medium temperature. As the beer gets hot it lets off a flavorful steam. It takes about two hours to cook a chicken. This also works to cook a small turkey, Alice added.

2-: From A Guide to Our Advertisers, in In the Belly of the Bistro: Winter Restaurant Guide 1997, published in LA Weekly (Los Angeles, California, USA) of Thursday 20^th February 1997 [page 20, column 4]:

CAJUN BISTRO
8301 Sunset Blvd., W. Hollywood
Authentic Southern cuisine, thy name is Cajun Bistro. To the soulful sounds of blues and Cajun music, this southern-comfortable restaurant provides scrumptious specialties like jambalaya, a hearty soup of chicken and plump, spicy andouille sausage served over rice ($6.50 cup, $7.95 bowl) […] and a wild beer-can chicken ($9.95)!

3-: From ‘From the Beard to the Tail’, in Bill Citara’s column On Food, published in the San Francisco Examiner (San Francisco, California, USA) of Sunday 14^th September 1997 [San Francisco Examiner Magazine: page 35, column 1]:

Here’s a couple of recipes to help hone your barbecuing skills.
Beer Can Chicken
Dry Rub:
3 tablespoons salt
3 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons white sugar
3 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon cumin, ground
1 teaspoon onion, granulated
½ teaspoon garlic, granulated
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Combine all ingredients and mix well.
The Rest:
1 whole chicken, 3 pounds or so
1 can beer, 12-ounce size
2 to 4 handfuls of soaked wood chips
Rinse the chicken and pat dry. Sprinkle dry rub generously inside and out. Drink half the beer. Put the beer can on the grill. Place the seasoned chicken cavity over the beer can. Put the top on the kettle and cook at 225 to 250 degrees, using kettle technique described below. Chicken should be done in about 3 hours. Internal temperature should reach 165 degrees.
Generic Kettle Barbeque (smoker) Technique
1. Get 15 to 20 charcoal briquettes going on in your kettle (please don’t use that horrible awful smelling lighter fluid. A charcoal chimney really works much better.)
2. Push equal amounts of the hot to opposite sides of the grate.
3. Place a disposable aluminum drip pan in between the two piles.
4. Add a handful of soaked woodchips.
5. Put the top grill on.
6. Put your food to be cooked on the grill and cover.
7. Most kettle style barbeques have a butterfly type damper on top, this should remain open and makes a great place to stick the stem of a candy thermometer. Regulate the temperature by adding 2 or 3 briquettes every half hour or so. Add perhaps another handful of wood chips.
Remember: Real barbeque takes time. Low and slow is the rule. Great barbeque cannot be rushed and most importantly if it’s not fun, it can’t be great.