THE FISH AND THE OWL

As part of an ongoing weekly post yours truly will be picking one food menu item and pairing it with one of our 150+ bottle beers from our monster beer menu. Stay tuned each week for an informed, tried and true suggestion.

This weeks' winning couple is:

Mudville's crispy beer-battered Cod Sandwich and the award winning Hitachino Nest White Ale

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The Chemistry:

First let me ask, a show of hands...who doesn't like beer battered cod anything? Didn't think so. That being said, have you had a generous piece of fish dipped in a malty beer (Bluepoint Toasted Lager) batter and dropped into 375° oil lately? It quite possibly could be the crunchiest thing you'll ever eat. Science says beer batter is the only way to get that level of crispy awesomeness, in fact. I love it because there are so many layers to this classic dish: the crunch, the flaky fish, the buttery batter middle, not to mention any sauce you might be dipping this golden treasure in. Therefore you need a beer that can handle a couple different jobs. Battered fish (and chips) needs a beer that can cut through the oiliness of the food and offer complementary flavors – most notably a citrus tang to emulate a squeeze of fresh lemon on the batter. Enter the Hitachino White! The Japanese are no stranger to fish dishes so it sort of seems like a no-brainer. (But it snuck up on you didn't it?) Hitachino Nest White Ale (hailing from the Kiuchi brewery) has a wheaty/white base but has a bigger citrus hop flavor than the nose lets on. A grapefruit zest is all over the middle of this beer giving that necessary zing to the batter. Lemon schlemon. Trust me when I say these two are a match made in tastebud heaven.

Bon Apetit!

P.s. you know coleslaw is a must anytime you have crunchy fish. You've been officially reminded.

Cheers!