Faced with an age-old grilling dilemma, Keith Shank threw a party.

Shank invited a group of friends to his Peoria home. He rounded up about 30 varieties of beer, and brats from Alwan and Sons, Pottstown Deli and the Butcher's Block.

'There's a big debate about whether to parboil the brats in beer or just put them on the grill,' Shank said. 'We wanted to solve that.'

Shank parboiled brats in various beers and browned them on the grill. He performed blind taste tests against brats that only were grilled.

'Most people couldn't taste the brats that were done in Miller Lite,' Shank said. 'The taste difference was so subtle it was barely noticeable. The brats that were poached in Goose Island Nut Brown Ale came out the best. There was a noticeable difference in the flavor, but we didn't think it was noticeable once it was on the bun with mustard.'

The group's conclusion was to forget cooking brats in beer. If you are going to do so, Shank recommends skipping mainstream domestic beers and going with something dark and strong. Don't let the liquid get any hotter than light bubbling.

'You could try to let them soak in a dark beer,' said Shank, who teaches Spoon River College culinary arts classes at Illinois River Correctional Center in Canton. 'But we didn't think it was worth the beer. We would rather drink the beer.'

Shank recommends raw meat — not pre-cooked — purchased at a local butcher shop. Use quality buns that won't crumble.

Also, cook the brats indirectly. Put the charcoal on one side, or turn on just one side of a gas grill. Grill on the side opposite the flames.

With the leftover Nut Brown Ale, Shank added a half-cup of sugar and reduced it to a syrup. He basted that onto brats just before they came off the grill.

As for beers to accompany the brats, Erdinger was a popular choice among guests.

'The lighter lagers from Germany help balance out some of the spiciness of the brats and mustard,' Shank said.

For people who prefer darker styles, Shank recommends New Belgium 1554 Black Ale.