My Living Will 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 barbecue 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.

This page was revised 7/14/08

---

NOMINEE: 2010 World Food Media Awards MEMBER: International Association of Culinary Professionals MEMBER: Kansas City Barbeque Society MEMBER: National Barbecue Association REPRESENTED BY: The Lisa Ekus Group Promoting A World Of Culinary Talent Important Info About This Website 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, burgers, steaks, rubs, and side dishes, with the world's best buying guide to barbecue smokers and grills. It is written, photographed, illustrated, and coded solely by Meathead. AmazingRibs.com is published by AmazingRibs, Inc., a Florida Corporation. Our 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. We think that people need to know why as well as how, so we spend a lot of time explaining things, and we believe that there are no rules in the bedroom or dining room. About Product Reviews and Best in BBQ Gold, Silver, and Bronze Medals are highly recommended products. Awards are based on features, quality, and value. Rest assured that when we recommend a product, it is really because we like it, not because someone has paid us to say so or because the company is an advertiser or sponsor. We purchase most products we review although occasionally suppliers send us samples. We have always been transparent about when we are reviewing a product sample, even before the Federal Trade Commission Required it in 2009. About links on this site. Other than clearly marked ads, links and recommendations on this site are all products, services, and websites we truly admire, and are never paid endorsements. Your suggestions are always welcome. If you would like us to link to your website, click here to read our links policy first. Advertising on this site. AmazingRibs.com is one of the 100 most popular food websites in the US according to comScore, Alexa, and Quantcast. It is by far the most popular barbecue website in the world and pageviews double every year. Advertising on AmazingRibs.com is a great way to build your brand or make direct sales. I keep a strict wall between editorial and advertising, so, for current pricing and availability of prime space, contact my agency, Federated Media, by clicking the logo at right. Click here for analytics, stats, demographics, and advertising options. Our Privacy Promise. AmazingRibs, Inc. promises to never sell or distribute any info about you individually without your express permission, and we 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. The authors are human and capable of mistakes, omissions, or errors, so we make no guarantees as to the accuracy, completeness, or safety of the information. Under no circumstances are we liable for any damages that result from use of the site (so you can't sue us if you don't like a recipe or if you burn your tongue on hot ribs, OK?). Copyright © 2011 by AmazingRibs, Inc. Unless otherwise noted, all text, recipes, photos, and code are owned by AmazingRibs, Inc and fully protected by US copyright law. This means you need written permission to republish or distribute anything on this website. But we're easy. To get reprint rights, click here. Note: Some photos of commercial products such as grills were provided by the manufacturers and under their copyright.

---

| Homepage | Table of Contents |
| Weights, Measures, Conversions | Techniques | Recipes | Buyer's Guides | Links | Ruminations | Ingredients |
| Misc BBQ Articles | One Nation Under Sauce | Meet Meathead | Newsletter | Updates | Donations |
| Privacy Promise, Code of Ethics, Other Legal Terms | Advertising and Sponsorship Opportunities |