Beer Brined Buffalo Wings

Celebrate football season and game day eats with these crispy, juicy, spicy, and completely savory Beer Brined Buffalo Wings. A simple brine that not only permeates every bite of chicken with flavor but keeps it incredibly moist is combined with a beer infused buffalo sauce making these wings are a total touch down. You won’t need to throw a hail Mary at your next tailgate with this recipe!

Football, wings, and beer are the ultimate trio. This gives you everything you love about a classic buffalo wing but with the added brightness and effervescence of beer. Throw in the layer of char and smoke from grilling and you have an instant hit. Just don’t forget the chunky blue cheese for dipping!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Easy Process – This grilled buffalo wings recipe can be broken down into three easy steps, brine, season, and two-zone grilling. Chicken wings are an incredibly forgiving protein that can take the high heat of grilling while remaining tender and juicy.
• Familiar Flavors – These will still have your traditional buffalo wing loving friends diving in and getting saucy and messy. All of the flavors you crave are there, but with a few additions that give the beer buffalo sauce depth and personality.
• Texture – Skip the frying and toss your wings on the grill. These give you the best of both worlds, super crispy skin and juicy meat. The beer and lemon in the brine not only helps season the chicken but also tenderizes it.
• Accessible Ingredients – Aside from the chicken wings and beer you have all of the usual suspects like hot sauce and butter with pantry staples like Worcestershire sauce and honey.

Ingredient Notes

• Beer – Pick a beer you enjoy drinking, but keep in mind that the flavor will be concentrated as it cooks down. I like the brightness of a lager or pilsner for this.
• Hot Sauce – You can’t deny that Frank’s is the flavor we all crave when it comes to buffalo wings. Make sure to use the hot sauce and not the buffalo sauce as we’re adding other ingredients including butter.
• Butter – Speaking of butter, you want it unsalted. There is enough salt in the seasoning and the hot sauce itself, you don’t need the additional salt.

How to Make Beer Brined Buffalo Wings

• Brine your chicken wings. Add the ingredients for the brine to a small saucepan over medium heat and allow it to simmer until the salt is dissolved. Let cool completely. Add your chicken wings, the brine, and lemon slices to a large gallon sized bag and let refrigerate flat for at least four hours up to overnight, turning your bag over halfway though.
• Season your chicken wings. Remove the chicken wings from the brine and pat them dry. Mix together your seasoning mix and evenly season both sides of the wings.
• Prepare your grill for two zone cooking. If you have a kettle style grill place your charcoal into the center of the grill leaving the outer circumference as the cooler zone. For other types of grills bank your charcoal to one side of the grill. If using a gas grill Heat your grill to 374 but don’t light all of your burners.
• Grill the first side. Place the chicken wings on the cooler side of the grill and close the lid. Leave them be for 25-30 minutes. This is a great time to pop open a beer and go make your sauce.

• Make the beer buffalo sauce. Add the beer, garlic. and thyme to a small saucepan on medium heat. Allow it to come to a boil and slightly reduce. Once it has reduced add the hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and honey. Allow it to cook for about five minutes until the honey has dissolved and the hot sauce has warmed through. Remove it from the heat and stir in the lemon juice and cold butter, a tablespoon at a time until it has emulsified.
• Flip your wings. Open the lid and give your wings a flip. Rotate them if needed. Allow them to cook for another 15-20 minutes until they’ve reached a temperature of between 165-170. The skin should be crispy, dry, and a little bubbly.

• Sauce those wings! Add the wings a few at a time to the pot, making sure both sides are sauced. Place them back on the grill and let them grill for another 10 minutes. Repeat this step a couple of times until the sauce has set and their internal temperature is 185. Let slightly cool and enjoy!

Equipment

• These wings can easily be made on a gas grill, but there is nothing like charcoal grilled buffalo wings. The kettle style grill makes it easy to cook these indirect but at high heat without them burning, but any style charcoal grill will work. You’ll just have to rotate them a little more frequently for even cooking.
• An instant read digital thermometer is your best friend. Most of us have those childhood memories of burnt on the outside and raw inside chicken. This will take the guesswork out of the equation.

Substitutions

The flavors in this simple rub compliment the flavors in the brine and beer buffalo sauce but if you’re short on time or ingredients feel free to use your favorite Cajun seasoning. Old Bay is another great option that works well with these.

Tips From the Beach

• Don’t skip the step of simmering your brine. Not only does this help dissolve the salt but it wakes up the oils in the garlic, thyme, and the peppercorns.
• Cold butter helps create a silky emulsified sauce. Go ahead and pop it in the freezer for a few minutes if desired.
• For extra crispy skin and a little extra char, put your wings over direct heat during the last saucing.
• Give your wings that extra layer of smoky flavor and add some wood chips over your coals.
• If you like a milder sauce add more butter to mellow the heat.

Looking for more wing recipes? Make sure to check out Teriyaki Buffalo Wings and Pepper Jelly Glazed Chicken Wings. And serve these up with Jalapeno Popper Pinwheels for the ultimate game day spread!

Beer Brined Buffalo Wings

Print Recipe

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Celebrate football season and game day eats with these crispy, juicy, spicy, and completely savory Beer Brined Buffalo Wings.

• Author: Nicole Stover
• Prep Time: 10
• Marinating Time: 240
• Cook Time: 60
• Total Time: 5 hours 10 minutes
• Yield: 4-6 1x
• Category: Entree
• Method: Grilling
• Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

Beer Brine

• 2 pounds chicken wings, split, tips removed
• 2 12 ounce cans beer, reserve 1/2 cup
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 3–4 sprigs thyme
• 1 lemon, sliced

Dry Rub

• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Beer Buffalo Sauce

• 1/2 cup beer, lager or pilsner recommended
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2–3 sprigs thyme
• 1 cup hot sauce, Frank’s recommended
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed

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Instructions

Beer Brined Buffalo Wings

1. Remove 1/2 cup of the beer and set aside for later for the sauce.
2. Add the remaining beer, salt, garlic, peppercorns, and thyme to a small saucepan over medium heat. Let it cook for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely.
3. Add the chicken wings, beer brine, and lemon slices to a gallon sized freezer bag, squeezing the lemon slices as you add them. Allow the wing to refrigerate for at least four hours up to overnight, flipping over halfway through.
4. Add your seasonings for the rub to a small bowl and mix to combine. 
5. Remove your wings from the brine and pat them dry. Season both sides with the spice mixture.
6. Prepare your grill for two zone grilling. If you have a kettle style grill place you charcoal in the center leaving the outer circumference as the cooler zone. For other styles of charcoal grill bank your charcoal to one side. For a gas grill preheat your grill to 375 degrees leaving a burner or two off. 
7. Place your wings on the cooler zone of the grill and close the lid. Allow them to grill for 30 minutes undisturbed.
8. Flip your wings. Allow them to cook for another 15-20 minutes or until their internal temperature is between 175-170 degrees.
9. Dip the wings in the sauce making sure both sides are coated and then place them back on the grill. Close the lid and let them grill for 10 minutes. Repeat this step until the internal temperature is 185 and the sauce has set.
10. Garnish with fresh thyme if desired. 

Beer Buffalo Sauce

1. Add half a cup of beer, thyme, and garlic to a saucepan over medium heat. Allow the beer to come to a simmer and slightly reduce.
2. Add the hot sauce, honey, and Worcestershire sauce. Let cook for 5 minutes.
3. Remove from the heat. Stir in the lemon juice and cold butter a tablespoon at a time until completely emulsified. This can be made in advance. 

Notes

1. Add wood chips to your charcoal for additional smoke flavor if desired.
2. For extra char place the wings over direct heat when you sauce them the last time. 
3. You can use your favorite Cajun rub or even Old Bay to season these. 
4. Pick a beer that you enjoy drinking as the flavors will concentrate.