10 Regional Varieties Of German Bratwurst, Explained

Sometimes nothing hits the spot like an expertly grilled bratwurst. Whether you prefer your sausage on the end of free sample toothpicks at the neighborhood Costco or you devour them with spicy mustard on a bun at a favorite dive bar, there's something to be said about the perfect blend of meat and fat used for a German bratwurst. And yet, not all brats are the same. Despite what it might look like when visiting the local supermarket, most regions in Germany have their own unique style of brat.

But what exactly is the difference between a bratwurst? Broken down, "brat" is an Old High German word meaning "without waste," and "wurst" means "sausage." You're going to find plenty of sausages around Germany, and while all bratwursts are sausages, not all sausages are bratwursts. As the name suggests, bratwursts were sausages made using the leftover scraps of an animal.

Basically, pork, beef, or veal meats that might have been left over after the choice selections were removed. Additionally, the meat used inside of bratwurst is roughly ground and pushed into an animal intestine casing. This is where you'll find the main difference, and it is really what separates bratwursts from other wursts. The sausage has a rougher texture and is not smooth like your standard hot dog (or other wurst variants). Most other sausage types are finely ground to give a more consistent mouthfeel. To help highlight the flavors of popular bratwursts, here are several regional varieties of German bratwurst.

The Kulmbacher bratwurst was first created in the city of Kulmbach. This is the capital of the Kulmbach district, which is located in Bavaria. The city itself is in central Germany, due east of Frankfurt and about 40 miles from what is now the Czech Republic border. The Kulmbacher bratwurst is generally longer and thinner than bratwursts you're likely familiar with (the bratwurst has a thickness similar to a breakfast sausage link). Additionally, while the majority of brats are made using pork, this variation leans heavily on the inclusion of veal, although a small amount of pork is often included.

The spice profile for a Kulmbacher bratwurst is rather interesting, and it helps separate its flavor from the kind of sausages you likely toss on the grill for the Fourth of July. It takes advantage of salt, as well as white pepper, but then nutmeg gives it an almost holiday seasonal taste to it, and the inclusion of lemon peel brightens the surrounding flavors while also enhancing them.

If you are looking to enjoy your Kulmbacher bratwurst like a local German, you will need to try and hunt down a very unique bread, produced specifically for the wurst. The Kulmbacher anisstollen is a kind of bread roll, which you then slice in half and fill with several links of the Kulmbacher bratwurst.

Want a little kick to your sausage without the aid of spicy mustard? Reach for a bierwurst. This is a smoked sausage originally from the Bavarian region of Germany. It uses all kinds of seasoning, including paprika, mustard seeds, and black peppercorns. The meat is cured, smoked, cured again, then blanches, allowing it to have an extended shelf-life.

You might be surprised to discover the bierwurst, which literally translates to beer sausage, has no beer used during the preparation of the brat. Instead, it is called a bierwurst because it is paired with a beer. The spice complexity of the beer allows it to blend nicely with a local beer. There are other "beer-named" sausages in Germany, although, again, many of these do not rely on beer. You will find a bockwurst, which, if you are a German beef fan, you already know of the German-style bock beer. The bockwurst is not considered a brat, nor does it have any beer used in its creation process. In this case, while a bierwurst is paired with beer, a bockwurst is named as it is because bock, in German, translates to desire. So, sadly, you're not getting a beer-infused brat. But don't worry, just head out to your nearest Major League Baseball stadium. You'll probably find one of those there instead.

This brat hails from the city of Coburg and, you guessed it, this is a city found in the northern portion of Bavaria (specifically, the Franconia area of northern Bavaria). The city itself is located north of Nuremberg.

As for the Coburger bratwurst, it is made using a combination of both beef and pork. There is some basic seasoning of salt, pepper, lemon zest, and even a hint of nutmeg. If you are keeping track, this gives it a similar spice profile as the Kulmbacher bratwurst. However, there are a few differences between the Coburger brat and the Kulmbacher brat variation. While the Kulmbacher brat uses mostly veal, this particular sausage relies on a beef and pork split. Additionally, instead of using an animal casting for the sausages, a Coburger brat skips the animal casing altogether and instead relies on the raw egg to seal it in.

Historically, this is one of the oldest documented bratwursts in Germany, with its creation dating back to at least the late 1400s. If you really want to get specific and grill your Coburger brat the traditional way, you will need to do so over a pinecone fire. Just make sure to keep an eye on the sausage as it cooks. However you decide to cook it, the external egg wash is not as durable as an intestinal casing, which means if you cook it too long, there's a greater chance of the brat splitting and falling apart.

This is one of the thicker brats you'll come across. It will have a unique spice taste, thanks to the addition of marjoram into the meat blend. This particular brat is one of the oldest in German, with historical references dating back to the early 1300s when it was created in the Franconian region of Germany. If you've been keeping track, that makes this bratwurst the oldest bratwurst on the list. Is it actually the oldest in Germany? That's nearly impossible to tell, as individuals were making sausages well before recipes were documented. However, in terms of actual, historical records, the Fränkische bratwurst is very much one of the oldest known versions of the brat.

The Franconia region of Germany is broken down into three administrative regions. It can get a little complicated, but the Franconia region is located in the northern portion of the Bavarian state. The administrative region trickles over the state border slightly into Hesse, Thuringia, and Baden-Wüttemberg (like we said, a little confusing). If you were to travel deeper into these neighboring states, you would find various versions of sausages, although due to various reasons, these wursts are not considered bratwursts.

These are long, thicker brats and are especially coarse (more so than your average brat). If you wanted to stay traditional, you would eat it with potato salad (or sauerkraut), but skip the mustard.

Looking to increase your daily dose of pork? The rote wurst has you covered. First created in the Swabian cultural region of Germany, it is made using both ground pork and ground bacon (the majority of the Swabian cultural region is located in the state of Baden-Württemberg, although a portion of it spills over into Bavaria to the east). Because of the high-fat content within the sausage, in order to prevent bursts of hot oily fat upon biting, the rote wurst has lines cut into the sausage prior to cooking, which helps some of the fat juices freely bubble, instead of building up pressure within the sausage and exploding when you bite down into it.

For this particular sausage, it is important to highlight the Swabian cultural region, because it does differ from the rest of Germany, and in itself plays a role in the culinary variations found here. The region was settled by a series of Germanic tribes collectively known as Alemanni, who even went on to oppose the Roman Empire. If the name Alemanni looks (or sounds) familiar, it is because many foreign languages refer to Germany as a variation of the name Alemanni (in Spanish, Germany is "Alemania," while in Portuguese it is "Alemanha"). There is a rather long, and interesting history (if you're into that sort of thing) regarding the Swabian cultural region of Germany, but just know you can also find some fantastic bratwursts while in the area.