Bacon Wrapped Beer Brats

The Olympics came and went in a hurry this year and there was hardly any time to do anything but glue myself to the couch for two straight weeks.  Now the Olympics are done and my TV shows have yet to start up again, so what in the world am I supposed to do when I get home from work? Luckily, Jenna’s birthday came to the rescue, and there was an excuse to have a party and for me to make something tasty. Since the official games are over, she decided that we needed to have our own Olympics; the Beer Olympics.

It’s pretty hard to get a group of twenty motivated to get out of their seat, leave their conversation and appetizers behind to go play games, but the birthday girl was forceful so we did as we were told! I am glad she was because the games were pretty hysterical. We had a few rounds of flip cup, “minute to win it” type games, a water balloon toss, and a final beer drinking/running/jumping/throwing obstacle course. There was no awarded winner, but if there was, I think the gold would have gone to these little bacon, brat, and beer appetizers.

Bacon Wrapped Beer Brats

Recipe Adapted from Better Recipes

{print me!}

• 3 packages of bratwurst (or 15 links)
• 1 package of bacon (16 oz.)
• 4 twelve ounce beers (or 2 tall cans)
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard or turmeric
• Any mustard of choice for dipping

Preheat oven to 425. Line your jelly roll with foil or parchment paper.

Piece each of your brats several times with a fork. In a large skillet, place half of the bratwursts and pour in 24 ounces of beer. Once the beer is close to boiling, turn it down to low and let the brats simmer for 15-20 minutes, turning after ten minutes. The brats are done with they are no longer pink on the inside.

In the meantime, cut your bacon in thirds. In a separate bowl mix the brown sugar, dry mustard, and cayenne pepper together.

Now that the brats are done, let them cool until you can handle them. Then cut the brats into thirds. Wrap a piece of bacon around the brat, roll them in your sugar mixture and place them on your baking sheet with the bacon flap side down. Bake them for about 20-25 minutes. Let them drain on paper towels before serving.

I decided to get a little crafty (what’s new?) so I made some toothpick flags for the brats. If you want to get a little crafty too, I’m making it easy for you! I found this beer Olympics image, pasted it into a word document a few times, and cut them into little flags. Then I pasted them onto the toothpicks. Want to try it? Printable here.

Add some mustard to your serving plate, and let them eat!

This recipe is actually doubled from the original because I used the second half for our fantasy football draft party the next day. These little meaty bites of deliciousness are so versatile! They go with every beer drinking event you can think of.

Enjoy the three B’s!