Why You Should Add A Few Sprinkles Of Salt To Bitter Beers

These days, there are so many different types of beer around that it's entirely possible (if not outright guaranteed) that you'll come across at least one kind that is simply too bitter for your personal tastes. It can be disheartening to find a new beer, or a craft brew from a smaller brewery, and to be met with disappointment when it ends up being offensively bitter once you crack it open. But before you pour the rest of that beer down the drain, take into account one super simple trick that can take the bitter edge off of your beer. All you need to do is grab your salt shaker.

Adding a pinch of salt to your beverages is a really cool hack, but it's certainly not a clandestine secret at this point. In the same way that you can add salt to coffee to shave off the bitterness, you can also give bitter beers the same treatment. A little salt will actively work against the bitterness present in hops, the key ingredient that makes beer bitter. And as an amazing bonus, this added salt will also highlight some of the more subtle and sweet notes found in beer, particularly in its malted component. So you've really got everything to gain and nothing to lose by giving this a try.

The practice of putting a small helping of salt in bitter alcoholic drinks dates way back to antiquity, when the Romans would use salt to elevate red wine. And if you think about it, this methodology completely aligns with how we already use salt in many dishes. In the same way that salt can help to highlight the flavors present in anything from steak to chocolate chip cookies, it can also bring the flavors in your beer to the forefront while limiting the bitterness. Some types of beer, such as the German Gose style, already utilize salt in their brewing process for this reason, as well as for the convenient fact that salt also helps with the beer's texture. And if you really want to mix it up, add a little lime alongside that salt for a classic Mexican "chelada."

On that note, salt isn't the only thing you can add to beer to help with its flavor. If the chelada brought you visions of a warm refreshing beachside scene, you can try out a spicy, savory michelada, the chelada's clamato-infused cousin. You could also make a "snakebite" –- in other words, 50% beer and 50% hard cider. In fact, there are several interesting mixers for your beer, so you'll never be left without a fix for a subpar beer that doesn't live up to your standards.