Do You Add Table Salt When Mashing Or In The Boil

[Pumpy]

I see a number of recipies add One teaspoon of Non Idionised table salt per 23litre batch .

I understand this is too bring out the flavour of the malted grains

Do you add it to the mash water ?

Or just into the Boil ?

Or does it not matter which ?

Can you add the salt to any recipe if it is just to accentuate the flavour ?


Pumpy :unsure:

 

[oldbugman]

if you added it to the mash then it'd just be like any other water modification

 

[Ross]

i always add to the boil Pumpy, as I'm not looking to change the mash PH.

cheers Ross

 

[braufrau]

I see a number of recipies add One teaspoon of Non Idionised table salt per 23litre batch .

I understand this is too bring out the flavour of the malted grains

Does the salt do anything other than what it would do on your chips?
i.e. act as a taste enhancer and fool your brain into thinking you're eating something yummier than it is?

 

[tangent]

I've met seppos who add table salt to their glass of beer :blink:

 

[blackbock]

Very timely! was only thinking about this practice this morning. I too noticed that Ross's recipes always list salt and was wondering why he does it.

I believe the chloride ions can enhance sweetness? Our water here in the Shoalhaven already contains significant chloride levels, I don't think I would need to add any.. Interestingly the river water here also contains unusually high arsenic levels, before filtration at least. I bet noone adds that to their brews!

 

[tangent]

i was reading that they used to add arsenic to beer because it's bitter and a good preservative! thank goodness for hops!

 

[devo]

nup, never have.

 

[blackbock]

i was reading that they used to add arsenic to beer because it's bitter and a good preservative!

Presumably it preserved the beer, not the drinker!

 

[Kai]

Add three parts idionised to four parts idionised, as the last runnings are entering the kettle. No sooner, no later.

 

[tangent]

Add three parts idionised to four parts idionised

can you reiterate that for me Kai?

 

[Ross]

I'm on tank water & nearly always add a teaspoon of salt... Enhances the flavour & gives a result i like

Cheers Ross

 

[SpillsMostOfIt]

I almost always have. I intend not doing so real soon on an ale to confirm that I prefer the taste when I do.

 

[tangent]

is your salt addition part of your water chemistry adjustment, or just the salt?

ie. do you add, say calcium chloride, then lessen the amount of table salt to make up for the extra chloride levels from the salt?

 

[Kai]

can you reiterate that for me Kai?

Sorry, twelveteen parts idolised to eleventy indented.

 

[Stuster]

You can add non-iodised salt to the mash or to the boil, Pumpy. There probably is no real point adding them to the mash as apparently they have no effect on the mash pH. I've just snipped the relevant bits from How to Brew.

It's best to know your water chemistry before mucking around with additions, but since Sydney water is soft there should be no problem in adding a teaspoon to the boil.

Sodium (Na+1)
Brewing Range = 0-150 ppm.
Sodium can occur in very high levels, particularly if you use a salt-based (i.e. ion exchange) water softener at home. In general, you should never use softened water for mashing. You probably needed the calcium it replaced and you definitely don't need the high sodium levels. At levels of 70 - 150 ppm it rounds out the beer flavors, accentuating the sweetness of the malt. But above 200 ppm the beer will start to taste salty. The combination of sodium with a high concentration of sulfate ions will generate a very harsh bitterness. Therefore keep at least one or the other as low as possible, preferably the sodium.

Chloride (Cl-1)
Brewing Range = 0-250 ppm.
The chloride ion also accentuates the flavor and fullness of beer. Concentrations above 300 ppm (from heavily chlorinated water or residual bleach sanitizer) can lead to mediciney flavors due to chlorophenol compounds.

Here's the Sydney water info if anybody is interested.

 

[Pumpy]

Thanks Stu for a great reply

Pumpy