TLDW: Their mandarin orange wine was a bit too bitter. Testing, unscientifically, if they can tell a difference. They can. They think it lowers the bitterness.
Interesting. I’m mainly a beer brewer (only my first cider recently) so I’ve not had a brew that’s “too bitter”, as with beer you WANT them to be bitter, usually. I’ve heard to add a pinch of salt to a pot of coffee.
I would probably not do that because I’d be worried that it’ll destroy the whole batch.
I always remember about thing my dad said when I asked him about water chemistry:
“You know, almost anywhere is water good for brewing beer. But in Pilsen it is too hard so they have to treat it.”
They have too much iron in it so they have steps on which the water flows, oxygenate and it gets out.
Oh wow, I was always under the impression true pilsner only comes from Pilsen because that’s the place that had the best water for it. Today I learned…
I remember hearing about salt and bitterness a while back and trying it with some tonic water. Definitely works, but I think it might just be a matter of our senses getting confused. I wouldn’t add that much salt as to mask bitterness in beer though, I fear it may screw up the fermentation.
What about post fermentation? I'd assume that's where salt is added to a salted gose, for example.
Then again, lots of brewing books will discuss how to analyze and alter the mineral component of your tap water to match whatever European city you are mimicking.
Too long of a video.
Yeah upping one flavor will usually balance out others. It's why you'd never really cook something without salting it. At first they probably only salted enough for the variation you'd find in tap water if your friend brewed the same recipe.
I don't think a tablespoom of table salt in a five gallon brew is going to fix every error, but I can see why it might be worth trying for certain types of herbal/bitter/medicinal flavors you want to temper.
I probably would have tossed in some oak cubes and let it cellar for a month and tried it again, myself.
