We Ranked the Top Bratwursts in the U.S.

Fourth of July is around the corner. Before you fire up the grill, we did the homework.

Bratwurst is not a novelty to us — it is a baseline. So when we put together a panel of five LA food experts to taste seven bratwursts sourced from across the country — plus two from our home base at Wurstküche Venice — we were not looking for the most interesting sausage. We were looking for the best one.

Here is what we found. Every brat is ranked and linked so you can order the winners before the long weekend.

Watch the full tasting

We filmed the whole thing. Every reaction, every disagreement, every moment Matthias told someone their sausage was wrong. Watch it before you read the rankings — or after. Either way it holds up.

Watch: Searching for America's Best Brat →

The Panel

Matthias Memminger —  Founder of Paulaner Sunset
Kat Turner — Chef at Highly Likely
David Turkell — Co-Founder of LA Pizza Alliance
Tyler Wilson — Owner of Wurstküche
Matias Barang —  Owner of Häsi Bread

🥇 #1 — Peter Luger USDA Prime Dry-Aged Bratwurst — 44 pts

Peter Luger Steak House · Brooklyn, NY

Founded in 1887 in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn by German immigrant Peter Luger, the restaurant was originally a café and billiards hall in what was then a predominantly German neighborhood. Over a century later, it remains one of the most decorated steakhouses in America. Only USDA Prime beef — representing less than 2% of all graded cattle — is considered, and everything is dry-aged on site under carefully controlled conditions. That obsession with beef quality carries directly into their bratwurst.

The scores said everything: Tyler 8, David 9, Matthias 9, Kat 9, Matias 9.

Matias: "That beef fat comes in very early on, gives it a steak vibe. That one made me feel something. Super unique." Kat: "Fatty, salty — but the seasonings came through and sang." The table's consensus: "I have never actually tasted anything like that before."

A word of warning — shipping costs are high. Worth it anyway.

⚠️ Note: high shipping cost.

🥈 #2 — Uli's Famous Potato Sausage — 36 pts

Uli's Famous Sausage · Seattle, WA

Founded by German master butcher Uli Lengenberg, Uli's Famous Sausage operates out of Pike Place Market in Seattle. Born and raised in Germany, Uli spent twelve years running sausage businesses in Taiwan before bringing his craft to the Pacific Northwest, where his goal was to deliver Old World artisan sausage styles built from a lifetime of travel and training. The Potato Sausage is a traditional style — ground pork and beef, no fillers, no preservatives.

Scores: Tyler 5, David 7, Matthias 8, Kat 8, Matias 8.

David: "The flavor was compact. It could use a little more snap." Tyler: "Good. Simple. Basic sausage."

Understated in the best sense — a sausage that does not try to be anything other than what it is.

🥉 #3 — Wurstküche Bratwurst — 31 pts (scored by only 4 judges)

Wurstküche · Venice, CA

Our home base. The flagship Sunset watch party venue and one of the best German sausage restaurants on the West Coast. Tyler, a Wurstküche team member himself, recused from scoring — which made for a genuinely awkward moment. "It's fun being on a panel with a bunch of people that I now have to be judged by."

Scores (4 judges): David 8, Matthias 8, Kat 8, Mat 7.

David: "The flavor is amazing. It reminds me of a lot of the sausages I enjoyed growing up, especially when I first started trying them." Matthias: "Taste for me is really in the top three of the sausages."

For a sausage scored by only four judges, landing third overall says something.

#4 — Hermann Wurst Haus "Best of Show" Bratwurst — 30 pts

Hermann Wurst Haus · Hermann, MO

The name says it all — this brat has won countless Best of Show awards and is among the most popular offerings from Hermann Wurst Haus. Hermann, Missouri has one of the most concentrated German-American communities in the country, and the sausage tradition there is genuine.

Scores: Tyler 4, David 7, Matthias 6, Kat 5, Matias 8.

David delivered the line of the day: "The dog that could. If I'm getting that at a July 4th barbecue, that's as American as apple pie and not paying your taxes."

#5 — Wurstküche Pheasant Bratwurst — 29 pts (scored by only 4 judges)

Wurstküche · Venice, CA

The second Wurstküche entry — and the most divisive one on the table. Pheasant bratwurst is not something you encounter often in the US, and the flavor profile showed it.

Scores (4 judges): David 7, Matthias 6, Kat 8, Matias 8.

Matthias: "I like the texture, but there's one herb that really..." Tyler, cutting him off: "It's totally Thanksgiving."

He was not wrong.

#6 — Bavaria Sausage Bavarian Bratwurst — 27 pts

Bavaria Sausage · Madison, WI

Fully cooked and ready to grill, made with lean beef and pork, mildly spiced with imported Thuringer marjoram. No nitrates, no MSG, no gluten, no preservatives. On paper, a solid traditional Bavarian bratwurst. On the table, it did not land.

Scores: Tyler 7, David 6, Matthias 4, Kat 3, Matias 7.

Matthias, before scoring: "Definitely not going to give that a second bite." Kat: "The fattiness of the sausage completely blanketed any flavor and any nuance."

#7 — Usinger's Fresh Bratwurst — 27 pts

Usinger's · Milwaukee, WI

A Milwaukee institution, Usinger's produces gourmet German-style sausages and smoked meats in a tradition rooted in old-world technique. The Fresh Bratwurst — pork, natural casing, four links per pound — is as classic as it gets.

Scores: Tyler 3, David 7, Matthias 3, Kat 9, Matias 5. The widest spread of the day.

Tyler: "Not a fan of the grind and texture." Kat, who grew up eating this exact sausage in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin: "The fattiness was balanced by the flavor — the seasoning and flavors came through." She acknowledged her perspective was probably shaped by a lifetime of nostalgia. That is not a disqualification. That is context.

The chef on the panel gave it a 9. The table did not agree. This one is personal.

#8 — Charcutnuvo German-Style Bratwurst — 24 pts

Charcutnuvo · USA

Charcutnuvo markets this as a traditionally coarsely ground pork sausage, seasoned and best served grilled on a roll with sauerkraut and mustard. The panel disagreed with the framing.

Scores: Tyler 6, David 5, Matthias 4, Kat 4, Matias 5.

Tyler: "This is a spicier sausage, which is different from bratwurst. As far as enjoyability goes, I tend to lean toward spicy sausages." Matthias: "This is a very Swiss sausage. It's a misnomer despite the way they labeled it. There's nothing of a German bratwurst in this."

A fine sausage in its own right. Just not a bratwurst.

#9 — Black Forest German-Style Cooked Bratwurst — 19 pts

Black Forest Bratwurst Co.

Seasoned with caraway, nutmeg, and ginger, smoke-finished in a dedicated smokehouse — meant to be enjoyed on a roll with mustard or over Bavarian-style sauerkraut. The concept was right. The execution did not connect with the panel.

Scores: Tyler 5, David 4, Matthias 4, Kat 2, Matias 4.

Matthias: "That was a pretty disgusting sausage." Tyler, offering the most diplomatic assessment of the day: "I've tasted so many sausages over the years that I have spit out. None of these are in the spit out category." Matias: "Not the greatest thing. Doesn't make you feel a certain way. Definitely not sexy."

A last-place finish, delivered with restraint.

The Verdict

Peter Luger won. Convincingly. If you are ordering one brat for the Fourth of July, that is the one — ship cost and all.

For everything else: Uli's is the understated all-rounder, Wurstküche is the best thing on the West Coast, and Hermann Wurst Haus is what July 4th barbecues were invented for.

Order early. Fire up the grill. Crack a Sunset.

Come try the Wurstküche bratwurst in person for the 4th — Wurstküche Venice is our flagship watch party venue for the World Cup all summer. Find a Sunset watch party near you → · Follow along at #SunsetFanmeile

About Paulaner Sunset Sunset is a project of friends and family in Venice, California to bring Germany's most iconic soft drink to the United States. Known in Germany as Spezi, the orange cola from Munich is one of the most popular soda options in Germany and has a strong cult status among its millions of fans. More on our story →