Knowing your guests’ preference for adult beverages can help narrow down your selection. I’m not the one who will go out of my way to search for a vintage or an exotic bottle with the notion of impressing the guests.
I usually have the traditional mix of domestic and imported beers, chardonay, merlot and white zinfandel (in boxes)
Beer, and not an expensive one. Miller, Bud, or something similar.
Potato Salad (add a little mustard to it).
Chicken wings, Fruit salad, Watermelon.
Keep it simple.
Well now, since the dish is a take on the traditional cassoulet from the Languedoc region of France, my first instinct would be to serve a Grenache driven Languedoc-Roussillon wine. Something young and mostly Grenache and Syrah.
But I’m guessing your franks and beans resembles cassoulet about as much as a tater tot resembles pommes paille. That’s not a bad thing. If you add lots of BBQ sauce or if your dish has a lot of tangyness, I’d suggest a light (inexpensive) Pinot Noir.
This is quite the conundrum, a hot outdoor barbeque says white wine or sangria to me, but franks and beans want a real red.
Breedmitch’s suggestion of Pinot Noir sounds appealing to me as well, but if it was my barbeque and the only food I was serving was franks and beans, I would definitely go with Shiner Bock, not wine.