Beer Braised Brats with Onions (Recipe + Video) | Craft Beering (2024)

FAQs

What is the best beer to cook brats in? ›

Any beer will do, but pale lagers work best. Boil in the beer bath for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the brats turn white. Once your brats are cooked through, you'll want to sear them to achieve the crispy skin and grill marks we all love.

You need just 3 simple ingredients to make the best beer brats: your favorite bratwurst sausage, onion, and beer! Marinating your brats before grilling in beer and onions keeps them extra juicy! A longer marinate time = more flavor!

Notably, bratwurst often features a coarser grind and a specific blend of spices, setting it apart from other sausages like hot dogs or Italian sausages. In addition, its flavor profile, with hints of garlic, nutmeg, and other spices, gives bratwurst its signature taste.

The idea is to get some nice caramelization on the meat prior to braising it in the beer. That caramelization gives the brats an extra pop of flavor. If the bratwurst is fresh and not precooked, don't worry, the meat will finish cooking in the beer.

Before grilling the brats, parboil them on the stove or in a cast-iron skillet on the grill. This will help to precook the inside of the brats and make sure that they don't burst open on the grill, releasing all of the flavorful juices. Place the brats in a skillet and add a cold liquid 3/4 of the way up the brats.

A large cadre maintains beer won't penetrate through the casings unless you first prick the surface with a fork. But, a more tender sect cries if you do poke holes in the casing, all the juices will flow out and the flavor will be lost.

A digital meat thermometer is the only way to guarantee your brats reach a safe internal temperature of 160°F degrees. (The temperature continues to rise by a few degrees after cooking, so it's fine to pull the brats from the heat at 155°F). This rule applies to both fresh and pre-cooked brats.

However you choose to cook bratwurst, be sure the sausages are cooked all the way through. They should register 160 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, or you can cut into one with the tip of a paring knife and check that the meat is no longer raw and dark-pink; it should be moist and juicy and very light pink.

It may seem like a good idea, but pricking the casing of the brat results in a dry and overcooked meat. Let the juices stay inside and mingle. If you've got uncooked bratwursts, grilling them over medium heat on the grill is the best temperature to cook them over.

Proteins unfold in the meat and casing when heated. During the unfolding process, proteins bind with fats, salt, pepper and seasonings to create texture and flavor. Parboiling speeds up the process that can create a mushy meat texture, develop rubbery casings and separate the casing from the sausage.

How to add flavor to bratwurst? ›

BRATWURST is a German sausage. Brats are made from pork, veal and sometimes beef. They have a smooth texture, a pale color, a mild flavor and can be seasoned with any combination of salt, white pepper, nutmeg, lemon peel, marjoram, caraway, and garlic.

The classic American lager could be the best beer to your taste, but you could be missing out. We suspect the caramel and somewhat sweet flavor profiles of reds, stouts and porters provide a nice complement the fatty, salty bratwurst.

Beer brats actually don't have any alcohol in them because the alcohol is burned off during the boiling process. Thus, beer brats are non-alcoholic and kid-friendly.

Many foods have “beer” in the name, but beer brats are some of the most iconic. These are nothing more than sausages that have been boiled in beer before grilling or roasting. Sometimes, you can find beer brats that are already prepared and ready for the grill.

Wheat beers are great for chicken and seafood. If you're cooking pork, beef, and lamb, you will need ales, porters, and stouts. Hearty meat goes well with belgian ales. Stews pair well with ale.

Complete the Wisconsin trifecta with Johnsonville Cheddar Beer Brats. Made with only premium cuts of pork and seasoned with a perfect blend of spices and real Wisconsin beer and cheddar, they're perfect for summer cookouts, Johnsonville Cheddar Brats easy to grill and taste great in a variety of recipes.

The brats have a great depth of flavor cooking in the beer, but if you'd rather eliminate beer as an ingredient, you can easily substitute chicken broth or vegetable broth! The onions become soft and soak up all that flavor in the slow cooker, making them a great topping for the sausages.