commonly known as table salt or sea salt, has the chemical formula NaCl. In water it is completely dissociated into the sodium and chloride ions, each with their own separate characteristics. Well waters nearest oceans are more likely to have higher salt contents than others. Waters high in salt are unsuitable for brewing because of their effect on yeast cell chemistry, as well as their unpleasant effects on beer flavor. Unlike many other ions found in brewing water, neither the sodium nor the chloride ions contribute significantly to the activity of mash enzymes, kettle boil coagulation, or yeast metabolism. Both these ions do, however, contribute immensely to flavor and taste perception in final beer. Sodium ions are generally considered the less desirable of the two. Sodium ions give the familiar “salty” notes and a coarseness and harshness that most brewers try to avoid. Sodium ions are considered usually best restrained to a maximum of 25 mg/l, although some stouts will taste pleasant with levels up to 150 mg/l.

Chloride, however, can give a softness and smoothness, almost sweetness, to beer flavor, in direct counterpoint to the commonly found sulfate ion that contributes a dry sharpness and accentuates bitterness. Brewers add calcium chloride more commonly as a source of chloride rather than sodium chloride. Chloride concentration in certain beers is considered palatable roughly between 50 and 250 mg/l.

In the United States it was once relatively common for some people to add salt to their beer to cause to beer to foam. This practice that has almost completely died out. However, some craft breweries have recently recreated the previously extinct Leipsiger Gose beer style, which contained noteable salt.

See also water.