Marinated Beer Can Chicken

My husband has been asking me to make Beer Can Chicken for ages but something about having a chicken hang out in my oven right side up has never appealed to me. Finally, being the good wife, I gave in but not before seriously tweaking the traditional recipe. Typically, beer can chicken is just a plain roasted chicken  who sits on a half empty beer can and roasts like that so that the fat can drip down the chicken and caramelize the skin and the evaporation from the beer can keep the chicken moist but with no beer flavor.
NO BEER FLAVOR?? So, then what the heck is the point?! Thus became the logic for me marinating the chicken first in some of the beer and lots of other yummy stuff before I let  Mr. Chickie dangle rather uncomfortably (imagine you sitting on a little beer can for two hours!) on his toasty can. The marinade smelled so good that had it not had killer amounts of potential e-coli in it I would have drunk it with a straw. I have to admit, though, that at points I did feel uncomfortable as I checked on the chicken because it looked so...alive...sitting there that way, like an old man sitting in front of a T.V is the image that came to my mind (look at the picture and you'll see what I mean, head drooped over, drooling)- but I got over it when the delicious aroma hit me. So if you have no qualms about harassing a chicken with a beer can then make this chicken today!!

1 whole chicken
1 can beer
2 1/2 tsp crushed garlic
2 heaping Tbls whole grain Dijon mustard
4 Tbl brown sugar
2 Tbl oil
1 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper

Combine one cup of the beer (save the rest and the can!) and the other marinade ingredients in a shallow pan. Marinate the chicken in it for a few hours or overnight. Place the can half full with beer in a roasting pan and sit the chicken firmly on the can. Roast at 350 for 2 hours basting occasionally if you want with the pan juices.

All lathered up and ready for the Beach:

All tanned and delicious- (sorry for the backside view!)