Salt in Brewing?

[Bug Jug]

We use salt in all kinds of food and drinks to enhance flavors, but I haven't seen any wisdom regarding salting brewed items like beer, wine, or mead (mead is what I'm primarily working on).

I'm not looking for a salty, briny mead, I just want know if there's a reasonable amount of salt I could add that could enhance the flavors in my mead(s).

Does anyone have any experience adding a touch of salt that could add their two cents? Amount of salt per gallon, etc?

For context, I'm working on a very small basis, one gallon at a time.

 

[darigoni]

You wouldn’t want to add it until after the fermentation is done, as the yeast would not like it.

Special Ingredient: Salt

The key to a proper gose, says Fal Allen, the longtime brewmaster at Anderson Valley Brewing Company, is to go easy on the salt and don’t put too much stock in the fancy stuff.

beerandbrewing.com

 

[Bug Jug]

You wouldn’t want to add it until after the fermentation is done, as the yeast would not like it.

Special Ingredient: Salt

The key to a proper gose, says Fal Allen, the longtime brewmaster at Anderson Valley Brewing Company, is to go easy on the salt and don’t put too much stock in the fancy stuff.

beerandbrewing.com

Right, I would probably add it after secondary fermentation and/or right before bottling along with any sweetener, if I choose to sweeten

 

[ckroyce124]

I have used it in a couple melomels where the fruit was very tart and had a bit more bitterness than I wanted. (One was Andean blackberry and one was maracuya passion fruit) Before doing this the pH and sweetness was adjusted to the level suited to the flavor of the fruit. I bench tasted carrying amounts and found it took very little to do what I wanted, which was to enhance flavor and temper the bite. If you go over that level the salt can overwhelm it at a surprisingly small dose and you can't take it out. Both those fruits are intense and I think I landed at 2 grams per gallon on the Andean blackberry and 3 grams/gallon on the maracuya.

 

[Bug Jug]

I have used it in a couple melomels where the fruit was very tart and had a bit more bitterness than I wanted. (One was Andean blackberry and one was maracuya passion fruit) Before doing this the pH and sweetness was adjusted to the level suited to the flavor of the fruit. I bench tasted carrying amounts and found it took very little to do what I wanted, which was to enhance flavor and temper the bite. If you go over that level the salt can overwhelm it at a surprisingly small dose and you can't take it out. Both those fruits are intense and I think I landed at 2 grams per gallon on the Andean blackberry and 3 grams/gallon on the maracuya.

An answer like this was exactly what I was looking for, thanks!!

 

[ckroyce124]

Glad it helped!