Every year I try new recipes for brats. Actually I don't know if I've ever made the same recipe twice, but this might be one I'll do again. The is one of the best I've tried. It's simple, but it's well balanced. Everyone has loved them. It is a recipe I got from honest-food.net I did make a couple of changes. Instead of pork shoulder, I replaced it with cheese. I just didn't use the Instacure, I hate that stuff. Use it if you want. It's pointless if you are hot smoking these. This is essentially a knock off of a Wisconsin red brat, and they are supposed to be smoked.
4 pounds venison
1 pounds high temp cheese
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons grams powdered milk
3 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons coarsely ground mustard seed
1 ½ teaspoons ground mace or nutmeg
1 ½ teaspoons dried sage
1/2 cup cold lager beer
Hog casings
Some notes. I did 8 pounds of deer meat with 2 pounds of high temp cheese, and I added a full Leinenkugel summer shandy bottle. I prefer creamy dark, but I had a leftover. I grind my meat twice. First grind coarse, then the second grind was through a 3/16" plate. This was about ideal consistency. I smoked these until done at about 225F.