Salt in the Recipe

[lbernard3]

My friend let me see her grandfather's homebrew log - he began in 1975. Every recipe had salt added - not water salts or Burtons- but table salt!

Does anyone know why this was done? What did it do in the recipe?

Just wondering. Thanks for any info.

Lou

[BadRock]

The only beer that I am aware of that required salt as an ingrediant and not a water ajustment is a Gose Beer

[lbernard3]

Every recipe - even from an old brewing book - has salt in it. It is weird-but I can't find any reason in the books to add it.

Lou

[Bugeater]

If I remember right (too lazy to look it up at the moment) chloride in the water will accentuate maltiness in a beer. Don't know if that is why those old recipes included salt though.

Wayne

[BDawg]

Sodium will add mouthfeel to a beer when used with restraint.

[ajdelange]

Chloride is associated with roundness, fullness and sweetness in a beer and I'm sure that's the reason for it in the old recipies. I can remember as a kid seeing the old timers add a couple of shakes of salt to the beer in the glass before drinking it. You can try this yourself to see what the effect is.

[11amas]

Won't the sodium cover up bitterness as well? I don't think they had hopheads back then. Also, they probably didn't have homebrew shops that sold CaCl so you can get some Chloride without the sodium; table salt was very easy to get.

[ApresSkiBrewer]

Chloride is associated with roundness, fullness and sweetness in a beer and I'm sure that's the reason for it in the old recipies. I can remember as a kid seeing the old timers add a couple of shakes of salt to the beer in the glass before drinking it. You can try this yourself to see what the effect is.

Isn't that how schiltz was originally marketed? Poured over ice, dash of salt, and a lemon.

I recall hearing/reading that somewhere... but it was way before my time.