[Lazy Ant Brewing]

The latest issue of BYO  has a prohibition-era recipe from Vermont on page 42 for a 3.2 abv beer as follows:

 5 gals water
3 lbs malt syrup with hops
1/4 lb hops (most likely Cluster)
2 lbs sugar
1 cake yeast
1 level tablespoon salt

Seems like more salt than found in most recipes.

A did a quick look at water profiles on BeerSmith and the location with the highest concentration I found was East Los Angeles.  It had 84 ppm Sodium and 99 ppm Chloride.

I'm wondering if perhaps they needed that to balance their water or maybe since manual labor was more prevalent in that era, that extra salt was added to help those doing heavy outdoor work in the hot summer weather.

Comments please and I'd especially like to hear from some of the homebrewers from Vermont.

[kramerog]

That seems like a lot of salt. I made a Gose with 10 g of salt/5 gal. The Gose was pleasantly salty.  Not sure what 1 tsp of salt weighs, perhaps 7 grams. Salt in a non-sour should be less salty then in a sour; still 1 tsp seems like a lot.

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[zwiller]

I am starting to feel old (44)...     I recall many old timers adding salt to their beer.  My mom included.  I asked her why and she said it did 2 things: reduced overly carbonated beer (main reason) but it also made it taste better.  It makes perfect sense to me for a recipe if that era.  Remember, you should not add iodized salt when brewing or it will kill the yeast.  That said, a tablespoon does seem on the high side. 

[riceral]

Could it be a misprint and they meant 1 teaspoon?

Just a thought. I have never used salt of any amount in my beer.

[homoeccentricus]

In my previous brew I accidentally added 200 ppm sodium. Dumped it.

[brewinhard]

In my previous brew I accidentally added 200 ppm sodium. Dumped it.

Hopefully on your corn on the cob!

[dmtaylor]

Sounds like your typical commercial gose, with WAY TOO MUCH EFFING SALT.

[dmtaylor]

Could it be a misprint and they meant 1 teaspoon?

This could be true.  I just read this article in BYO this morning and I am indeed interested in it.  If I brew it I will go the route of 1 teaspoon.