Backyard Oktoberfest

We've been having some fall beautiful weather here in Minneapolis just perfect for inviting the family over for a Backyard Ocktoberfest. It was also a good reason to grind up some of that pork in the freezer and turn it into sausage.

The night before, Matt pulled out the Kitchenaid Meat Grinder and Sausage Stuffer attachments, making both traditional and Wurtemburg style brats.

Sunday afternoon they were headed to the smoker. Matt tied them to the upper grate of the smoker so they could hang to smoke. This helps them smoke more evenly.

They only took about 1 1/2 hours on the smoker to completely cook and get a good smoky flavor without being over-powered by it.

In the meantime there was plenty of German and Oktoberfest style beers to taste. Instead of buying six packs of one or two beers, we like to buy single bottles (or cans) of various beers. Everyone gets a tasting glass and gets to try some of each beer. This way if you don't like one beer you are only a few sips from the next one. Our favorite of the ones we tasted last night was the Surlyfest (which I realize is not pictured above, what can I say, we'd drank all those beers already.). It was light and bright, but not too light. Our least favorite was the Coney Island Freaktoberfest. Though the bottle was a big hit and we were all shocked when it poured out a bright pink.
Everyone nibbled on soft and hard pretzels with assorted mustards and cheese sauce while the sausage was finished up on the grill. This gave them a nice crispiness on the outside.

As the sun set, we served the brats with some potato salad and German red cabbage. I used this recipe for the cabbage and it was the perfect mix of sweet and sour.

Look at the lovely smoke ring on that brat. Our chef, Matt, deserved his special after dinner digestif.

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