Cooking Bratwurst with Craft Beer

Joseph Conrad was born, raised and fed at ground zero of the ground zero of American wurst making – Sheboygan. He has a third take on beer, brats and their mating habits – a simmering pot of onions, butter and beer.

“OK,” Conrad said, “this whole boiling brats in beer stuff is pretty hokey to real Sheboygan Germans. When I was growing up you always had a simmering pot for the grilled brats and that’s where you put them AFTER the grilling.

“I still like the original method I grew up with but, with enough good beer – not the cheap stuff we’d use in the simmer pot – it’s all good.”

Good Sheboygan Germans also apparently either abhor waste – or love flavor.

“A little known thing was that, the mess left in the simmer pot after the original barbecue grilling, eating, and partying could be made into what we called brat soup by adding more cans of beer, cutting up the leftover brats into chunks, heating and then eating,” said Conrad. “You needed a young and strong stomach though for that.”

Strength of stomach also comes into play when choosing condiments. Those considered semi-essential include sauerkraut and a strong German-style mustard. Nothing green should ever top a brat.

The personal preference here is ‘kraut, standard yellow mustard and a hearty smear of horseradish. Another personal preference is avoiding the big, doughy rolls that make sausages look so Martha Stewart-fake in advertisements. A good hot dog bun off a super market shelf will allow more taste to seep through than will a “roll” from an upscale French bistro.

The bottom line on beer brats is a wonderful one from Conrad, which beer lovers certainly should be able to get behind.

“We do not advocate the par-boiling method,” he said, “but we never ever turn down good cooked brats regardless of the method used. Correction, we would turn them down if inadequate supplies of GOOD beer were not provided.”

With in-state craft brands like New Glarus, Stevens Point and Lakefront, among others, currently competing with the traditional German-American brewers, there’s plenty of good beer available until this debate is resolved. Or not!