I’ve read that adding non-iodized salt adds fullness and roundness to the taste, but can it be added at any point in the process? I believe Dave in Two Rivers, WI has mentioned adding his to the bottling bucket. I intended to do that on my last batch, but forgot and now the beer is in the bottles.
I do BIAB and treat my water with calcium chloride and gypsum at the mash stage. Could the table salt be added then? It would make it easier for me to remember because I have a “procedure sheet” I prepare and follow for each batch. Thanks in advance for your replies.
I have not used regular salt or non-iodized salt in quite some time. But honestly, you can add salt any time you want, up to and including in the glass when you drink the beer! Some people add a pinch of salt to every glass and enjoy it better that way. Otherwise, typically it is probably added either in the mash tun or in the kettle. It really doesn’t matter. If you think you need salt, add some to taste, whenever you want. Personally I don’t do much with salts anymore, but of course feel free to play around with it and see what YOU like best.
I agree with Dave, above - it can be added at any point. If added in the mash you just need to account for how it may slightly affect the mash pH (likely not much)- a water mineral and mash pH calculator will give you a pretty good idea what to expect. Experimenting with adding various amounts to a glass of finished beer seems a good way to get a sense of whether or at what point you may perceive some difference in the beer and where the threshold is that it begins to taste unpleasantly salty.
I target approximately 50ppm of Sodium in my beers. I add kosher salt with all my other water adjustments the night before I brew based on my brewing software. In my system that amounts to 1.5g in 17 liters of brewing liquor to start.
I always add a touch of sea salt. In my Czech Pils for example I add 1g which adds 8.5ppm sodium and 13.4 ppm chloride according to software program. It def adds a roundness or a smoothness to beer. I add it to the mash water.
On another note, my brother inlaw is a lifetime dedicated miller lite in a can guy. He adds table salt to each one he drinks!
I stand corrected - - I had said above that software might reflect a slight change in mash pH with a salt addition, with my thought being that the additions might affect pH in a small way. I was not aware that typical software bypass an NaCl addition. I guess I don’t really notice whether it does or doesn’t change the software estimates where I add salt, which I often do but in relatively minute amounts. Thanks for passing along this knowledge, Dave and Denny.
