Table Salt

[brando]

Can't seem to get a clear answer as to why some brewers add table salt.

Some add it to the mash, and others add it to the boil.

Most seem to add about a teaspoon per 23L batch.

I've found some suggestions that it makes the malt flavour more "rounded" - whatever that means.

Seems to be used in darker beers only, such as ESB's, porters and stouts.

Is there any sense in using it if I already use pH5.2 stabiliser?

 

[kocken42]

Could be something to do with Sodium (Na) levels in the beer and the reactions between sodium and different compounds in beer.

 

[Bizier]

I think that it basically acts kind of like salt would in food, as a flavour enhancer.

I would be wary of your sodium levels if you are already using 5.2, but I don't know if 5.2 contains any sodium to buffer pH.

 

[white.grant]

The recipe I use for Gose out of Mosher's Radical Brewing calls for 28 gm of salt added to the boil.

Mosher says that

" Salt isn't such a strange ingredient, it can add a subtle richness or palate fullness to an otherwise weak or watery beer" p 146 Radical Brewing.

cheers

grant

 

[goatherder]

I suspect superstition is the main reason.

 

[kocken42]

A good experimental project ^^^

 

[DU99]

http://www.brewsupplies.com/homebrew_chemicals.htm

this might help too

http://www.byo.com/stories/article/indices/56-water/1580-unlock-the-secret-of-water

 

[Screwtop]

Could be something to do with Sodium (Na) levels in the beer

I think that it basically acts kind of like salt would in food

I would be wary of your sodium levels if you are already using 5.2, but I don't know

I suspect superstition is the main reason.

A good experimental project ^^^

"Could be" "I think" "I don't know" "I suspect "

Above are some typical AHB responses.

From experience: I find table salt improves mouthfeel in low ABV beers, which can otherwise seem a little watery.

Screwy

 

[jakub76]

There is a flavour balance between sulfates and chlorides in brewing water chemistry. Mash water high in sulphates highlights the hop bitterness and can provide a "crisp hop character" while if the sulfate to chloride ratio favours chlorides the malt is highlighted with a more "soft and rounded" character. Table salt, Sodium Chloride is one way of increasing the mash water's chloride content. John Palmer has a great spreadsheet that includes salt as well as the other basic brewing salts and acids here ... http://www.howtobrew.com/section3/chapter15-3.html ...

If you're really keen to learn download the series of 4 water chemistry Brew Strong podcasts. I needed to listen to them twice and then go back to Palmer's book before I started to understand it but I'm glad I did.

 

[manticle]

Are they complementary or opposing (chloride and sulphate)? If I want to push malt and hops, am I working against myself adding sulphate and chloride in roughly equal amounts?

 

[jakub76]

Are they complementary or opposing (chloride and sulphate)? If I want to push malt and hops, am I working against myself adding sulphate and chloride in roughly equal amounts?

Apparently it's all about the ratio. My water has very few minerals/ions so I like to add calcium chloride and gypsum in roughly equal amounts - that way it brings up the calcium content of the water - it also brings up the sulphates and chloride but in equal proportions so the balance is not changed.

The ideal additions will be determined by your starting water profile and your intended style of beer. You may want to also adjust your residual alkilinity if you're brewing a very light or very dark beer.

 

[mje1980]

Im with you jakob, i use 50/50 gyps/chl in most beers, but i'll use more chl if iim brewing a more "malty" beer, and more gyps if brewing a more "bitter" beer. I brew with fairly soft water BTW. I also add citirc to help drop the mash ph. Whether any of what im doing is scientifically correct FIIK, but i "think" my beers are more consistant in flavour since doing so.

 

[ianh]

If you're really keen to learn download the series of 4 water chemistry Brew Strong podcasts. I needed to listen to them twice and then go back to Palmer's book before I started to understand it but I'm glad I did.

Thanks for that I will download and have a listen. Need to think about water chemistry as the next step in making a better beer.

 

[Kai]

Is there any sense in using it if I already use pH5.2 stabiliser?

The short answer to that is yes, because (correct me if I'm wrong) pH 5.2 stabiliser is used for the mash but the mineral profile of your water affects the flavour profile of your entire beer.

The longer answer that I've just spent a good minute or so mulling over is that if you want to know how NaCl (or any brewing salt for that matter) then just use it. Find out average values for your brewing water and look up recommended levels for brewing regions and styles. Go back to high school chemistry to work out how much salt you need for so many parts per million of each bit. Add salts to your water, then taste everything from the final beer to the wort to the adulterated water you made it from. See if you can taste a difference.

 

[manticle]

Im with you jakob, i use 50/50 gyps/chl in most beers, but i'll use more chl if iim brewing a more "malty" beer, and more gyps if brewing a more "bitter" beer. I brew with fairly soft water BTW. I also add citirc to help drop the mash ph. Whether any of what im doing is scientifically correct FIIK, but i "think" my beers are more consistant in flavour since doing so.

Pretty much what I have been doing but I'm flying slightly blind. I have noticed a favourable difference - hoppier beers taste clearer and multi dimensional, malty beers taste maltier (although I've also been using different malts, trying decoctions, caramelising wort etc depending on style).

Added a small pinch of natural sea salt to a brew yesterday (have read that iodised salt can inhibit yeast) based on the recommendation of a fellow brewer who seems to know his chemistry. Will try and ascertain how much difference it makes.

I have also been getting better efficiency since I started adding Ca based salts to the mash. Never been one to worry too much about efficiency as long as I know what it is so I can design my brews (and as long as it's not ridiculously low) but there seems to be a difference.

As far as I'm aware, table salt would be added for flavour enhancement, not mash pH stabilisation so 5.2 stabiliser would be a different kettle of fish.

 

[Bribie G]

Ask Winkle, he almost invariably puts salt in his darker beers.

 

[Fourstar]

IIRC, Salt (Sodium in particular) is not good for yeast health so watch out on your concentrations. Just go out and buy some CaCl2 instead. You get the benifit of malt 'fullness' (warming sensation) from Cl anyway. Sodium just makes it salty.

Another good test is to *dissolve a few flecs of CaCl2 in a few ml of water/beer and add this to a malty beer you have brewed. do a side by side and see if you can taste a difference, i can.

This is optional but the reason to pre-dissolve the CaCl2 flakes is it creates a nucleation point as it dissolves and makes your beer flat. not the best for side by side tastings

 

[Faithy]

Table salt is fine for most styles of beer but don't go overboard. A teaspoon should be enough.

Salt doesn't just inhibit yeast, it kills it. This is one of the first things they teach you as a Baker (I did my trade a few years back). Get some of the compact yeast cake from your next brew and add a teaspoon of salt to it, then mix it together - the compact yeast will run like water in less than a minute.

Lee W. Janson, Ph.D. in his book 'BREW CHEM' says "Sodium: Normal levels increase flavor of beer, giving a "round smoothness." Coupled with sulfate, will give an unpleasant harshness." and "Chloride: Increases bitterness, stability and clarity of beer. At higher levels, gives pleasant round and full sweetness to beer. Can also inhibit yeast flocculation."

Give it a try and see what you think.

 

[np1962]

Salt doesn't just inhibit yeast, it kills it. This is one of the first things they teach you as a Baker (I did my trade a few years back). Get some of the compact yeast cake from your next brew and add a teaspoon of salt to it, then mix it together - the compact yeast will run like water in less than a minute.

This is not true, perhaps with bakers yeast but not so with brewers yeasts.
I have had the 'pleasure' of tasting a beer that was brewed with water salted to the same level as sea water.
Fermented fine and had an interesting flavour.
To me it was just :icon_vomit: but other tasters seemed to think it was OK.
Cheers
Nige

 

[Faithy]

This is not true, perhaps with bakers yeast but not so with brewers yeasts.
I have had the 'pleasure' of tasting a beer that was brewed with water salted to the same level as sea water.
Fermented fine and had an interesting flavour.
To me it was just :icon_vomit: but other tasters seemed to think it was OK.
Cheers
Nige

Strange that regular bakers yeast is Saccharomyces Cerevisiae (aka Ale Yeast).

Salt will kill it. Feel free to google "does salt kill yeast", "salt kills yeast" or even "does salt kill brewers yeast" - they'll all say yes.

Regular sea water has roughly 3% salt by weight so a 20L batch of beer would have to have 600g of salt to be "the same level as sea water." That is 3x the concentration of salt than in baked bread. While it's possible for some yeast to survive, I would prefer my schooners without 3 teaspoons of salt in them.

Cheers.