Memorial Day weekend is one of the best entertaining holidays of the year — grills fired up, friends in the backyard, and a long weekend to actually enjoy it. But if you’re the one hosting (or just the one bringing drinks), figuring out the right Memorial Day BBQ pairings for burgers, brats, and ribs can feel like a guessing game. Pour the wrong thing and the meal falls flat. Pour the right thing and suddenly you’re the host everyone remembers.
Good news: pairing drinks with BBQ isn’t complicated. There are a few simple rules, a handful of crowd-pleasing picks, and a whole lot of room to have fun with it. Here’s exactly what to pour with everything coming off your grill this Memorial Day weekend.
Table of Contents
The Simple Rule for Great Memorial Day BBQ Pairings
Before we get into specific picks, here’s the rule that makes pairing drinks with grilled food easy: match intensity, balance richness.
That means bold, fatty, smoky foods (like ribs) want a drink with enough backbone to stand up to them — think bourbon, IPA, or a bigger red wine. Lighter, simpler foods (like a classic burger) pair beautifully with easy-drinking lagers, crisp whites, and chilled rosés. And anything with a lot of spice or char does well with something cold, bubbly, or slightly sweet to balance it out.
The other thing to remember: it’s Memorial Day, not a wine summit. Your guests want refreshing, approachable, easy-to-grab drinks. The goal is to make the cookout better, not to host a tasting flight. Keep it simple, keep it cold, and lean on a few proven categories.
What to Pour with Burgers
The classic American backyard burger is one of the most flexible foods on the grill. A juicy patty, melty cheese, toasted bun — you’ve got room to pair with beer, wine, or a whiskey cocktail and have it all work.
Beer Picks for Burgers
An ice-cold American lager or pilsner is hard to beat with a classic cheeseburger. It’s crisp, refreshing, and gets out of the way so the burger does the talking. Want a little more flavor? Reach for a Mexican lager with lime, a session IPA, or an amber ale — all great backyard burger beers.
Wine That Holds Up to a Burger
Burgers love a juicy, fruit-forward red. Think Zinfandel, Malbec, or a chilled Pinot Noir for warmer days. If you’re going with a turkey burger or a lighter build, a dry rosé is a beautiful Memorial Day pour — pretty in the glass, easy to drink, and pairs with just about everything on the table.
Whiskey & Cocktail Options
If burgers are sliding into late-afternoon territory, a bourbon-based cocktail is a perfect transition pour. A classic Whiskey Smash with fresh mint and lemon, an Old Fashioned, or a simple bourbon and ginger ale all complement the savory, smoky notes of a grilled burger beautifully.
Brat Pairings: Beer Was Made for This
Brats and beer are practically a love story — and Memorial Day is exactly when that story gets told best. The richness of a grilled bratwurst, paired with sauerkraut, mustard, or grilled peppers and onions, calls for a beer with a little character.
Here are the brat-friendly beer styles to grab:
- German-style lagers and pilsners — crisp, clean, and made for sausage
- Hefeweizens — slightly fruity and refreshing, fantastic with grilled brats
- Märzen / Oktoberfest-style — toasty, malty, a brat’s best friend
- Amber ales — easy-drinking and balanced, plays well with mustard and kraut
If beer isn’t your thing, a dry Riesling or even a chilled Grüner Veltliner stands up nicely to a brat — both have enough acidity to cut through the richness without overpowering anything. Not a wine drinker either? A vodka-soda with a squeeze of lemon keeps things light, cold, and Memorial Day-friendly.
Ribs Deserve Bold Pours
Now we’re getting into the heavy hitters. Ribs — whether you’re pulling pork ribs off a smoker or finishing baby backs on the grill — bring big smoky, sweet, and savory flavors to the plate. They deserve a pour with some backbone.
Bourbon and Whiskey
This is bourbon’s moment. The caramel, vanilla, and oak notes in a good bourbon mirror the sweet-smoky profile of barbecue sauce almost perfectly. Sip it neat, on a single rock, or build it into a classic Old Fashioned. Rye whiskey works too — the slight spice cuts through fatty ribs in the best way.
Bigger Red Wines
Ribs need a wine with structure. Look for a Zinfandel, Syrah, Malbec, or a Cabernet Sauvignon with enough fruit and tannin to stand up to the sauce and smoke. If your ribs lean sweet (lots of brown sugar in the rub or sauce), Zinfandel is your hero — fruity enough to play along, bold enough to hold its ground.
Big Beers
For beer drinkers, this is the time to reach for something with body. A brown ale, porter, stout, or a bold IPA all hold their own against ribs. Smoked beers (yes, they exist — and they’re amazing) are a fun bonus pairing if you want to lean into the smoke-on-smoke combo.
Don’t Forget the Sides
Memorial Day plates rarely stop at the main event. Coleslaw, potato salad, mac and cheese, baked beans, corn on the cob — they all play a role in your pairing too.
The good news: most BBQ sides are forgiving. A crisp lager or rosé will handle just about anything on the side plate. If your mac and cheese is the star (and let’s be honest, sometimes it is), an unoaked Chardonnay or a buttery California Chardonnay plays beautifully with the creamy richness. Spicy sides — like a kicked-up baked bean recipe or jalapeño cornbread — love a slightly sweet beer, a Riesling, or even a frozen margarita to cool things down.
How Much to Buy for Your Memorial Day Crowd
One of the most common questions we hear at Top Shelf around the holidays: “How much should I actually buy?” Here’s a simple guide for a 4–6 hour Memorial Day cookout. Or better yet, use our Drink Calculator here!
Plan on roughly 3 drinks per adult guest for a daytime gathering and 4 drinks per adult guest if it stretches into the evening. From there, break it down by what your crowd drinks:
- Beer: 1 case (24 cans) per 6–8 adult beer drinkers
- Wine: 1 bottle per 2 wine drinkers (1 bottle = ~5 glasses)
- Spirits: 1 (750ml) bottle covers about 16 cocktails
- Mixers: 1 liter of mixer per 4–5 cocktails
- Non-alcoholic options: Always stock plenty — sparkling water, lemonade, mocktail ingredients, and N/A beer have gone from afterthought to must-have
Hosting 20 people? A great Memorial Day starter kit looks like 2 cases of beer (mix of light lager and one fun craft pick), 3 bottles of wine (one rosé, one white, one red), a bottle of bourbon for sipping or Old Fashioneds, a bottle of tequila or vodka for backyard cocktails, plenty of mixers and citrus, and a six-pack of N/A options. Adjust up or down from there.
Not sure how much to buy? Plug your guest count into our free drink calculator and get an exact shopping list in seconds.
Stop by Top Shelf for Your Memorial Day Lineup
Whether you’re hosting the whole neighborhood or grilling for a quiet few, Top Shelf is your one-stop spot for everything you need to make the weekend great. With 6,000+ products across both our Effingham and Godfrey, IL locations — including 500+ craft wine labels and one of the deepest beer and bourbon selections in the area — you’ll find exactly what you’re looking for, plus a few new favorites you didn’t know you needed.
Short on time? Order online for Effingham pickup, swing through our drive-thru, or stop in and let our team help you build the perfect Memorial Day lineup. Skip the line, not the selection — and have a great holiday weekend.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What’s the best all-around drink to serve at a Memorial Day BBQ?
A: If you can only pick one, go with an ice-cold American lager or a dry rosé. Both are crowd-pleasers, both pair with nearly everything off the grill, and both stay refreshing all afternoon long. For a slightly more elevated option, a Pilsner or a chilled Pinot Noir hits the sweet spot for almost any BBQ menu.
Q: What wine pairs best with grilled ribs?
A: Zinfandel is the classic answer — its fruity sweetness and bold structure mirror the sweet-smoky character of BBQ sauce. Syrah, Malbec, and Cabernet Sauvignon are also excellent picks. Stick with reds that have enough body and tannin to stand up to the richness of ribs.
Q: What kind of bourbon should I buy for a Memorial Day cookout?
A: For sipping or Old Fashioneds, a mid-shelf Kentucky bourbon with caramel and vanilla notes works beautifully alongside grilled meats. If you’re mixing cocktails for a crowd, you don’t need to splurge — a solid, approachable bottle does the job. Our team at Top Shelf can help you pick the right one based on your budget and how you plan to drink it.
Q: How early should I buy my drinks for Memorial Day weekend?
A: A few days ahead is ideal — it gives you time to chill everything down, double-check your stock, and grab anything you forgot without the holiday-week rush. Last-minute shoppers, don’t worry: that’s exactly what our drive-thru is for. Pull through, grab your essentials, and get back to the grill.
Q: What should I have on hand for guests who aren’t drinking?
A: Always stock at least one or two non-alcoholic options — sparkling water with citrus, a great lemonade, N/A beer, and mocktail-friendly ingredients (think tonic, ginger beer, fresh lime). The N/A category has come a long way and your non-drinking guests will absolutely notice the effort.
