Great Divide Saint Bridget’s Porter And BBQ Pork Spareribs

BBQ Pork And Porter Time

As many of you know, I love BBQ, just a little   One of my favorite BBQ foods is pork ribs.  I usually use baby backs but I found some nice spareribs at our local international market so I decided to apply my basic BBQ dry rub to them and cook them up nice and slow on the Big Green Egg.  I decided to have a Porter with the ribs and when I rummaged through the beer fridge, I found a Great Divide Brewing Saint Bridget’s Porter. Sounds like a pretty good pairing to me:

Appearance: The beer pours a nice, dark with an decent off-white head that sticks around OK.  Lacing is decent.

Smell: A lot of toasted/roasted malt is upfront along with coffee and a bit of bitter chocolate.  The smell is also slightly sweet.

Taste: The taste is a lot like the smell with a nice toasted malt.  It’s not a burned flavor, just smooth.  Coffee and bitter chocolate are there as well.  This is a lighter medium bodied beer.

Drinkability: With a 5.9% ABV this beer drinks fairly easily with decent carbonation.  There’s a hint of hop bitterness as well that helps clean things up.

I liked the Saint Bridget’s Porter.  It stood up very well to the ribs and cut through the slight smokey flavor.  The smell and taste are right in line with quality Porters.  This is a great choice for anyone who enjoys Porters and Stouts.  This would also most likely be a good beer for someone who is new to full flavored beers because it is not overly heavy in any one component.  Once again, Great Divide Brewing does not disappoint.

Here’s the score:

1.  Appearance- 7 points (out of 10)
2. Smell- 7 points (out of 10)
3. Taste- 17 points (out of 20)
4. Drinkability- 7 points (out of 10)

Total 38 (out of 50) Points-4 Mugs

BBQ Dry Rub Recipe

Here’s the recipe for my dry rub.  This is a good basic rub that you can build upon depending on your tastes.  It’s “built” on a base of salt, pepper, and paprika.  I try to keep a ratio of 2x as much paprika as salt and 1/2 as much pepper as salt.  Here’s an approximate amount to coat 3-5 spare ribs.  You can always make a bunch at once and use it as needed:

• 2 tablespoons salt
• 3-4 tablespoons paprika
• 1-2 tablespoons pepper
• 1-2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon chili powder

Make sure all the ingredients are well mixed and then gently rub the mixture onto the meat.  Let the meat sit for a minimum of 30 minutes, up to 12 hours, and then cook on your favorite bbq or grill.  This rub is mainly for meats that you will be cooking slowly, not grilling on high heat. For ribs, I usually cook them at 250 degrees for 3-4 hours and use either Hickory or Mesquite chips for the smoke.

What beer Do You Pair With BBQ

I’d love to hear from you about how you BBQ/smoke your meat and what kind of beer you pair with your BBQ.  Use the comments to share you success with everyone else.