Beer Forum

So, my wife, kid, and I went to my aunt's house last night. My cousin, her kids, and husband were there. So I decided to take two bombers to let them try my beer. One was a pale ale and the other a blonde. My cousin's husband tried it and didn't say much. He then grabbed a Coors Light out of the fridge. My aunt's husband said, "I only like Coors Original" then he poured some blonde in a glass and put salt in it....... I walked away. He said he didn't like it and it should be more like Coors Original. I don't think I will bother with trying to convince them. Salt!?!? Really!?!?

That's called Gose you pedestrian. Their level of beernerditude far exceeds your comprehension.

My only guess about why they can't be converted is because they actually hate beer. I've gotten a few non-beer drinkers on the craft wagon but I think the hardcore BMC drinkers are the most stubborn because the taste of beer is offensive to them.

The salt is an old timer's "trick". Since it's homebrew & probably rather harsh someone figured out that by adding a pinch of salt occasionally helped. Remember homebrew was rarely good not all that many years ago.

What they didn't figure out is why the salt helped... which wasn't all that often, or they fooled themselves into thinking that it did. That harsh flavor could be from any number of things, most likely hot/uncontrolled fermentation, but maybe hops, water chem, etc. What the salt does is drop the sulphate/chloride ratio & make the water flavor profile a little rounder/less sharp.

Salting beer isn't a response to homebrew necessarily, but something that old men sometimes do if they are in the habit. Is your uncle older than 75?

I've been converting coworkers by the dozen, even the ladies are digging homebrew, stouts and hoppy pales and junk.

But yea some folks just can't be converted.

My father and his friends in the Vietnam war were in the habit of salting beer due to the poor beer in that country. They stated there was Formaldehyde in the beer, in which salt would reduce that flavor. Do not know if that is true or not.

A quick web search shows that China may indeed use it in beer as a clarifying agent.........

He is not to old, maybe 55ish. He definately wasn't in the military. I just think he doesn't know what's good. He once threw a fit at a restaurant because they had Coor's Light and not Original.

I have a buddy who puts salt and tapatio hot sauce in beer.