Pairings

Beer with fish and chips

Fish and chips is fried batter, white fish, salt and vinegar, and a pile of potato. The drink has one job: cut the fat in the batter so the fish still tastes clean. Heavy beer, low carbonation and a lot of residual sugar all fail that job.

Vinegar is the other half of the match. A very bitter or very roasty beer plus malt vinegar can taste sharp and metallic. A clean lager or a modest bitter leaves the vinegar as seasoning, not as a fight. Keep the beer cold. Fat coats the tongue faster when the drink is warm.

Beer styles that work

Lager or pilsner
High carbonation, low malt, a dry finish. The bubbles cut through batter and chip fat, and there is not enough flavour in the beer to bury cod or haddock. This is the best beer with fish and chips when the batter is thick or the portion is large. A sweet lager leaves the meal feeling greasier.
Ordinary or best bitter
The pub version of the same idea. A bit more malt than a lager, enough bitterness to scrub the palate, still light enough for white fish. It suits a beer-battered fillet better than a stout does, because the beer in the batter and the beer in the glass are in the same family.
What to leave alone
A thick stout, a milkshake IPA or a strong barley wine will coat the fish. Save those for oysters or for cheese, not for a chip-shop cod. If you want malt colour, stop at a bitter. The fish should still be the loudest thing on the plate.

If you are not drinking beer

A cocktail

Gin and tonic

Long, cold, and sharp with lemon. The tonic's bitterness and the citrus stand in for vinegar and bubbles. It is a better seafood drink than a sweet dark spirit mixer, which sticks to the batter.

Without alcohol

Fizzy lemonade

The chip-shop pour. Cold lemonade has sugar, acid and fizz, and the fizz is what cuts the batter. If you want it less sweet, mix it with soda. Dandelion-style burdock drinks are the other traditional glass. Avoid a thick milkshake with a large portion. You will not taste the fish.

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Questions

What beer goes with fish and chips?

A cold lager, a pilsner, or an ordinary bitter. You want carbonation and a light body so the batter fat is cut and the fish stays clear. Avoid a heavy stout.

Why does stout not work with battered fish?

Roast malt and a low fizz coat delicate white fish. The same stout can be excellent with oysters, where brine and roast flavour meet. Battered cod is a different dish.

What soft drink goes with fish and chips?

Fizzy lemonade. The bubbles and the acid cut the batter. Mix it with soda if you find it too sweet.