Sausage Party

n.
1. A social gathering where there are more guys than girls.
2. A social gathering where everyone brings a different type of sausage and they grill it.

I was sitting on my back patio – beer in hand – last Sunday afternoon, contemplating what I wanted for dinner. It had to be something on the grill and had to feed the four people that were at my apartment at the time. Hmmm. And then it hit me. My friend Evelyn had mentioned the humor in having a real sausage party where people brought different sausages to taste. I had logged the idea somewhere in my subconscious and I decided right then that I would make it a reality.

I sent a text to any friends I thought would be interested in partaking. The message read “Sausage Party! My apt 7pm. Byo sausage and bevs.”

The result? People actually came! And, they brought sausages.

The following sausages were grilled alongside pepper and onion kabobs; Italian sausage, gator sausage, chicken sausage with feta and spinach, pork sausage with wine cheese and spices, chicken sausage with mango and jalapeño, chicken and apple sausage and then there was the ultimate…hop wurst.

That’s right, folks. Jon Long (no kidding with the name) officially has the best sausage in Chester County. And here is his recipe.

Hop Wurst
Created and written by Jon Long, WC Dish Beer Writer
Want to blow your friends away at your next backyard BBQ? This recipe is super easy and is guaranteed to show up your best bud’s “Burgers a la Barry”…or “Chicken a la Chuck”…or…you get the point.
What you’ll need:
Fresh brats from the supermarket or butcher. I prefer the freshly made ones because I believe they have more capacity to soak up the ingredients and you get more flavor out of them; the prepackaged, mass-produced ones are already packed with a bunch of spices and filling.
Your favorite India Pale Ale (IPA). This is your marinade. The beer to brat ratio will be somewhere around 1 beer for every 4 brats, depending on size of brats.
Garlic salt
Onion powder
A plastic container, bowl, pan…basically anything that will hold all of your brats and allow them to be soaked in liquid

Here’s what you do:
Using a fork, poke holes in all of the brats – just a couple of stabs per brat should do the trick. Next, put the brats in the aforementioned container, preferably in a single layer. Sprinkle a bit of garlic salt/powder and a bit of onion powder on the brats. Now, pour your IPA over the brats and make sure you use enough to completely cover the brats in liquid.

Let the brats marinade in the IPA for about an hour or so, then throw ‘em on the grill ’til they’re cooked. It’s that easy! The great thing is, they come out juicy, sweet and tangy, not real hoppy…don’t ask me why, I haven’t figured that one out yet. But hey, who cares – it makes for some good eats! Go ahead and enjoy them with that favorite IPA of yours, but NOT the leftover beer that was used to marinade!
Prost!

And now, for the video…