Fall-inspired dish: Roasted chicken in beer and apple cider

It's 11:00pm and I just finished slaving away in the kitchen, tending to a hearty fall-inspired dish: Roasted Chicken with Beer, Apple Cider, Cinnamon and Cloves. Tender meat falling off the bones, infused with a savoury, rich broth with layered, complementary notes of fall. Almost 2 1/2 hours later, and it was well worth it...

Ingredients:
A 3 1/2 to 4lb whole chicken*
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 medium onions, quartered
2 large carrots, peeled and halved lengthwise
2 fresh sage leaves*
4 whole cloves*
1 whole cinnamon stick
1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1 1/2 cups flavorful beer
1 cup apple cider

Directions:
:: Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
:: Season chicken with 1 teaspoon of salt, inside and out
:: In a large Dutch oven or deep pot, scatter the onions, carrots, sage, cloves, and cinnamon in the pot. Sprinkle the remaining salt over this. Set chicken on top of the vegetables.
:: Bring pot to a simmer over medium heat. Cook, uncovered, for 15 minutes.
:: Transfer the pot to the oven, and roast for 30 minutes, basting with the pan juices a few times. Cover chicken loosely with aluminum foil to prevent overbrowning, and roast another 30 minutes. Remove foil, and roast another 30 minutes, basting frequently if needed. 
:: Remove the chicken to a warm serving platter and surround with vegetables. Bring the pan juices to a boil on the stove, and cook until reduced by half. Carve chicken at the table and spoon some pan juice over it.

* I used several chicken drumsticks and legs with bone in/skin on, instead of a whole chicken, because that's just what I had available. I also substituted three dried bay leaves and a few dashes of ground cloves.