Can You Get Drunk From Eating Beer-Battered Fish Tacos?

Beer-battered fish tacos are one of our favorite ways to consume beer and fish. These golden-crusted, crispy, tangy delights are so delicious that it's extremely easy to rapidly down a substantial portion of them. This leads the curious eater to wonder: Can you get drunk from eating beer-battered fish tacos?

We've probably all heard that most of the alcohol burns off during cooking, so there's nothing to worry about. This is true, to an extent –- for example, boozy baked goods won't get you drunk – but it depends a great deal on the cooking method, cooking time, type of alcohol, and many other factors. Let's dive into the case of beer-battered fish tacos.

Recipes vary, but rounding up, let's assume you use 12 ounces of a nice 4% ABV (alcohol by volume) light lager (the best beer for battering fish) to make four servings of beer-battered fish tacos. Even if none of the alcohol burned off during frying, you'd have to eat at least four servings of beer-battered fish to consume the equivalent of one beer. But given that alcohol starts to evaporate at roughly 173 degrees Fahrenheit, if you fry your fish at a fairly standard 350 to 375 degrees Fahrenheit for just two minutes (most recipes call for double that) the alcohol level should decrease to well below 1% ABV. That means, even with generous rounding up, you'd have to eat at least 16 servings of beer-battered fish tacos to equate one beer.

From crispy vodka-fried pickles to flavorful beer-infused chili, the culinary uses for alcohol are incredibly diverse and delicious. The purpose of adding alcohol to a recipe is usually far more scientific than anything else. In the case of beer-battered fish tacos, the combination of carbonation, alcohol, and foaming agents that the beer brings to the batter is one of the best ways to fry up light, perfectly golden, lacy-crusted fish.

When cooking with booze, it's important to be aware that some amount of alcohol will almost always remain in the finished product. However, it's usually a negligible amount, especially in the case of deep-fried foods that are cooked at a very high heat. 

Although some alcohol will enter your bloodstream after enjoying beer-battered fish tacos, most people would have to eat a truly impressive quantity of beer-battered fish that would put them in a solid food coma long before they would feel any impact from the alcohol — we're talking dozens of servings. If you'd still prefer not to cook with beer, or simply want to try something different, you can add club soda to your fried fish batter for similar bubbly, crispy, golden-crusted effects.