Cooking With Beer – Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Bratwurst Sausage

Festive foods take on new meaning when made with serious beer. And who doesn’t like hot, bratwurst sandwich, especially when the pork sausage is poached in the right Pale Ale?

This tasty recipe comes our way from Dan Grice, Sierra Nevada Brewing’s head chef in Chico, California, and it’s made using Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, 5.6% ABV craft beer classic that helped spark the craft beer revolution as we know it today.

“The beer is this nice buffer that protects [the meal] from us screwing it up,” Chef Grice says. “With your trusty cast iron skillet, you’re 15 minutes of cook time away from juicy, flavorful sausage: caramel sweetness, a tart kick from sauerkraut, and the deep richness of soaked-in-everything veggies.”

So let’s do this…

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Bratwurst Sandwich

Ingredients

1 can of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale: You’ll use about 3/4 of it, but you know what to do with the rest!

3 bratwurst

Oil – We’re cranking up the heat, so use an oil with a high smoking point

1 small jar of sauerkraut and 2 bell peppers, chopped. Use red and/or yellow peppers. You make the color call.

1/2 white onion, chopped

4 green onions, sliced. Used more like herbs, providing a delicate, chive-like flavor

2 tablespoons butter: It takes everything to the next level!

Mustard of your choice.

 

Directions

Step 1

Preheat skillet over medium heat, then did some zigzags of oil before adding brats. Add all the veggies, except the green onions, into the remaining pocket of space and up the heat to high for searing.

Step 2

Flip the brats every minute or so until they’re nicely browned but not cooked through, about 4-5 minutes. Toss the veggies too.

Step 3

Pour in the beer, give everything a shuffle, then cover the skillet with aluminum foil. Turn down the heat to medium-low. Leave it alone for 8-10 minutes.

Step 4

Toward the end of cooking, the foil might expand, even letting a little steam roll out of the sides. This is a good sign, a cue to finish up. Remove the foil, sprinkle in your green onions, and drop in the butter. Once that’s melted and mixed, it’s brat-assembly time.

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Want more “Cooking With Beer” recipes?

We’ve got them…

SPICY BACON, CHEESE & LAGER MUFFINS

SIERRA NEVADA NARWHAL STOUT BROWNIES

OKTOBERFEST BEER CHEESE PRETZEL SKILLET

OSKAR BLUES CITRUS-CHILI WINGS

DALE’S PALE ALE STUFFED PIZZA BREAD

SIERRA NEVADA CHICKEN POT PIE

(All image credits: Sierra Nevada Brewing)