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What to drink with fish and chips

Wine and beer for fish and chips and other fried food, and why the red is best left for another night.

The short answer

Wine: bubbles. Sparkling wine, Champagne, Cava or Prosecco scrub the oil and salt from your palate. Or a zesty white such as Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio, which plays the squeeze of lemon.

Beer: a crisp lager, or a citrusy pale ale.

🤝 Harmonise

Match it: zesty whites and crisp lagers

Harmonising means choosing a drink with the same weight and character as the food. Fish and chips is light, salty and served with lemon, so it suits something fresh and lively.

Wine

Zesty, citrus-bright whites play the squeeze of lemon, keeping the fish fresh and the batter light.

  1. Semillon
  2. Sauvignon Blanc
  3. Pinot Grigio
  4. Dry rosé
  5. Vermentino

Beer

Crisp, lively carbonation scrubs the oil and salt off your palate, so every bite tastes like the first.

  1. Hawke's Underdog Session Lager
  2. 4 Pines Japanese Lager
  3. Young Henrys Natural Lager

⚡ Contrast

Cut through it: bubbles and citrusy pale ales

Contrasting means choosing a drink that balances the food rather than mirroring it. For anything fried, that means bubbles and acidity against the oil and salt.

Wine

Bubbles and bright acidity scrub the oil and salt from your palate between bites. Sparkling with fried food is a classic for a reason.

  1. Sparkling wine
  2. Champagne
  3. Cava
  4. Prosecco
  5. Semillon

Beer

Citrusy wheat or a zesty pale ale plays the squeeze of lemon and lifts the crisp batter.

  1. Mountain Goat Pale Ale
  2. Stone & Wood Pacific Ale
  3. Pirate Life Pale Ale

What to avoid

Questions

Does Champagne go with fish and chips?

Yes. Sparkling wine and Champagne are Cellar Sage's top picks for cutting through fish and chips: bubbles and bright acidity scrub the oil and salt from your palate between bites. Other sparkling wines, Cava and Prosecco do the same job.

Can you drink red wine with fish and chips?

It is best avoided. Tannin reacts with fish oils and leaves a metallic, tinny finish. Cellar Sage marks down even the softer, low-tannin reds such as Lambrusco and Gamay for fish and chips.

What beer goes with fish and chips?

A crisp lager: lively carbonation scrubs the oil and salt off your palate. Or a citrusy pale ale or wheat beer, which plays the squeeze of lemon and lifts the batter. Stouts and porters are best avoided, because roasty malt smothers the fish.

Do these pairings work for other fried food?

Yes. In the app, fish and chips and fried food are one option, so these suggestions apply to fried food in general.

Get picks for your own palate

Tell Cellar Sage how you like your wine or beer, and it finds bottles and cans you can buy from Australian shops, with prices.

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These picks come from the Cellar Sage pairing engine, run on 7 October 2026 with every taste dial in the middle. Your own picks change with how you like your wine or beer, your budget, and what Australian shops have in stock.