Helles Bock ingredient questions

[Swamp Yankee]

I think I posted this the wrong topic earlier so to be safe I'm gonna repost here..Yes I am an .
I'm going to brew a Helles bock this weekend and have a couple questions.
1, the recipe calls for a 3 inch piece of black licorice into the boil (the end), is this for flavor or aroma? I really don't care for the taste of licorice, will it make a difference?

2, all my hops, 2 oz of tradition and 1 oz of sazz are going right into the boil, can I add a hop for aroma in the whirpool, or even dry hop, if dry hop, in the primary or in the keg?

3, also, what would adding my DME late in the boil accomplish, I've always done it in the begining, but I heard adding it late is better?

4. The recipe also calls for sodium chloride, if I'm not mistaken, that is rock salt, I'm wondering if this may be a misprint, or if I really add this.

The recipe came out of the Brew Masters Bible, page 311. if anyone can help it would be great.

any other tips would be helpful, thanks!

[944play]

4. The recipe also calls for sodium chloride, if I'm not mistaken, that is rock salt, I'm wondering if this may be a misprint, or if I really add this.

Yes, table salt. Probably depends on the water you're using. From Brew Chem 101:

Chloride (Cl-) Increases bitterness, stability, and clarity of beer. At higher levels, gives pleasant round and full sweetness to beer. Can also inhibit yeast flocculation.

Sodium (Na+) Normal levels increase flavor of beer giving a "round smoothness." Coupled with sulfate, will give an unpleasant harshness.

So if your water has high sulfates, you might leave it out or dilute with RO or distilled.

[BDawg]

+1 on skipping the licorice
+1 on adding all the hops together
don't fuck with your water if you don't know what you already have and what your target is.
sodium adds a bit to the mouthfeel, but you probably don't need it. Just concentrate on ensuring your mash pH is in the 5.2 range and you'll be good to go.
If it's not, you can always adjust the way you normally do.

George Schmidt used to have an AWESOME web site that had a water database. I wonder what happened to that.

[Swamp Yankee]

thanks alot guys, I think I will add the salt, we use bottled water (for home use and brewing) typicaly poland springs, I believe that requires some building. I normaly add gypsum to most of my boils using PS water and havn't had problems.