The Best Beer Styles For Flavorful Beer-Battered Fish

Whether you're welcoming in some warmer weather, craving one of your favorite comfort foods, or hosting friends who abstain from red meat, sometimes life just calls for a fish fry. When fried just right, beer-battered fish strikes the perfect balance between a tender, flaky interior and a crisp, crunchy coating. But did you know the beer in beer-battered fish does more than provide a convenient excuse to crack open a cold one? First, the combination of cold beer, baking soda, and piping hot oil allows the breaded coating to puff up beautifully. Second, in the same way you might add a dash of malt vinegar to your fish and chips, you want your fish fry to take on the malty flavor of the beer.

Because the beer you use influences the flavor of your fish fry, it's important to choose your beer wisely. So which beer is best? To find the answer, we went straight to the professionals. Speaking exclusively to Chowhound, Kory Foltz, the Director of Culinary at Sunseeker Resort in Charlotte Harbor, Florida, shared that it actually depends on the kind of fish you're frying — and how much of it you want to taste. "If you want the beer to add flavor without overwhelming the delicate taste of the fish, light beers like pilsners or lagers keep the batter neutral and let the fish shine," he says. Pilsners, lagers, and pale ales can all offer a strong malty taste without overpowering the fish.

What if you're ready to fry up a fish but only have IPAs on hand? Will the wrong style of beer sink your ship? According to Kory Foltz, the answer is no. "It really just depends on your preference," he says. "Beers like wheat ales or IPAs offer a bit more flavor complexity." While light beers tend to create a crispier texture and more neutral flavor in a fried fish batter, he explains, dark beers usually have a heavier taste and texture. "Beers like stouts or porters have slightly lower carbonation and are often richer, thicker, and heavier, which can affect the texture of the batter while also resulting in stronger flavors," Foltz says. While there's no wrong answer, a super bitter IPA or an acidic sour beer will lend any fish their polarizing flavors, so use with caution.

But perhaps most importantly, should the beer you use in your batter be the same you serve to guests? Foltz shares that while it can create a more unified flavor experience, it's more important to like each beer in its specific context. "The most important thing is that the beer you use in the batter provides the right carbonation and crispiness to achieve the perfect texture," he says. "The beer you're drinking needs to complement the overall dish." In your household, you might want to use a lager to flavor your fish while you slowly sip on a stout. That particular beer combination is totally up to you.