Beer Versus Wine – The Perfect Beer Battered Fish Pairing
One of the best things about growing up in a Catholic community (besides being told on a regular basis by my Catholic friends that I was going to hell because I was a Methodist and Methodists aren’t Christians) were the Lenten fish Fridays. The political argument on the Vatican’s declaration of sustaining from meat to help the fishing industry aside, the move was brilliant. It produced some amazing varieties of fish as the good Catholics of the world put on their creative aprons to make weeks of mandatory fish dinners tolerable.
Back home in Youngstown, it seemed nearly every church, restaurant, and bar advertised some type of fish special to lure in the faithful. Given that my family were suckers for a good seafood dinner, we splashed the holy water on our face and tried to blend in. There was traditional fried, baked, francese, blackened, sautéed, and my personal favorite, beer battered. Yes, there is a difference between regular breaded and fried and beer battered. The crust is thicker with a bit of a bread or cake texture beneath the crunch. The batter also lends a more complex flavor depending on the type of beer used.
This brings me to February’s Beer Versus Wine challenge – beer battered fish. Just because the name has beer in it, doesn’t mean beer has to be paired with it. Instead of voicing my suggestions, this month I am opening up suggestions to the blogging community for a vote. Submit your suggestion and why your beer or wine makes the perfect pairing for beer battered fish in the comment sections below. You have a week to submit suggestions. Next week, I’ll open up polls. The pairing with the most votes wins the honor of coming up with March’s Beer Versus Wine challenge.
What is your perfect pairing for beer-battered fish?
Below are some rules / suggestions completely added after the fact due to my lack of clarity and the amount of questions coming in.
The Rules / Suggestions
- Write a comment with your perfect beer or wine pairing and tell us why the pairing works so well.
- Let’s keep this to beer or wine suggestions. No sweet tea or Jolly Rancher flavored vodka (that just sounds gross).
- Reblog the challenge on your blog and encourage others to participate.
- Remember to vote!
- Winner gets the honor of coming up with March’s perfect pairing to publish the fourth week of March.
The all important dates:
- Tuesday, March 4th – Deadline for submissions
- Wednesday, March 5th – Voting begins with a post summarizing the entrants and a poll
- Tuesday, March 11th– Voting ends
- Wednesday, March 12th – Winner is heralded in a victory post and a beer battered fish recipe from the kitchens of The Wandering Gourmand is posted
I would go with a Saison or Farmhouse Ale.
I also have a personal choice that has very limited availability, it is my Golden Wheat Red IPA. Nicely dry hopped with just enough bitterness and great aroma!
I’m a sucker for Saisons, but a homemade entry is an even better suggestion!
I would say an American-style India Pale Ale. While an English-style would seem like the most appropriate, I find a balanced malty beverage with a fair dose of bitter, floral hops would not only compliment the salty flavors but help cut through the oily texture as well.
Great suggestion! It’s funny that I’m getting US beer suggestions for a traditional English dish.
It is, and yet it does seem more appropriate, doesn’t it? I imagine crossover of this kind will happen often.
Since the beer options have it thus far I am going to go with a wine and bring in France! My choice would be a White Bordeaux, the affordable Chateau Bonnet comes to mind, a blend of mostly Sauvignon Blanc with Semillon and Muscadelle. A very well rounded dry white, but not too dry, thanks to the blend, that would work wonderfully with the battered fish and chips. Making my mouth water as I type. Thanks!
I’m a bachelor this week (wife is visiting family) and your suggestion is making me want to fry up some fish and open a White Bordeaux to try it out. Must stay on the diet, must stay on the diet… Thanks for playing!
Great idea! As a Brit where heading to the chippie on a Friday night is practically a rite of passage, then I thought I had to get involved.
For those (like me) who are not too keen on beer. then Champagne is a great alternative to pair with fish and chips. It’s what I’d describe as being a new classic combination. Essentially the acidity in the Champers cuts through the greasiness in the food, plus the bubbles add a freshness and another texture. If I had to plump for one, then the best match I’ve had by far is the Veuve Cliquot La Grande Dame.
I thought curry was the new chippie on Friday nights? Love the Champagne suggestion and the reasoning behind it. Thanks for participating!
Lot more Wine pairings than usual on the comments! Usually, I am the cheese that stands alone. In the same stroke, you should drink the wine you cook with. I think the beer used in the batter is what you drink. I remember going to some restaurant and their Newcastle beer battered fish and chips were awesome. So that’s my perfect pairing.
Matching beer for beer. I get it. Good idea! And I might add to that… use quality beer or wine when cooking – something you wouldn’t mind drinking. Thanks, Art!
The traditional pairing for fish & chips is an English bitter. However, I did a tasting the other night with a North American West Coast IPA and found the pairing excellent. Not only does the bittering and carbonation nicely cut through the fat and starch to cleanse the palate, the citrus from the Northwest hops acts similarly to the lemon you squeeze over seafood. For a twist, try adding some masala spice to the batter or tossing the chips in some curry powder.
A late challenger has emerged! Thanks for participating. And a great suggestion I might add.
So, over the weekend I actually made some fish n’ chips for my hubby and I. I drastically altered the recipes so there would be a little southern for Malc and a lot of New Mexican for me. I came up with a spicy cornmeal beer batter that was pretty darn good! The beer was a Harpers. Great for the batter, not so great for the fish n’ chips. I would however recommend a buttery chardonnay as an company. Perhaps a Toasted Head.
Why am I not surprised that you raised the heat level in beer battered fish to nuclear?
LOL