It’s brat summer and for me this meant rediscovering Bratwurst. I’ve had it a couple of times, usually the white version on a bun, like a hot dog. These were mainly bought from UK or US grocery stores and they were…okay. Nothing great, a little too much meat. I would eat one every couple of years. Then I had a red bratwurst (rote wurst) in Berlin at the Hopfingerbräu To Go, outdoor kiosk which is part of the Hopfingerbräu restaurant near the Brandenburg Gate. Put together with a beer and pretzel – yum. It was a quick and easy lunch and we could carry on sightseeing. The woman serving in the kiosk was helpful and friendly. The food, although simple, was delicious.

Fast forward a few months and here I am in my brat summer. It wasn’t intended but seems to be an organic occurrence. On a trip to Littleton, NH, which is a yearly summer jaunt to do some tax free shopping and pick up the necessary bulk items way cheaper than buying them in the UK, we decided to eat at the Schilling Beer beer pub as they had bratwurst on the menu.

Brats in Pubs

Schilling Brewery and Pub in Littleton is set in a lovely location on the Ammonoosuc. You will need to book as it was very busy on the day we went (high summer).

I would have liked to have tried their beer but, alas, an optical migraine struck browsing the TVs in Walmart and so I felt underpar for the rest of the day. The bratwurst is marinated in their beer and served on a pretzel twist roll served with house-made beer mustard and sauerkraut.

It was delicious from brat, to pretzel bun, to mustard. The staff were friendly and the restaurant had a nice vibe. I could see the kitchen staff prep and cook. I watched the fresh pretzel twists and endless pizzas go in and out of the open fire oven.

Brats at Home

So, onto brats at home. My mother makes the best spicy sausage and instead of Italian sausage used the red bratwurst from Johnsonville, chopped up and mixed with peppers, onions, tomato sauce. We had sausage sandwiches, so on a hot dog roll or burger bun – delicious.

But wait, how to make it even better? Pretzel buns – yep. Hard to find but The White Market do make/sell them so after a week or so of checking every few days, we lucked out and found a bag of 4. Another round to close out the summer vacation and, yes, a definite hit. The combination of bratwurst, vegetables, and the crunchy exterior of the pretzel bun with soft inside – a delicious mixture of taste and texture.

It will soon be time to bid farewell to my brat summer but it’s been delicious.