Hello again, my friends!

I don’t know about you all but I had such a crazy craving for Bratwurst this week that I simply had to adjust my recipe search to accommodate that gnawing craving. How do you search for new recipes online? Do you follow a craving or a general theme? Low-Carb, Healthy, Comfort food?

This time around I looked up Beer Braised Brats and I ended up with this delightful recipe courtesy of Craft Beering.

You can find the recipe right -> here!

What Type Of Beer Should I Use?

That was the same exact questions I was asking myself when considered making this recipe. Luckily for us all, Craft Beering is ALL about pairing beer with food and cooking with it. Pay close attention to their ingredient list and you’ll certainly have more guidance on the type of beer the brats will require. Per their recommendation, I looked for a dark German Lager.

Now, I normally do my grocery shopping for reviews at Whole Foods for the freshest ingredients, however my search for a dark German beer took me to one of my absolute favorite stores–Cost Plus World Market. From their beer selection I chose a Belgian Abbey Ale! I’m no beer expert, but by keeping Craft Beering’s recommendation in mind, I think I did a great job!

As a side-note, if you’re looking for fantastic international treats, brews, and furniture–I highly recommend Cost Plus World Market. Even in this pandemic, you can enjoy their wonderful dinnerware and goodies with online and curb-side pickup if you are unable to make it to the store. Be sure to sign up for their free Explorer Rewards to receive exclusive coupons and rewards.

Kitchen Aromas Courtesy of Spices

I’m not going to lie–it’s morning and the kitchen STILL smells like those delightful spices. If there was a candle with the scent of “Beer Braised Brats on a Summer Evening”, I’d buy two. The listed spices did not require me to go out and buy anything incredibly exotic, which is appreciated. The wonderful combo of dried thyme (can be fresh, too!), paprika, brown sugar, salt, and pepper is absolutely fantastic when coating the sliced red onions.

Yes, it absolutely gets better once the beer and stock are in!

Will These Satisfy Your Cravings?

What I really enjoy about this recipe is that it is very simple to make. The ingredients are straight-forward as are the directions. There’s no reason to over-complicate food when it’s meant to be shared.

Once your brats are browned, the onions cooked down, and simmering in the beer and stock, it’s time for the all the ingredients spend some time together. At this point, you can work on your sides that you’ll have with the brats. I still wanted to keep the meal relatively healthy, so I decided to make a cauliflower garlic mash. Of course, look to the recipe for additional serving recommendations, like rolls and such. There is no doubt that they would be absolutely delicious.

But to answer the question: does this satisfy the craving for bratwurst? Absolutely. The meal is filling and incredibly flavorful. It is certainly one that I would love to make again to try with different sides.

Grey’s Grade: 5/5

This recipe is absolutely fantastic and so is the website it comes from. I’ve always loved cooking with wine, but beer is another type of alcohol that is a delight to cook with. There’s so many kinds that can shape meals into something extraordinary. If you’re considering trying something new in the kitchen please do check out Craft Beering. Learn more about craft beer pairings with and in food. I’ll absolutely be looking at more of their recipes, so do keep an eye out for the blog for more of these reviews, as well!

This recipe does absolutely earn the 5/5 rating as it is rather simple to make and it packs a lot of flavor into each serving. It also doesn’t break the bank as many of the items you’d already have in your pantry. You can’t go wrong with that.

Thank you, Craft Beering for this awesome recipe!

As always, thank you for checking out my reviews. I hope that you enjoyed them. If you’d like to continue to support this page and future reviews, please consider checking out my Ko-Fi page. I’ll be posting updates before they are released on the blog, as well as my new addition of original recipes that I will finally be releasing! I’m very excited to share my experiments with you all!

Grey’s Ko-Fi Page

As always, happy nomming!

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