Brat Brew

Okay, this may be an odd request for information...

On the 4th of July after I first started brewing I was excited to add a bottle of my home brew to the brats on the stove. My sister was cooking, and I added my home brew to the other beer she used.
This past summer I did it again. The brats were good. Maybe it was the home brew, maybe it was the Heineken...
So, we were talking, and I said I needed to make a special brew for the brats. "Brat Brew!" my sister said. Okay, I will brew a beer especially for the brats.

Does anyone know if there are certain attributes that would make a beer better for soaking brats? Do hops have anything to do with cooking brats? Should I use an IIPA or a Russian Stout? Should I brew without hops at all? Is more alcohol better for cooking? Are there grains that are better for cooking? I have no clue. I just want to have good brats and be able to say they were cooked in my brat beer.

Thanks!

I really love Bratwurst and have boiled with beer a couple of times before I put them on the grill but i'm not really sure what style of beer would be better suited for Brats, but I will add that the quality of the Brat itself would have more impact on end result than the subtle flavor of the beer, also alcohol evaporates off at about 175*F so alcohol content shouldn't be a factor when choosing a beer, my suggestion would be to try a few different styles of what beer you make

best of luck on making great brats

What kind of beer did you make that was used with the brats the first time? What about the second time?

I would go with something more malty than bitter. Malty german lager or ale?

The first time was my second brew. I brewed a brown ale, but after many batches and some insight, it was a porter. The second time was a pale ale. Brats were good both times. Most likely due to the quality of the brat.
You have to realize that this is mostly just to say it was my beer and not Old Stlye.
I figure brat brew is a brown/porter/stoutish beer with low hops and high malt.
Any cheeseheads to weigh-in here?

I like to use an amber when I make brats. Some hops, but not a lot. Good malt side to it. Nothing too fancy.

Porters and stouts I save for chili.

This past weekend, I boiled up some brats in a cascade dry-hopped APA. I then took a few ladles of the beer/drippings to add to the sauerkraut. Worked extremely well; I feared the hops might add some negative overtones, but it was great. I probably boiled off the hops within the first minute or so...

I was going to suggest an amber, a brown ale, or even a APA. I think really anything besides a spiced or fruit beer would be just fine, though!

I'm leaning toward a malty, nutty brown ale with low hops and medium body around O.G. 1.060. Chocolate malt, crystal, and maybe a does of Special B!

Whenever i have small quantities of various grains left over with no home to go to I will mash them and brew a "Whatever it is" beer. It usually ends up stoutish and gets used for cooking. Either way, it is always strong tasting and always works with any cooking to good effect.

Are you really getting anything from the beer in the brat other than moisture? Kind of like the whole beer can chicken thing. People have tested and came to the conclusion that the beer in question does not effect the flavor at all. It's strictly for the steam. Curious if this would be the same scenario for boiling brats. Now the sauerkraut would definitely be effect since you're not just boiling something in it. This is a good test. Boil one beer in a huge stout or hop bomb, boil the other in miller lite. Have some else taste them both, tell you if there was a difference, THEN tell them about the experiment.

I think the beer does add flavor, especially if you use a stronger beer with some actual flavor (aka, not BMC "beer can" beer). My personal favorite is to use a richer dark beer such as stout or porter, to simmer slowly for an hour with onions added to the pot, and to constantly ladle the boiled beer over the brats as they are grilling or browning in the pan. This carmelizes the rich, dark brew all over the bratwurst and makes them indescribably delicious....try it!

IrregularPulse said:

Boil one beer in a huge stout or hop bomb

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So is that like a crazy decoction or something? Double Boiled Stout.

i've made a brat hot tub with two different homebrews, and several commercial beers. One of them was an underhopped apa, the other a black ale. they both turned out great, but i think the black ale really added some great flavor. the malty/roasty flavors complement brats very well.

When making your "brat beer" you should add 2 brats at 60min and 2 @ 30min. Then pull them out 15min before flame out. Throw on grill and char. Enjoy while cooling wort.

Now you will have a beer made with brats for your future brats. :rockin:

Around this time of year I like to boil them in a nice malty Oktoberfest. Then after grilling I let them hang out in a bath with onions and some sort of light cream ale.

When boiling or reducing beer it will enhance and condense the flavors. So bitterness from hops or black roasted malt/grain will get more bitter. I would do a big scotch ale but a rauchbier would be nice aswell.

ian-atx said:

So is that like a crazy decoction or something? Double Boiled Stout.

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Yo dawg, I heard you like to boil, so we put a boil in your boil so you can... etc. etc.

BDB said:

When making your "brat beer" you should add 2 brats at 60min and 2 @ 30min. Then pull them out 15min before flame out. Throw on grill and char. Enjoy while cooling wort.

Now you will have a beer made with brats for your future brats. :rockin:

Click to expand...

It took me second to figure out what you were saying. That's too funny. "I have a hop schedule and a brat schedule." I wonder what a few brats added to the wort would to a beer? You know, I only brew 2.5g batches. It would be a quick and easy experiment. Hmmmm.......

Rogue Hazelnut makes for good brats.

I like to use porter for boiling brats & little red potatoes. Regards, GF.

eanmcnulty said:

It took me second to figure out what you were saying. That's too funny. "I have a hop schedule and a brat schedule." I wonder what a few brats added to the wort would to a beer? You know, I only brew 2.5g batches. It would be a quick and easy experiment. Hmmmm.......

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Not sure what it would do. But I say go for it!

BDB said:

Not sure what it would do. But I say go for it!

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Any brat recommendation? Johnsonville?

IrregularPulse said:

Are you really getting anything from the beer in the brat other than moisture? Kind of like the whole beer can chicken thing. People have tested and came to the conclusion that the beer in question does not effect the flavor at all. It's strictly for the steam. Curious if this would be the same scenario for boiling brats. Now the sauerkraut would definitely be effect since you're not just boiling something in it. This is a good test. Boil one beer in a huge stout or hop bomb, boil the other in miller lite. Have some else taste them both, tell you if there was a difference, THEN tell them about the experiment.

Click to expand...

Contrary to popular belief, boiling can remove moisture from food. I sincerely doubt that the beer adds any moisture to the brats. Also, if you are cooking brats in beer, the maximum temperature is the boiling point; there will be no steam being made, so you're not really "steaming" them.

According to the local shop where I get my brats, they should be boiled for about 5-6 minutes (or else they'll dry out), followed by a quick, hot grilling or griddling to brown the [natural] casing.

Brat Brew makes me think of Marzen/Oktoberfest

I had brats that were 'marinated' in a stout before grilling and they were fantastic. I would suggest a dark beer (at least a porter) for this purpose.

Over this past weekend, I had some that were pre-cooked in MGD (my in-laws) and they were ok, but could have been quite a bit better.

Here is the Brat Brew recipe. 2.5 gallons will make a lot of brats. Let me know what you think.

2.5 gallon recipe:

5.00 lb Pale 2 Row 86.96%
0.25 lb Crystal 20L 4.35%
0.25 lb Chocolate 4.35%
0.25 lb Special B 4.35%
0.50 oz Centennial (9.90 %) (60 min)
US-05

Est OG: 1.061 SG
Est FG: 1.018 SG
Est ABV: 5.71 %
Bitterness: 32.9 IBU
Est Color: 24.5 SRM

You might already be doing this but poking holes in the brats with a fork should also help with the flavor and figuring out how much is being instilled in them. No experience but I would say that the stronger the beer the better as it is being boiled down and the flavor will most likely be minimal overall.

My only recommendation would be a good stout with that pairs well with spicy foods and steaks.

I'd do a nice malty dunkel, if you were being fancy you could pan fry the sausages and deglaze with the beer and a bit of minced onion or shallot. I'm assuming these are normal WI brats and not one of the variants like the nurenburg style.

Oh yeah, this is just Forth of July, brats on the grill. I'm only doing it to say, "Hey, we boiled these in special brat brew that I made!" I'm not even doing the grilling. I'll be doing the drinking and the swimming. By drinking, I mean a nice pale or IPA.