What to pair with smoked fish dip?

I am participating in a homebrew contest being put on by a local beer distributor. It's designed to get their employees to learn more about the brewing process. Anyways, each team is allowed to have one outside member, so a guy that I know who works there invited me to be on his team. We are also encouraged to pair the beer with food and serve both at a social for all the other teams to try. He wants to brew something that will pair well with his homemade smoked kingfish dip. I've had the dip before, it's smokey, fishy, spicy dip with a little cheese and sour cream in it i believe... Any suggestions on a style that might pair well with those flavors? I was originally planning on brewing the V.4 Heady Topper clone, however I'm not sure that this will go with the dip.

Hoppy beer doesn't pair well with food and I really think it wouldn't go with smoke. How much time do you have to brew? I'd go for something malty, but on the dry side. Dopplebock or an amber biere de garde would be my picks, but both need to be lagered. Now I'm craving smoked fish, used to get some great salmon and steelhead when I lived in Idaho.

TNGabe said:

I'd go for something malty, but on the dry side.

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Sounds like an Irish Red Ale!

I'd say a Belgian golden or dark strong ale, saison, or a piney IPA. I say IPA because the hops will help cut the fatty creaminess.

Off topic, but IPA pairs great with food, especially spicy and/or fatty foods. My favorite pairing is fried pickles with a Columbus-heavy IPA.

Yes I was surprised that TN expressly ruled out hoppy beers. First thing I thought of was an IPA since anything smoked would require something with big flavor to stand up to it.