Beer Soap

[scottief]

Question:

Made some beer soap for the first time. We didn't freeze it and it came out this most amazing orange colour. Made it a 2nd time and froze the beer. It came out a pale white.

I really love the orange colour it came out. My question is, Is it necessary to freeze the beer. I know I have read that it can burn it because of the sugars. I really want that colour. What is your opinion on freezing it before adding the lye as to just adding the lye to the room temp beer. Thanks for any help

 

[Seawolfe]

I froze my beer mostly because a) I didn't want a lye volcano with the sugars in the beer, and b) I really dislike the smell of lye "cooking" things (beer, milk etc...)
If neither of those are a problem for you, I don't see why you can't use plain liquid beer thats gone flat and get the orange you like. I dont see any harm in "cooking" the beer with lye, in my newbie opinion.

 

[shunt2011]

I don't freeze any of my liquids that I use in my soap. My beer I just cook it to reduce it then refrigerate it. I add my lye slowly to the beer and keep it in an ice bath to keep it cool. It doesn't turn orange though. It's a rich creamy beige. I generally use dark beer.

 

[scottief]

Thanks Seawolf. It didn't matter if I froze the beer or left it liquid, I still got a nasty smell. LOL

Im going to try a small test batch today and see if I still get the orange colour without freezing. If I can figure out how to post a picture i'll show you both of the soaps. thanks for your help

 

[SozoArtisanSoaps]

I left my beer in a bowl in the fridge for 4-6 days stirring every day to decrease carbonation. Worked great! I just had to put it in the fridge ahead of time so I had to plan in advance when to make the beer soap

 

[bodybym]

I boil it to get out the extra alcohol and carbonation, and have never frozen it. I make salt bars with it, and they get HOT, but I have never had them turn orange.

 

[scottief]

Just did a test batch and it didn't go orange. Maybe it was a beginners fluke? Ive tried 3 and 2 have gone beige and the first went orange. Strange. guess I'm not getting that amaing orange colour I got the first time.

 

[Seawolfe]

That is odd - did you use the same beer? Did you do anything to the beer in the first batch? (let it go flat, cook the alcohol off..)

 

[cmzaha]

I always use a 50/50 solution then any additional liquids, purees go right into the oil bucket. I do still burn of the alcohol

 

[LunaSkye]

I'm finding that different beers impart a different color to a soap. I used one by Blue Moon that left my soap a pale cream, Resin by Six Point made a yellowish-brown soap, and Guinness Stout made a chocolate-brown soap. I never froze the beer, but they were always cold.

It just occurred to me, did you let the soap go through a gel phase? I found that whether or not the soap gels also affects the color of the soap.

 

[scottief]

I used the same beer. I have tried it 3 different ways, which I'm guessing is why Ive got different results. Im going to try one more test batch the same way I did it the first time and see what happens. I'm thinking that I burned the crap out of it the first time and maybe thats why it went orange.

 

[CiCi]

I never froze my beer soap. I opened it and let it sit in a covered bowl for a week and then I boiled it. I didn't have any heat problems. It came out a real nice dark tan.

 

[bodybym]

I used the same beer. I have tried it 3 different ways, which I'm guessing is why Ive got different results. Im going to try one more test batch the same way I did it the first time and see what happens. I'm thinking that I burned the crap out of it the first time and maybe thats why it went orange.

Good luck. Keep us posted on how it goes.