How to make beer soap - or not.

[KimT2au]

How to Make Beer Soap.

Step 1 - We don't drink beer so get husband to buy beer...Check

Step 2 - Pour beer into bowl and leave on counter overnight to lose carbonation...Check

Step 3 - Place beer in saucepan and simmer for 20 minutes to remove as much of the alcohol as possible...Check

Step 4 - Leave beer in saucepan to cool prior to placing in freezer ... Check

Step 5 - Place beer in freezer .... Ch .... wait, where's the beer? Kim checks fridge, checks freezer and even checks cupboard jut in case she has had another senior moment. Nope, no beer to be found. Ask husband if he knows anything about the beer. Hubby had not known what was in the saucepan so he threw it away. Sighhhh. Back to step 1. One day I will get that beer soap made

 

[shunt2011]

You don't really need to freeze the beer. I'm one who doesn't. Though I don't do 100% beer. I dissolve my lye in just enough water (1:1) and then add the beer to my oils and stickblend well before adding lye/water. I usually cook my beer down to a syrup though too. I have also just let it sit out for a day or two and then just added it.

 

[DeeAnna]

I don't freeze the beer either. I do what Shari (shunt) does -- use water to make a 50% lye solution and add beer cooked down to 1/2 the original volume (or less) for the rest of the "water."

Using water for the lye solution has several benefits -- reduces the weird odors that beer and NaOH make, lets me easily see when the NaOH is fully dissolved if making lye solution from scratch, allows the NaOH to dissolve a little faster because the liquid is at room temperature, and lets me use a 50% masterbatched lye solution if I want to.

 

[Misschief]

I simmer the beer for 10 minutes or so and let it cool overnight. When I'm ready to make soap, I slowly add the lye directly to the beer. Very slowly, like a teaspoon at a time. I've not had an issue.

 

[amd]

I do want the others do as well - I boil for 10 minutes to remove 70-80% of the alcohol, just enough to make it safe without removing the integrity of the beer (aka burning it). Cool in the fridge and then use 2 parts cold beer to 1 part 50/50 lye solution. Before I masterbatched lye, I would do as DeeAnna does, dissolve the lye in water and then add the beer. I've frozen it once (I think my second or third batch of beer soap) and that was a huge PITA. I will never add lye to frozen anything again. Unless I get a 100lb lye tank and need to make a ton of lye solution, lol.

 

[KimT2au]

Thank you all for the great suggestions. So, to clarify, I should simmer down my beer and allow to cool. In the mean time mix the required amount of lye to an equal amount of water. I should then deduct the amount of water used to make the lye solution from the total amount required for the recipe and that is the amount of simmered and cooled beer I should add to the oils. Is that correct?

Given that beer already contains sugar, do you think it is necessary to add sugar to enhance bubbles?

 

[Relle]

Step 6 - Make beer soap when hubby is not home .

Yes to the first question, although I usually use the liquid as all beer and freeze it before adding lye. I think I was a bit short on beer in one batch and made it up with water.
I don't add sugar to my beer soap, it's bubbly enough.

 

[KimT2au]

Step 6 - Make beer soap when hubby is not home .

Yes to the first question, although I usually use the liquid as all beer and freeze it before adding lye. I think I was a bit short on beer in one batch and made it up with water.
I don't add sugar to my beer soap, it's bubbly enough.

Thank, @Relle .

 

[jcandleattic]

Apparently I don't do what any of y'all do. LOL I pour my beer in my plastic container (straight from the bottle) add a little salt, stir, then freeze. Soap the next day with the frozen beer being 100% of my liquid.

I never worry about boiling the alcohol out or letting it go flat before freezing it. I love my beer soaps, and have never had a problem soaping with beer by doing it this way.
It does get a little bit thicker a little faster than normal, but nothing I can't work with for the type of swirls I make.

 

[loopyloop]

I boil for 10 mins, cool and freeze. That’s it. I’ve made lots of batches like this with no issues.

 

[Candybee]

I pour my beer into a plastic pitcher and refridgerate it overnight. It goes flat that way and is ready for me to use the next day. I don't freeze it or boil it. But I also don't add it in my lye solution. I make that seperate and add my chilled flat beer to my soap batter. I love using chilled aloe vera juice as my liquid for my lye solution. The combo of the aloe and beer in my soap makes a wonderful, creamy, moisturizing soap thats great for sensitive or itchy skin. My only problem is I can't keep beer soap in stock it sells so fast. But I guess thats a good problem to have so I don't mind too much.

 

[earlene]

I do sometimes think, 'what if Hubby tosses this if I leave it sitting around?' Not just with soaping stuff, too. I go along with the 'make soap when he's not around' idea, too, but with such a long-process of making beer soap, there are so many steps that take so much time, that's not easy to manage! Another option is to label stuff with some sort of sign to prevent those kinds of accidental tossing.

 

[DeeAnna]

@earlene -- It doesn't take more than 5-10 minutes longer, at most, to make beer soap than if I make the same soap with just water. I dump the beer in a saucepan and simmer it down while getting everything else ready. By the time the beer is reduced to the volume I want, I'm ready to make soap. If I want to cool the beer down before use, I'll stick the saucepan in a bowl of cold water for a bit, but that's only a few minutes of added time. And many times, I'll just add it hot to my fats and go from there.

 

[earlene]

Okay, I suppose that's true if you don't go through the many steps the OP mentioned and wait a day or so and the Hubby isn't passing through the kitchen tossing things out. I've only made beer soap a few times, but when I did, I left it to go flat for a day or two, which for me, has a Hubby in and out of the kitchen. If I were to boil it on the stove and later put it in the freezer like the OP, (I didn't do that step, but if I were to do so), then if my Hubby were passing through the kitchen during any of those events, he'd be sure to take some notice. Of course, if I were to leave anything out that I suspect he might toss out or otherwise mess with in a way to interfere with my plans for it, I would either tell him what's going on, or label it in some way.

But I see your point, DeeAnna. It doesn't have to take as long. But everything I do takes longer than it should if I don't do it very often, and I'm guessing the OP may be just learning to make beer soap, so the process may be taking longer right now. Especially since the Hubby felt the need to toss out a pan of liquid on top of the stove.

Nice Hubby, though. Mine may do the dishes if they are in the sink, but no way does he ever walk over to the stove to pick up a dirty pan and add it to the dishwater.