Review: Popeyes - Beer Can Chicken

Popeyes' new Beer Can Chicken features a white meat chicken breast that's partially cut into tenders and marinated in a blend of "traditional beer can chicken seasonings" including butter, garlic, lemon zest, rosemary, and cayenne before being battered, breaded, and deep-fried.

It cost me $3.99 to get the chicken, a side of mashed potatoes and Cajun gravy, a biscuit, and new Creamy Cayenne dipping sauce.

Just to get it out of the way, unlike traditional beer can chicken, there's no beer involved here.

What is here is a crispy breading with a different, but still tasty, blend of spices than your typical Popeyes seasoning. There's a definite, but not overpowering, lemony tang to go with the garlic and rosemary as well as a substantial amount of heat.

The spicy kick is augmented by the Creamy Cayenne dipping sauce, which has an interesting savory note upfront that mellows a little into creaminess and more heat. Between the sauce and the chicken, I found myself sweating a little with a runny nose, but it was more of a gradual heat that never got too uncomfortable.

The chicken itself was fresh from the fryer (my local Popeyes tends to be pretty good about this) and nice and juicy as a result. It does look a bit like a hand though with the weird way they cut it (but it's not like they haven't done it before with Rip'N Chicken).

Overall, Popeyes' Beer Can Chicken was really good. It had a really nice flavor, a wonderfully crispy shell, and tender, juicy meat. It might be too spicy with some though, especially when eaten with the new sauce.