My father was a beer drinker. Okay, that might qualify as a gross understatement. For now, let’s just say he was above average in his beer-drinking frequency.
Anyhoo,
he liked to drink his beer from a glass and sometimes, after filling his glass,
he would add a dash of salt.
Let’s
talk about that.
According
to AI, some people add a pinch of salt to beer to soften bitterness and draw
other flavors forward. In some cultures, especially in parts of Mexico, salting
beer is a familiar ritual rather than a correction. Used sparingly, salt isn’t
meant to make beer taste salty. It quiets one sharp note so the rest can settle
into balance.
But
my father was a practical man from East Helena, Montana. I suspect he salted
his beer for a simpler reason: it knocked down the foam, which it does, quickly.
For
reasons I can’t fully explain, some of my fondest childhood memories live right
there. He would let me add the salt. I loved watching the grains hit the head
of foam, taming it, then sinking through the amber beer and leaving behind
thin, trailing strings of bubbles.
Nothing
dramatic. Nothing profound. Just a dash of salt.
It’s
the little things.
—Mitchell
Hegman
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