UB,
I finally got around to trying this tonight, and I don't know what went wrong. The batter wouldn't stick to the fish, only about a third actually stayed on. I ended up with fried fish and lumps of crispy batter!
When you say bicarb, you mean baking soda, not baking powder, right? Maybe there was too much beer in the mixture.
Any ideas? Your BIR recipes are great. Hope your chippy ones aren't duff!
Cheers,
Josh
Arh thats a disappointment.
Not sure. maybe my beer measurement is a bit to generous.
Perhaps a few things to note:
- Fish will need to be padded dry with kitchen paper.
- Mixture needs to runny, smooth and sticky - dip finger into mixture should come out and stay coved.
- Pour Beer into mixing bowl while whisking until you have the above.
- Oil must be hot.
Dont give up mate you will enjoy

Bicarbonate of Soda [baking soda] helps release carbon dioxide to aid a light batter.
Not baking powder but that wouldn't make much difference and can be used as a substitute.
I have a freezer full of Cod and ill be doing this again soon.. i will pay more attention to my efforts and get back maybe with some mixture pics.
All the best UB