Salt In Beer

[Stuwort]

Hello, I'm new to this site and brewing in general and thought I'd have a crack at home brewing. I have just put down a ginger beer using a recipe I found on line and seems to be going well. Yesterday, I made a cervesa for visitors and bbq's etc and here's where the problems start. I used S23 yeast and have a brew fridge and the process went well but.... a mate sent me a recipe including malts, sugars etc that said to put 1/3 tsp salt in the boil to knock any bitternes out of it. I have misread this (rushing around) and have put 3 tablespoons of flaked crystal salt in the boil, and to make it worse, it was iodised salt . I have looked at the brew this morning and it is fermenting, so the yeasties are still alive, and it doesn't taste salty, but I'm worried that if I brew this for 3-4 weeks and then cold store it for 2 more that I'm going to waste a whole lot of brewing and fridge space when I can do another brew. Should I throw this brew out? Thanks for the help in advance and if you think I should get rid of it, does any one have a good rcipe using a coopers lager kit?

 

[joshuahardie]

Don't throw it out, it probably won't be ruined, but may taste 'interesting'

I have never herard of adding salt to a boil to eliminate bitterness. There is a rarely brewed style called a Gose that has salt additions in it, when brewed at home so it is not unheard of.

Yeah it was a mistake, but just let it run, and post the results.

 

[bum]

"said to put 1/3 tsp salt in the boil to knock any bitternes out of it"

That tin is 20IBU when made as per instructions - it barely even has any bitterness to begin with. Perhaps you should tell your mate that beer might not be for him after all.

As above, if it is tasting okay now then there's no reason to tip it just yet. Keep tasting it every few days and see how it is travelling. I can't see it getting significantly worse as it ferments out. Many people assume sweetness (such as unfermented wort) combats saltiness but I think the opposite taste of salty is acidic and there definitely should not be a lot of that in your Mex Cervesa.

Don't put salt in the next one at all. If you want it less bitter then just make it up to a larger volume.

 

[seamad]

That quantity of salt is in the ballpark for a gose, so dont chuck it. Not mant new brewers start out making the more exotic brews!

Salt in smaller quantities can lead to an increased perception of body, useful sometimes for lighter beers
cheers
Sean

 

[Stuwort]

Cheers for the input people.

 

[yum beer]

saves adding salt to the lemon/lime before chucking it in,

I cant see it being a problem , I love what salt brings to a cerveza(carona, sols,etc) in the bottle, never tried it in a home brew version though.



Keep us informed how it turns out.

 

[halabut]

Increasing sodium and chlorine levels can increase the 'sweetness' and 'maltiness' respectively. 1/3 of a teaspoon is around what you might add for this (see 'How to Brew'). However it depends on what was in your water to start with.
You're probably lucky that you used flaked salt, you probably would've got a lot more in your tablespoon if you'd used granulated. It's probably going to be... interesting.

 

[freezkat]

saves adding salt to the lemon/lime before chucking it in,

I cant see it being a problem , I love what salt brings to a cerveza(carona, sols,etc) in the bottle, never tried it in a home brew version though.



Keep us informed how it turns out.

Yeast likes some Vitamin C. a little lime juice might work out.

my grandfather always put salt in his beer. It knocked the head down so he could drink it faster I imagine.

I would think a little salt in a ginger beer would spike it up a bit.

 

[manticle]

Sodium in levels that are two high can lead to harshness and an environment that is toxic to yeast. In lower amounts it can have a pleasant effect on flavour.

Time will tell where yours lies.

 

[Stuwort]

Took a reading this morning (1020 - started at 1043) after nine days at 12-13c and it was a pretty nice summer drop . No terrible tastes and no noticeable salt and lots of little bubbles. I do however want to add some saaz hops to see what it does to it. I have a couple of questions; How long should this take to ferment and when should I dry hop?

Thanks in advance.

Stu

 

[manticle]

Sodium in levels that are two high

TOO high, idiot.

 

[bignath]

TOO high, idiot.

yeah, you tell him manticle!

 

[Stuwort]

The salt beer (as my missus calls it) had its official tasting last night. Utterly horrible sea water tasting crap. A good mate even told me it was too bad to be polite about. His missus tasted it and spat it in the sink (she's usually very lady like). I even tried to mix it with a squeezed lime and some lemonade to make a 'raddler'. No. On the up side, I had put my ginger beer aside to mature for a few weeks, and it is now beautiful. How it transformed from being undrinkable crap to better than Stones in a couple of weeks is beyond me, but hey, you get what you get. That result coupled with my awesome smelling and tasting belgian wit that looks like a hefe (I want to drink it now but I have to bottle and carb it first - I even tried to get the missus to buy a soda stream setup so i could drink a couple now) has me really excited about my next brew. I want to brew an APA using :

21L brewn
Kit yeast
1 x Coopers APA tin
1kg LDM
300g dex
15g Saaz for 30 min
10g Saaz dry hopped

My big question is, will the Saaz work with the hops (I think Cascade) that Coopers have put in the tin?

Cheers

Stu

 

[black_labb]

it's not cascade but saaz will work fine with the kit

 

[pk.sax]

The salt beer (as my missus calls it) had its official tasting last night. Utterly horrible sea water tasting crap. A good mate even told me it was too bad to be polite about. His missus tasted it and spat it in the sink (she's usually very lady like).

Save a couple of bottles for comps...