Salt in beer????

[Daphne-weizen]

Has anyone ever seen this done? I remember in the 70's and 80's my parents and their friends would tap salt into beer. They claimed it "reduced the foam". I thought maybe they were adding extra flavor to the beer(my folks were die hard Bud fans). Years later I tried that in some BMC beer, can't remember which and thought it was absolutely gagable! Was this just some trend at the time or just something different my parents did? It made no sense to me.

 

[skeezerpleezer]

Look up Gose.

 

[Qhrumphf]

Well, outside of some archaic regional styles (Gose namely) I can't think of anything where a NOTICEABLE salt character should be present. But a subtle level (very low level, I won't go above 50 ppm) of sodium can be good in malty styles. I would never flat out add salt to a finished beer.

 

[mxstar21]

I remember my Dad do at restaurants when I was a kid. Can't remember why.

 

[fj605]

I've seen people doing it to Coors light. I tried it. No improvement.

 

[unionrdr]

The old timers did that to kill the head on their beer. WTF Chuck? Just let it go down by itself. Beer is SUPPOSED to give good head!!! That salt was butt nasty to me... Like lowenbrau, it tasted salty bitter to me...should've called it lionwizz!

 

[dnslater]

After hot days my dad (construction worker) would always salt his beer.

 

[paperairplane]

I've done this - especially draft BMC beers. And you're looking for a little dash, barely noticeable. Nice icy cold draft PBR, little dash of salt, some pickled eggs and beets - good living.

Salt adds a similar profile as bitter - so it's similar to putting a lime in a corona.

Also, it's same idea as gatorade - get some salt and carbs back in the system on a hot day.

Don't you guys salt your watermelon when you eat it?

 

[Brew_Dude41]

After hot days my dad (construction worker) would always salt his beer.

I played baseball with a guy that did too. Every time at the bar after games, he would get his light beer and give a good 4-5 shakes. He claimed he was just trying to get the salt he sweated out back.
I didn't care for it much myself.

 

[Brew_Dude41]

Don't you guys salt your watermelon when you eat it?

No...

 

[theoracle]

The salt blocks the bitterness from the receptors on the tongue, it works on black coffee too, I guess some people just don't like bitterness.

 

[nthammer]

mexican beers - corona and tecate, ive seen other people do salt and lime and i used to also i admit

 

[atoughram]

Don't you guys salt your watermelon when you eat it?

:rockin:

 

[Jsamp]

I barely use salt even when I cook. I would never add it to beer.

 

[Qhrumphf]

Don't you guys salt your watermelon when you eat it?

I don't....uh..... I can't. ........uhhhhh.......what?

The salt blocks the bitterness from the receptors on the tongue, it works on black coffee too, I guess some people just don't like bitterness.

Blocking the bitterness in BMC???

I suppose given the old "bitter beer face" commercials I shouldn't be surprised.

 

[Cheesy_Goodness]

My grandfather salts his beer and watermelon.

I've had the salt in BMC before. It's not super terrible considering the product, but I can't say I "get" it.

Don't have the heart to salt watermelon. Just...no.

 

[sputnam]

watermelon without salt is like cereal without milk

the best beer to add salt to is PBR - i don't drink it anymore but b4 I knew what good beer really is, that stuff was alright

i could easily see a (belgian) saison being awesome with a hint of salt built in - i may try it next spring

 

[Billy-Klubb]

the Lakota I grew up with used to salt their beer before every drink, but only the women did that. the men would always shake their heads when they watched their ladies do that. it was always Busch & Busch Light unless folks were feeling rich, then it was Bud & Bud Light. the only time my dad would add salt was in a red beer (Falstaff and tomato juice) with lunch or supper. that mean old floccer could work a 20 y/o go-getter into the grave. he said red beers were great for replacing sodium and potassium. he needed that after cutting, splitting, and stacking half the forest on a Montana mountain side before breakfast.

 

[unionrdr]

Reminds me of PA, where my bro & I took an ancient two man buck saw over the hill into the woods in winter to cut a tree down, chop & stack to make breakfast,etc on the old wood stove. I guess salted beer made more sense then? We also had fresh venison steaks & speckled trout for breakfast!

 

[PackerfaninSanDiego]

we lightly salted tap beer(PBR) mainly back in the day, after the head disappeared. It seemed to "re-carb" the beer, as more bubbles were seen, plus it gave the beer a different flavor. Don't most salted things make the beer taste better? Peanuts, pretzels, etc.
we dashed the watermelon with salt back in the day too when we were kids. Made it taste better. If you haven't tried it, you need to.

 

[petey_c]

We lightly salted tap beer (PBR) mainly back in the day, after the head disappeared. It seemed to "re-carb" the beer, as more bubbles were seen, plus it gave the beer a different flavor. Don't most salted things make the beer taste better?

I remember the first time I'd heard about that was in a "old man's bar" in Howard Beach in 1978. They said they did it for the same reason. That was also when you could get a "short" beer for .25¢ Okay, no more derailing the thread....

 

[Daphne-weizen]

Salt my watermelon? *Shutter!* I can't eat watermelon anymore, I'll develop a reaction...boo hoo Salt in my coffee grounds just makes my coffee taste bitter and salty, must have my creamer! I'll try a shake of salt in a belgian saison though, sounds interesting.

 

[Kee]

Watermelon must be salted.

 

[EthanH]

The lime and salt thing is very common on Mexican lagers down here in Tejas.

Otherwise, I have to say that Jester King's Snörkel (kind've their take on gose) is one of my absolute favorite beers right now. I usually don't go for stunt ingredients (it's made w/ smoked sea salt and oyster mushrooms), but this beer is fantastic. Also, cool label.

 

[j1n]

I've done this - especially draft BMC beers. And you're looking for a little dash, barely noticeable. Nice icy cold draft PBR, little dash of salt, some pickled eggs and beets - good living.

Salt adds a similar profile as bitter - so it's similar to putting a lime in a corona.

Also, it's same idea as gatorade - get some salt and carbs back in the system on a hot day.

Don't you guys salt your watermelon when you eat it?

I love watermelon but I have never added salt. That's just weird to me.

 

[chuckcomm]

I thought it was odd that my Mom always salted her watermelon. I tried it a couple years ago and was surprised how good it was and I have salted it since then.

 

[TAK]

I don't salt my watermelon regularly, but it's good. I always salt grapefruit. Some people sugar their grapefruit, but that's just weird.

PBR needs salt. There's this fried chicken dive where I live. When you go there, you have PBR with salt. It's just part of the experience. Salt makes it softer and more round. I also learned there, salt your bar napkin so it doesn't stick to your glass.

 

[mabrungard]

Adding salt (sodium chloride) is a feasible option for enhancing sweetness perception in beer. Salt should never be added to the point that it can be perceived as 'salty' in the beer. I was at a bar last night and had a Gose from some nameless brewery and it was notably salty and just did not taste good. Counter that experience with a Bayerischer Bahnhof Gose that I had a few months ago, not a hint of saltiness and the enhanced sweetness of the beer paired very well with the acidity of the style. Think of a Berliner Weisse with extra sweetness. Delicious!

The level at which the typical drinker is going to perceive saltiness is about 250 ppm sodium. That happens to correspond with the salt dosing rate that a craft brewer reported to me that they take their Gose to. Keeping the sodium level at or below that level is recommended for Gose. For other beers, you are better off keeping the level lower. I recently brewed a Brown Porter with 110 ppm sodium and it was very tasty. I'd say that keeping sodium to 100 ppm or less is good for dark styles. It does improve flavor.

So somewhat elevated sodium level in brewing water is OK. But this is not to say that you should add much sodium to your brewing water. Sodium with chloride is OK, but sodium with much sulfate is not so good. Sodium and sulfate can create poor taste at much lower sodium levels than mentioned above. So if your water has much sulfate, don't add much sodium or that taste effect might 'bite' you.

 

[bu_gee]

The salt-on-watermelon thing appears to be regional. My wife is Southern (maybe Appalachian) and I'm not so it was odd for me when she couldn't handle watermelon w/o salt. Also, she calls cantaloupe "muskmelon" (I agree with that one) but can't handle that with salt at all. I tried both and I think the muskmelon needs it more.

 

[zmanzorro]

There's a brewery in Fort Worth that makes a good dry pretzel stout. They add in pretzels during the mash. The finished product has a hint of salt but isn't overpowering.

 

[Daphne-weizen]

You know now that I'm thinking back, I do remember the whole salt in beer thing when my husband and I were in Mexico during Thanksgiving week a few years back. We were sitting at the bar in JJs Cantina in Cholla Bay, Rocky Point Mexico waiting for the ASU-UA football game to start. The place was packed with Arizonans. Well on the other side of my husband sat this chick who kept glaring at us grumbling about how much she couldn't stand us "G d Sun Devils!!!...go Wild cats! eff the Sun Devils!!!!" Sheesh!(my husband graduated from ASU). All I can remember during her grumbling rantings was her opening a pack of salt, tapping it into her Corona's and angrily jamming a lime in the neck of the bottles. I kept thinking that had to taste kinda gnarley....and I hope she was at least drunk at the time.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

You know now that I'm thinking back, I do remember the whole salt in beer thing when my husband and I were in Mexico during Thanksgiving week a few years back. We were sitting at the bar in JJs Cantina in Cholla Bay, Rocky Point Mexico waiting for the ASU-UA football game to start. The place was packed with Arizonans. Well on the other side of my husband sat this chick who kept glaring at us grumbling about how much she couldn't stand us "G d Sun Devils!!!...go Wild cats! eff the Sun Devils!!!!" Sheesh!(my husband graduated from ASU). All I can remember during her grumbling rantings was her opening a pack of salt, tapping it into her Corona's and angrily jamming a lime in the neck of the bottles. I kept thinking that had to taste kinda gnarley....and I hope she was at least drunk at the time.

ummmm... bwahahahahhahahaaa!!!!

 

[Rev2010]

Salt in beer and the reasonings are quite humorous.

Electrolytes? Well alcohol still dehydrates you. And if you want electrolytes why not just eat some chips or something else along with the beer?

Bitterness? Most beers that people seem to be adding salt to are some of the most common low IBU beers out there.

Foam? Just wait a few seconds and it will settle.

I dunno, whatever people want to do I just let them though, I just won't be doing it myself. I remember one time the wife and I were drinking Aventinus in a German restaurant here in Manhattan. Since the tables are communal there were these two younger guys sitting near us and they started telling us their "secret" to putting down that foam on the top of the beer. The guy wiped his nose with his finger and stirred it in the foam which reduced the foam of course. He went on to proudly explain how the oils in ones skin gets the foam to dissipate. Umm, I'll pass and that's just gross.


Rev.

 

[mkyl428]

I put salt & lime with Mexican lagers on the rare occasion i drink them (usually with Mexican food)..... I see this all the time at the gas station near my house I would never put it in my beer though

 

[Qhrumphf]

Well, salt allegedly also enhances other flavors besides suppressing bitterness, even when you can't taste salt as such (at least according to chefs and cook books). Hence why everything is better with salt (and why sh!te freezer and "casual" restaraunt foods are so unbelievably loaded with it). So I could see a pinch of salt enhancing something like a light lager.

 

[mxstar21]

I vaguely remember seeing this stuff in the past at liquor stores.

 

[svenness]

Westbrook gose, salty sour goodness on a hot summer day.

 

[mythbustingpyro]

I have a friend who does this religiously. I do occasionally and I feel it helps round out and mellow out beers for me. Im not a huge fan of bitter either.

And the salt on paper napkins is a must.

 

[masskrug]

Don't you guys salt your watermelon when you eat it?

You're damn straight!

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-eitsutpOc[/ame]

 

[Rev2010]

^^^Lol, that freeze frame makes the dude look like Leatherface from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre haha.


Rev.