Adding salt

[Batweed]

So being new at this I have a question about salt, I was going through a list of mine of wines and flavoured ginger beers and hard lemonades I want to try and was wondering if I can add salt to them, or would the salt fight with the yeast?

 

[nathanvonbeerenstein]

As in table salt to drinks youve bought from shops to drink rather than anything youre brewing yourself?
Wouldnt matter really what you add to the finished product right before you drink it as long as it tastes fine. Yeast shouldnt react and produce off flavours or autolyze or any of those things, the yeast (if any) in the drink wont have enough time to react if theyre even still alive.

For what its worth, my old Italian grandfather used to add a pinch of table salt to every VB he cracked open, guess he was into his water chemistry...

 

[TimT]

I read around here that too much salt is bad for yeast as sodium is toxic to it, so salt should be used in limited quantities.

Then again there are a *lot* of salts in the world. It might be perfectly acceptable to use some salts in brews. Calcium chloride is an interesting one - has a salty taste, and I think I have seen it in some brew recipes. As it happens I have some in my fridge for cheesemaking.

I think salt would go really well with some brews - saisons, for instance.

 

[Airgead]

Up to a point salt (table salt) will be fine. Too much is toxic to them and will inhibit fermentation (which is why salt is used as a preservative). Other salts are different. Some are toxic to yeast at much lower levels. Some aren't toxic to yeast at all.

What exactly did you have in mind? I'm trying to picture a salty wine and not having much success.

 

[BilBrewing]

I remember hearing that it's an old wives tale that people used to salt their beers / drinks as they believe it would stop them from needing to wizzle so much during a session. Pretty sure it doesn't actually do that though.

 

[MartinOC]

I've added salt (ie. Sodium Chloride) to many of my brews with no ill effects.

The single Sodium ion is a flavour-enhancer (particularly of malt) in much the same way Monosodium Glutamate is a flavour enhancer.

Just make sure you use the stuff that's Non-iodised, as it's the iodine that's toxic to yeast. Many of the "top-shelf" (unprocessed) sea-salts also contain a lot of trace elements that are beneficial to both yeast & humans.

Just don't go overboard (I think the max. I ever used in a batch was 2 Tbsp in a 60L batch - 'can't remember my tasting notes from that far back....).

Too much is toxic to them and will inhibit fermentation (which is why salt is used as a preservative).

Salt is/was used as a preservative because it draws moisture out of both the meat & bacteria it's applied-to. You'd need a shedload of salt to have that effect on yeast in suspension in a wort.

 

[TimT]

I've read some traditional Gose recipes include salt. And then there's traditional recipes like Cock Ale - essentially a rich, fermented chicken stock(!) That must have a tonne of natural salts in it.

 

[Airgead]

Salt is/was used as a preservative because it draws moisture out of both the meat & bacteria it's applied-to. You'd need a shedload of salt to have that effect on yeast in suspension in a wort.

Partly that but it does have some inhibitory qualities beyond that.

A pinch or so as a flavour enhancer will be fine but in larger amounts it will noticeably inhibit fermentation.

In my breadmaking the standard salt amount is about 1% by weight of flour. I have done tests with identical batches, one salted, one not and the salted batch is significantly slower to rise. I did know once what caused the inhibition but can't remember now. I think its something to do with sodium transport channels across the cell membrane.

But yeah... probably not going to get to those amounts in brewing. At least I hope not.

Cheers
DAve

 

[TimT]

Just make sure you use the stuff that's Non-iodised, as it's the iodine that's toxic to yeast. Many of the "top-shelf" (unprocessed) sea-salts also contain a lot of trace elements that are beneficial to both yeast & humans.

Martin, frequenting other fermentation forums as I do I've often seen 'sea salt' or that Himalayan mountain salt stuff recommended. We have a packet of that at home; funny thing is it lists the elements that it contains, and the list includes iodine. However I decided to ignore that and use it on some of my cheeses anyway. It doesn't seem to have had any ill effects!

So maybe the 'iodine' component of this pink salt is either a) too small to make any effect or b.) part of a compound where its toxic-to-yeast-and-bacteria effects are negated?

The slightly frustrating thing about these discussions are that distinctions are so rarely made between different compounds that may contain the same elements, or the elements themselves. Not having a go at you but as I'm sure you're aware, it's a basic chemistry principle that the same elements may have very different effects depending on what compound they're part of/if they're part of a compound. (The element that most often comes up on AHB is nitrogen - ie, discussion about yeast nutrient).

 

[MartinOC]

I think its something to do with sodium transport channels across the cell membrane.

Yep! Osmosis (& no, I'm not waving my Harry Potter Elder Wand at this... ).

Edit: Tim, yes, I agree with you about amounts. In the unprocessed "top-shelf" stuff, iodine is nothing more than "trace". With the deliberately iodised table salt, it's actually added-back at levels that I'd be very wary about adding to my brews due to potential yeast toxicity.

 

[TimT]

What sort of brews do you use salt in Martin? What effects are you going for?

 

[MartinOC]

I've only added it as a very small amounts in ales, where I'm looking for a "nudge" to the maltiness & overall rounding of flavour. If you can taste "salt", then it's definitely too much.

Generally, it's the low-gravity stuff that can otherwise be a bit wishy-washy (ie. second-runnings/parti-gyle type brews).

 

[doon]

I used salt in a gose. From memory got an amount of water and added it salt bit by bit until it just tasted salty. I then worked out how much i would need in 20l and added it to brew.

I think i was conservative with amount as it didnt come out with quite enough salt flavour

 

[Batweed]

Thanks guys i have a spice mix I wanted to try in my ginger beer that I normally put into my gingerbread men for Christmas, the whole mix only has about 1 teaspoon in it so it wouldn't be very much at all....