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Beer Brats

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  • lwrehm
    lwrehm Posts: 381
    edited August 2015
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    Johnsonville should be ashamed selling those glorified wieners labeled as "beer brats". 

    Just to clarify, I live 20 miles from the Johnsonville plant just outside of (who would guess) Johnsonville, WI, and the area has several very good wurstmeisters  at various butchershops and the very idea of a "pre-cooked" brat boarders on blasphemy.  FYI, I'm also a bit of a nut when it comes to cooking fresh sausage, from where I'm sitting one NEVER par-boils a bratwurst, that's like putting ketchup on fish.
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  • Philly35
    Philly35 Posts: 858
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    @henapple You never said you had a brother?
    NW IOWA
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  • Foghorn
    Foghorn Posts: 9,846
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    Nice cook.  However, @lwrehm is on to something.  Try the Johnsonville Originals next time.  They are not in the cooked sausage section of the store - they are in the uncooked meat section (took me a while to figure this out).  The beer brats are pretty good, but once you have had the originals you'll never go back.

    XXL BGE, Karebecue, Klose BYC, Chargiller Akorn Kamado, Weber Smokey Mountain, Grand Turbo gasser, Weber Smoky Joe, and the wheelbarrow that my grandfather used to cook steaks from his cattle

    San Antonio, TX

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  • lwrehm
    lwrehm Posts: 381
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    This brings up something I have thought of before but never tried.  I've been grilling fresh brats in Sheboygan County Wisconsin for 30 years preceded by an apprenticeship under my father learning the trade of grilling brats.  Usually I grill for 4 people, but I have had the honor of grilling brats for groups of 20-30 people all the way up to picnics of several hundred people.  Most of this time has been spent in front of a Weber Kettle (for the big groups we have a special grill with a grill surface of about 2.5' by 3.5' allowing us to grill about 15-20 lbs of brats at a time.  For the past 4 years, I have been grilling brats on my large, and sometime small BGE always direct raised grate (at lid level), but I have never tried indirect with a plate setter dome temp 350...so next time I think I will try indirect with a dome temp of 350 and see how things go.

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  • Durangler
    Durangler Posts: 1,122
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    Nice looking cook. Good looking cigar too.  :)
    XL BGE, 22" Weber Red Head, Fiesta Gasser .... Peoria,AZ
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  • corb69
    corb69 Posts: 155
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    Wow guys.  I feel like such an idiot.  I normally always get Johnsonville originals. I knew these seemed different.  I chalked it up as another one of my favorite items getting smaller and pricier.  
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  • henapple
    henapple Posts: 16,025
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    Griffins Grub... Has a great method with kraut. @Griffin
    Green egg, dead animal and alcohol. The "Boro".. TN 
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  • NPHuskerFL
    NPHuskerFL Posts: 17,629
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    Looks good. I can't go back to Johnsonville after doing fresh made brats for so long. For me the beer being used and kraut are key. Multicolored peppers for color and a spicy brown mustard. I like searing them in a CI pan and quick grill marks on the CI grid. Then they go L&S with the beer, kraut, onion and peppers. I don't discriminate I'll tear up some brats. Nice work!
    LBGE 2013 & MM 2014
    Die Hard HUSKER & BRONCO FAN
    Flying Low & Slow in "Da Burg" FL
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  • Foghorn
    Foghorn Posts: 9,846
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    corb69 said:
    Wow guys.  I feel like such an idiot.  I normally always get Johnsonville originals. I knew these seemed different.  I chalked it up as another one of my favorite items getting smaller and pricier.  

    Don't feel bad.  I also learned the hard way.  I bought what I found and they weren't as good as the Originals. So I went back and only found the smaller precooked beer brats and some other precooked brats and went to a store employee to ask if they had any Originals.  I had rehearsed my speech in my head for when he said "no".  It was something like "Not having the Johnsonville Originals when you have other, lesser Johnsonville brats is kinda like having Diet Lime Coke, and Vanilla Coke and Cherry Coke, but not having actual Coke on your drink aisle.  You would never do that, would you?"

    Fortunately, before I could launch into my speech, the kind store employee not only showed me where the Originals were - he educated me about presmoked/cooked vs uncooked sausages and where I can find them.  I thanked him profusely for the help in locating the brats - but in reality I was thanking him for saving me from myself.

    XXL BGE, Karebecue, Klose BYC, Chargiller Akorn Kamado, Weber Smokey Mountain, Grand Turbo gasser, Weber Smoky Joe, and the wheelbarrow that my grandfather used to cook steaks from his cattle

    San Antonio, TX

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  • Acn
    Acn Posts: 4,424
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    Brats were the first thing I ever reverse seared, even before I got an egg.  This is still my go to for them:
    http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/05/grilled-bratwurst-with-beer-mustard-and-sauerkraut-recipe.html

    LBGE

    Pikesville, MD

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  • Griffin
    Griffin Posts: 8,200
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    I don't "hawk" my site here, cuz quite frankly I could care less about the traffic it gets and I make no money off of it. I only do it because of my poor memory and to help out anybody I can. Since @henapple mentioned it, I thought I'd go ahead and add the link to the page he was talking about. Is it the "authentic" way to do it? NO, but it is another way to do it if anybody is interested.

    https://griffinsgrub.wordpress.com/2012/07/25/brats-in-a-sauerkraut-beer-bath/

    And looking back at your pictures, I think next time I might just have to add some bacon to my sauerkraut. ;)

    Rowlett, Texas

    Griffin's Grub or you can find me on Facebook

    The Supreme Potentate, Sovereign Commander and Sultan of Wings

     

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  • Black_Badger
    Black_Badger Posts: 1,182
    edited August 2015
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    Haha, you can really FEEL the passion that comes along with ny brat related conversation here in WI! @lwrehm I'd be curious to hear where you get the best brats here abouts, maybe shoot me a PM if you'd prefer.

    BTW @corb69 I still think this looks like a great cook! Thanks for posting.

    Cheers all -
    B_B
    Finally back in the Badger State!

    Middleton, WI
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  • northGAcock
    northGAcock Posts: 15,164
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    corb69 said:
    Perhaps you are not far off from enjoying Cuban cigars with greater availability.
    Ellijay GA with a Medium & MiniMax

    Well, I married me a wife, she's been trouble all my life,
    Run me out in the cold rain and snow
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