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Ok – I was asked if I’d ever heard of people putting salt in their draught beer and said that I had and did it myself years ago (25+). The questioner said it was BS and an old wives tale – say it aint so.
Surely there must be others who have heard of this practice or has it gone the way of the dodo? —Salty Dog
This article appears in Jun 3-9, 2010.
19 Comments
yes i have heard of this, and i am an old wife…it used to be very common
You go to some of the neighborhood bars, where the local regulars drop in most every day & you’ll see guy’s putting salt in their draught beer.
I tried it, but I don’t like salty beer.
Yup we used to. All it did was make you thirsty and drink more … Suppose it was a waiter who dreamed up the idea?
the bear said it was very common, mainly because it gave the piss water some flavour
EEEW, did he actually taste his own…?
…just kidding, all this 80’s talk has reawakened my inner juvenile delinquent >; )
This sounds like a good idea. Might actually make Keith’s palatable.
yeah, it’s true, it used to take the bitterness out of it, because of the old wooden kegs it was in. some of that lager was fucking gross, people also use tomato juice too, not me, if i drink, i want all the shit that is the beer.
When we used to go to Joe Comeau’s we did it to take the bitterness out, of course that was back in the 80’s when draught was barely potable and the salty cascade was kind of cool too.
I heard that too, LS. Another version I was told is that it got rid of the head faster since Canucks don’t care for beer head/foam.
The fact about beer head/foam is that it keeps your drink fresher and longer. For some reason people think it’s a waste.
No as previously stated to get rid of the bitterness. I’ll take beer with foam over flat beer anytime.
I have a buddy in Dartmouth that won’t drink draught unless he can add a shake of salt. He claims the bitterness theory as well.
to get rid of head from draft, or any beveridge, put a fingertip in mouth about one second, then put said tip in beveridge,usually works because od saliva on finger acts against head. someone here can research more.
The only people that think that head on beer is a waste are alcoholics and borderline alcoholics. Our weak-beer friends down south hate head too.
My favourite beer, Guinness would be nothing without the head.
I always thought it was to make it more bubbly… since when you drop it in, it fizzes… I’m guilty of doing this as well.
didn’t even think of it cutting the bitterness….
Disgusting. Aren’t we supposed to be limiting our salt intake?
call the cops sebastard
I find some draught beer is a little bland. I always put a pinch in mine. It also gives it a little more fizz once the crystals get through the head and start dropping to the bottom.
mmmmmm
it was an old practice to salt the draft so the fizz would go down faster, and more beer would fit in the glass. and the dehydrated so you would drink more theory fits as well. most places will give you a salt shaker on request.