Gas Grilled Brats in Beer

I just had a 4th of July party and served mini-hamburgers with lots of toppings, i.e. bacon, different types of cheeses, grilled onions, sliced pickles, guacamole, smashed black beans, crunched fritos etc.  I also served grilled chicken wings that had been basted with "buffalo" wing sauce and served with blue cheese dressing.  And the final thing I served were grilled brats in beer.  They were the big hit of the day (along with the potato salad which you can find under the "sides" tab.  I adapted this brats recipe from Cooks Illustrated.


Gas Grilled Brats in Beer Serves 10

4 onions, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds
3 tbls vegetable oil, plus more for cooking grate
ground black pepper
2-12 oz bottles Budweiser beer
2/3 cups Dijon mustard
1 tsp caraway seeds
disposable 13X9 inch aluminum pan
10 brats
10 sub rolls

Turn all burners to med. high and heat with grill lid down until very hot, about 15 minutes.  Scrape grill clean with grill brush and dip a wad of paper towels into the oil, holding with tongs, wipe the cooking grate.  Brush onions with remaining oil and season with the pepper.  Whisk beer, mustard, sugar, caraway, and 1 tsp pepper into aluminum pan.  Place on stove top over two burners.  Grill onions on hot grill until lightly charred, about 6-10 mins.  Transfer onions to aluminum pan.  Turn burners on med. to heat up beer mixture.  Meanwhile, grill sausages until browned on all sides.  Turn burners under the beer mixture to bring to a boil.  Add brats and turn down to simmer.  Cover with foil and cook for an additional 15 minutes.  Remove brats from beer bath and return to grill just to rechar, about 4 minutes.  Contunue to simmer the beer mix, until onions are tender and sauce is slightly thickened, about 5 mins.  Place brat in roll and serve with onions and sauce.