Recipe suggestions for a Beer Soap using my Amber Ale Homebrew

[kunalv]

Hello guys, new to this hobby and this forum!

I homebrew beer, and have some of my last batch, which was an Oatmeal Amber Ale lying around. Thought I would make my first soap using this.

Could you guys help me with a super minimalist soap recipe? I would like to know which Essential Oils would best compliment beer in my soap. I have looked at a dozen different recipes, but they just seem quite complicated(and expensive) to begin with. I am not sure how much of those ingredients i'll be able to locate here in India. Also, I have a funny looking mould which is basically 4 cavities of different shapes. Went with one of these instead of a loaf mould since I would like to see if this I can stick to this hobby. I guess each cavity would make a 75 or 100g soap right? How do you know for sure?

Have a few more questions, but I'd like to get your replies to the above to start off. Thanks

 

[amd]

There's several ways you can add beer to soap and I've tried them all. It does depend on how the oil blend behaves to begin with as to how the beer will work. This is how I do it for my recipe, which is known for its fast acceleration and general finickiness:

Boil beer with salt for 10 minutes. I use 1 tbsp salt per 500g oils that I'm using in my recipe. Boiling the beer will decarbonate it and remove a good portion of the alcohol. Allow to cool to room temp.

Make lye solution at 1:1 water to lye. Allow to cool to room temp.

Melt oils together and allow to cool to approx 25degs C. Add beer to oils, blend. Add room temp lye solution. Blend to trace.

This is very basic instructions because you do need to understand how to substitute liquids in lye solutions, and how to make soap. Using beer can be tricky, so I encourage you to do a few small batches (approx 500g) using only water to get a feel for how the soap should behave before trying it with beer.

As for the soap recipe, do a search for "basic soap recipe" on the forum, you'll find many suggestions for easy well behaved recipes, all of which will work with beer.

No beer fragrance will come through with an amber ale, so you can fragrance the soap any way that you like. I make beer soap for several breweries and the only soaps that have had an inkling of beer scent (mostly the malty scents of the beer) have been strong stouts and dark porters.

Spend a bit of time on the forum reading some of the beginner posts, as well as the many threads discussing beer soap. You'll find there are several ways to add the beer, the one I shared above is the most reliable and consistent for me, but isn't considered the "only right way" to do it.

 

[kunalv]

Boil beer with salt for 10 minutes. I use 1 tbsp salt per 500g oils that I'm using in my recipe. Boiling the beer will decarbonate it and remove a good portion of the alcohol. Allow to cool to room temp.

I will boil the beer. But why do I need salt? All the videos and tutorials I have seen so far require boiling the beer as is.

Make lye solution at 1:1 water to lye. Allow to cool to room temp.

Can't I use 100% beer in place of water? The recipe I am using calls for that.

This is very basic instructions because you do need to understand how to substitute liquids in lye solutions, and how to make soap. Using beer can be tricky, so I encourage you to do a few small batches (approx 500g) using only water to get a feel for how the soap should behave before trying it with beer.

I really want to try with beer. What are the main reasons why you would suggest starting with water over beer? Also, I do not have access to distilled water. I hope bottled water (Purified + UV + RO treated) should suffice.

I have made my recipe based on this - Beer Soap Recipe

I had to google Specific Gravities of each oil to convert the 'Grams' into 'ML'. How else would I know how much to order. This is what I have stumbled upon (attaching SoapCalc & my calculations screenshot).. If there is anything amiss, would appreciate if you let me know. Thank you

 

[amd]

But why do I need salt?

I use salt to add hardness to the bar (and allows me to unmold faster). It will not dissolve in the 1:1 lye solution, and it is easier to dissolve into the beer when boiling so that is when I add it. You do not need to add it. I was telling you how I make beer soap. As mentioned in my post,

You'll find there are several ways to add the beer, the one I shared above is the most reliable and consistent for me, but isn't considered the "only right way" to do it.

Can't I use 100% beer in place of water?

You can. I haven't had luck with this method - the first time I did it I did not boil the beer to remove alcohol, I only allowed it to become flat, and when I added the lye it exploded over my kitchen cabinets. (I've been told this is a rarity, but I have not tried it without boiling my beer since) I have also tried boiling the beer and using it as 100% of the liquid in my lye solution, but I find my recipe moves too quickly and the soap seizes on me. Again... there are several ways to do this, this is just the most reliable and consistent for me, not the "only right way" to do it. If you don't like what I suggest, then I encourage you to do as I suggested previously to search the forum and read the many posts and threads regarding beer soap.

I really want to try with beer. What are the main reasons why you would suggest starting with water over beer?

I gave you the reason in my post, I'll repeat it again...

This is very basic instructions because you do need to understand how to substitute liquids in lye solutions, and how to make soap. Using beer can be tricky, so I encourage you to do a few small batches (approx 500g) using only water to get a feel for how the soap should behave before trying it with beer.

You should have an understanding of what trace looks like, how your recipe behaves without beer, and a good understanding of the soapmaking process itself before adding ingredients that can cause acceleration, seizing, or false trace. Beer is one of those additives that can be finicky depending on your oil recipe - I've had some recipes that have gone together perfectly with the beer, and others that made me swear to never make beer soap again. Even different types of beer will react differently to the same recipe. Make sure you understand your recipe, so that you can correct if the beer doesn't play well with it.

Your recipe is an okay recipe. For me the cleansing number is too high, likely due to 30% CO (coconut oil). That said, for a first soap I would make this recipe and try it after a 6 week cure. If it feels too drying, cure for 4 more weeks. Coconut Oil in soaps creates wonderful lather, but is high cleansing, so for drier skin types it is best to use it at a lower percentage (20% or less). I usually find that in higher CO soaps, leaving them to age (or cure) will reduce the high cleansing.

One thing I do see with your recipe is that you have high water amount in you lye concentration:

I would change this to 33%. At 28% lye concentration you are adding more liquid than you really need, and with this recipe you may experience your soap warping as it cures. In soap calc you can change this setting here:

Also note that 236g oils is a very small batch. You may be better increasing your oil amount to 500g. That increase does not seem like much, but it does help reduce any errors in weighing out your ingredients.

Edited to remove partial sentence.

 

[Arimara]

In truth, knowing how your recipe behaves first it the best advice you can get before using beer as a liquid. You might wind up wanting to change it, especially if you find that the amount of coconut oil is too much for your skin (you can always take up to 10% from the coconut oil and allocate that amount to the shea butter if you'd like). I'd like to add that if you use beer as all your liquid, it's safer to boil the beer down as recommended but mix the lye solution in a tall type 2 or 5 plastic container. This is to help minimize the risk of lye volcano. You will want to mix the lye slowly to further reduce the risk. Don't use any metal spoons or pitchers unless you can guarantee they are stainless steel and definitely avoid using glass of any kind.

 

[kunalv]

I use salt to add hardness to the bar (and allows me to unmold faster). It will not dissolve in the 1:1 lye solution, and it is easier to dissolve into the beer when boiling so that is when I add it. You do not need to add it. I was telling you how I make beer soap. As mentioned in my post,

Understood.

If you don't like what I suggest, then I encourage you to do as I suggested previously to search the forum and read the many posts and threads regarding beer soap.

Honestly that's not the case. I only asked that question because all the recipes and videos I have seen to this point used 100% beer. So just wanted to understand from you the merits of using water with the beer. I guess I have got your point now.

You should have an understanding of what trace looks like, how your recipe behaves without beer, and a good understanding of the soapmaking process itself before adding ingredients that can cause acceleration, seizing, or false trace. Beer is one of those additives that can be finicky depending on your oil recipe - I've had some recipes that have gone together perfectly with the beer, and others that made me swear to never make beer soap again. Even different types of beer will react differently to the same recipe. Make sure you understand your recipe, so that you can correct if the beer doesn't play well with it.

Got it. I'll start with water.

Your recipe is an okay recipe. For me the cleansing number is too high, likely due to 30% CO (coconut oil). That said, for a first soap I would make this recipe and try it after a 6 week cure. If it feels too drying, cure for 4 more weeks. Coconut Oil in soaps creates wonderful lather, but is high cleansing, so for drier skin types it is best to use it at a lower percentage (20% or less). I usually find that in higher CO soaps, leaving them to age (or cure) will reduce the high cleansing.

Should I just reduce the CO quantity in that case? And increase Shea Butter proportionally?

I would change this to 33%. At 28% lye concentration you are adding more liquid than you really need, and with this recipe you may experience your soap warping as it cures. In soap calc you can change this setting here:

Thanks. Doing it right away.

Also note that 236g oils is a very small batch. You may be better increasing your oil amount to 500g. That increase does not seem like much, but it does help reduce any errors in weighing out your ingredients.

I know it is a small batch. Like I said in my first post, I have got a really small mold with 4 cavities. I poured water in each cavity, and the total weight came up to around 360 grams. Using 70% oil ratio, I got 236grams.

I'll make the amendments on SoapCalc and post here in a bit. Thank you so much!

In truth, knowing how your recipe behaves first it the best advice you can get before using beer as a liquid. You might wind up wanting to change it, especially if you find that the amount of coconut oil is too much for your skin (you can always take up to 10% from the coconut oil and allocate that amount to the shea butter if you'd like). I'd like to add that if you use beer as all your liquid, it's safer to boil the beer down as recommended but mix the lye solution in a tall type 2 or 5 plastic container. This is to help minimize the risk of lye volcano. You will want to mix the lye slowly to further reduce the risk. Don't use any metal spoons or pitchers unless you can guarantee they are stainless steel and definitely avoid using glass of any kind.

Got it. Will start off with water and i'll change the CO & shea butter percentages. I have Stainless steel spoons and a Silicone spatula which I am planning to reserve for this activity

Also, any chance I could remove Avocado Oil from the recipe completely? It's a little too expensive and not readily available over here. If that is the case, how do I bump up the other oils knowing CO needs to be capped at 20%

 

[GemstonePony]

Also, any chance I could remove Avocado Oil from the recipe completely? It's a little too expensive and not readily available over here. If that is the case, how do I bump up the other oils knowing CO needs to be capped at 20%

Yes, just replace it with olive oil.

 

[kunalv]

Yes, just replace it with olive oil.

That would mean a minimum 50% of olive oil. Hope that's fine

 

[Arimara]

That would mean a minimum 50% of olive oil. Hope that's fine

It's fine. some soaps are made with 100% olive oil.

 

[GemstonePony]

That would mean a minimum 50% of olive oil. Hope that's fine

It's not unusual. If you want the bar to last a little longer, you could up the Shea, but I'd keep it under 30% so you don't have soap on a stick between the Shea and the beer.
Side note, another reason I've heard for adding salt to beer is to help the alcohol boil off faster and to be very, very sure the carbonation is gone.
I also do half water for my alcoholic soaps, but I tend to boil my alcoholic beverage of choice for 45+ minutes to reduce it, and then freeze it into cubes and add the correct amount of cubes to my cooling lye solution. I think amd's method is probably a lot less work than mine, though.

 

[violets2217]

but I tend to boil my alcoholic beverage of choice for 45+ minutes to reduce it, and then freeze it into cubes and add the correct amount of cubes to my cooling lye solution.

But do the ice cubes keep it from accelerating so quickly? When I make milk soaps I always freeze the milks into cubes. I’ve always wanted to make a beer soap and pine tar soap but have been afraid to because of the acceleration! If there is one thing I hate about soap making it’s the panic of a thick clumpy batter and the rush to get it into the mold. I have nightmares about it...

 

[ResolvableOwl]

If you are a homebrewer, you have access to wort, which I imagine is a much better addition to soap than the beer (after fermentation). It has a ton of sugar (maltose), all the goodies (barley protein etc.) not sedimented/settled out yet, and no alcohol, carbonation, or yeast you would first want to get rid of. And if you have concentrated wort (first castwort), everything is much higher concentrated than in the final wort, i. e. less water = more headroom alongside lye and/or other liquid additions.
Draff/dregs (when properly processed) may make a great heavy-duty exfoliating ingredient.
There are a few hops threads throughout the forum, but IIRC they tend to be rather disappointing colour and smell wise.

 

[GemstonePony]

But do the ice cubes keep it from accelerating so quickly? When I make milk soaps I always freeze the milks into cubes. I’ve always wanted to make a beer soap and pine tar soap but have been afraid to because of the acceleration! If there is one thing I hate about soap making it’s the panic of a thick clumpy batter and the rush to get it into the mold. I have nightmares about it...

Ok, so freezing it is so that I can add it to the lye solution without the lye solution getting as warm (usually cools it off, in fact). The reason I add it to the lye solution is so the lye interacts with the sugar and any alcohol that could possibly still be there ahead of time. As long as you boil the alcoholic beverage at least until the foam on top is gone, it should soap basically as normal.
Also, because I haven't specified and people frequently search old posts, I'm referring to beer and hard cider as alcoholic beverages. I'm not in any way recommending or suggesting this method for hard/distilled liquor, which is dangerous to boil and not recommended to soap with.

 

[kunalv]

It's fine. some soaps are made with 100% olive oil.

Here's the amended SoapCalc recipe as per previous suggestions by @amd @Arimara & @GemstonePony .
Changes made :-
1. Lye concentration %
2. Removed Avocado Oil
3. Oil percentages

Requesting your comments please. Thanks,

It's not unusual. If you want the bar to last a little longer, you could up the Shea, but I'd keep it under 30% so you don't have soap on a stick between the Shea and the beer.
Side note, another reason I've heard for adding salt to beer is to help the alcohol boil off faster and to be very, very sure the carbonation is gone.
I also do half water for my alcoholic soaps, but I tend to boil my alcoholic beverage of choice for 45+ minutes to reduce it, and then freeze it into cubes and add the correct amount of cubes to my cooling lye solution. I think amd's method is probably a lot less work than mine, though.

Have decided to hold-off on the beer for my first soap. Will just use plain water initially.

When I do get around to making a beer soap, shall go through this thread and ensure I follow all suggestions mentioned here. I've seen a few videos where people freeze beer into small cubes and add lye to it. Does seem to work and I don't think it's a lot of work either. Shall decide when I am about to make it. Thanks.

But do the ice cubes keep it from accelerating so quickly? When I make milk soaps I always freeze the milks into cubes. I’ve always wanted to make a beer soap and pine tar soap but have been afraid to because of the acceleration! If there is one thing I hate about soap making it’s the panic of a thick clumpy batter and the rush to get it into the mold. I have nightmares about it...

How is the acceleration like with water? How much time do you usually get from Trace formation to pouring into the mold? I know you can't have a definitive answer because it'll vary as per the recipe, but I am looking for a ballpark.

If you are a homebrewer, you have access to wort, which I imagine is a much better addition to soap than the beer (after fermentation). It has a ton of sugar (maltose), all the goodies (barley protein etc.) not sedimented/settled out yet, and no alcohol, carbonation, or yeast you would first want to get rid of. And if you have concentrated wort (first castwort), everything is much higher concentrated than in the final wort, i. e. less water = more headroom alongside lye and/or other liquid additions.
Draff/dregs (when properly processed) may make a great heavy-duty exfoliating ingredient.
There are a few hops threads throughout the forum, but IIRC they tend to be rather disappointing colour and smell wise.

Oh how I wish I had some wort lying around right now. I'd make a beer out of it

Sadly, no homebrewing for me for a while. But I'll keep your suggestion in mind when I am making a beer soap. I have decided to start off with water. Also, not keen on hop soaps. They look ugly.

 

[GemstonePony]

Here's the amended SoapCalc recipe as per previous suggestions by @amd @Arimara & @GemstonePony .
Changes made :-
1. Lye concentration %
2. Removed Avocado Oil
3. Oil percentages

Requesting your comments please. Thanks,

I think it looks good. At this point there's not much to do but make soap and let it cure for at least 4-8 weeks before deciding if there's anything about it you want to change.

One note about using frozen cubes -you really do want to start with some liquid in the bottom so the lye doesn't end up under the cubes dry, have liquid melt on top of it, and either form a hard crust or form lye chunks that won't dissolve floating in the liquid. Your lye solution can't be used to make soap if this happens, so if you see it, there's not much to do but slowly add citric acid or similar to dissolve/break up the lye, discard the mixture, and start over.

 

[kunalv]

I think it looks good. At this point there's not much to do but make soap and let it cure for at least 4-8 weeks before deciding if there's anything about it you want to change.

One note about using frozen cubes -you really do want to start with some liquid in the bottom so the lye doesn't end up under the cubes dry, have liquid melt on top of it, and either form a hard crust or form lye chunks that won't dissolve floating in the liquid. Your lye solution can't be used to make soap if this happens, so if you see it, there's not much to do but slowly add citric acid or similar to dissolve/break up the lye, discard the mixture, and start over.

Thanks. So much information already. I feel like I'm going to be spending a lot of time on this forum

 

[amd]

I guess I have got your point now.

I apologize if I seemed to have a "tone" in my message, that wasn't my intention. I tend to speak very matter-of-factly (to the point), especially with those from other countries. 90% of my work colleagues are not in the US and English is not their first language, so I have adopted this in much of my writing style and word choice. Unfortunately it may come off as offensive to some, so if it did for you, I sincerely apologize. While in India I only met one person who was not fluent in English, but did not want to assume that wasn't the case for you as well.

And increase Shea Butter proportionally?

I'm not sure I would increase Shea Butter. I use it at 15% in my recipes as well, and it seems when I increase it for beer soaps particularly, the soap accelerates. It is lovely though, and if you can get it affordably I encourage using it.

I tend to boil my alcoholic beverage of choice for 45+ minutes to reduce it, and then freeze it into cubes and add the correct amount of cubes to my cooling lye solution. I think amd's method is probably a lot less work than mine, though.

Boiling for that long isn't necessary. Typically a 10 minute boil will remove 70% of the alcohol and boiling further only minimally reduces the alcohol. It is impossible to remove all of the alcohol no matter how long you boil it. Keep in mind you're dealing with a small percentage of alcohol to begin with - most beers ranging from 3-10% ABV, so the remaining 30% of the alcohol is really a very small portion.

I would also caution a new soapmaker for using ice cubes, I tried a few times when I first started, and I found it first very fiddly and time consuming, as well as being unsure/nervous that I properly had the lye dissolved. What one could do is partially freeze the beer until it's a bit of a runny slushy consistency, and add the lye to that. It's a bit easier to see the lye dissolving that way, and not as time consuming waiting for all the ice cubes to melt.

If you are a homebrewer, you have access to wort, which I imagine is a much better addition to soap than the beer (after fermentation). It has a ton of sugar (maltose), all the goodies (barley protein etc.) not sedimented/settled out yet, and no alcohol, carbonation, or yeast you would first want to get rid of.

I would not use wort, especially for a beginning soap maker. While it does indeed have a ton of sugar, sugar is also a culprit for acceleration and seizing in soaps. I'm not sure even with several years experience of making soap that I would want to try it with wort. I think it's better to let the yeast feed on the majority of the sugars and only have to work with a much smaller amount of sugar. If you wanted to use homebrew immediately after fermentation, that would be better, the carbonation would be much lower than after bottling (or as we do at our house, kegging and carbonating with CO2).

 

[violets2217]

How is the acceleration like with water? How much time do you usually get from Trace formation to pouring into the mold? I know you can't have a definitive answer because it'll vary as per the recipe, but I am looking for a ballpark.

Sadly I do not know... I'm actually following your post for the wealth of info it's providing. Beer soap is on my ToDo list. I'm just not brave enough yet! Plus, I have no more room to cure any more soap. LOL! The only advice I will give is goes easy on the stick blender. Short burst and then manual stirs. Don't over blend. It will heat up the soap & speed up the acceleration.

 

[kunalv]

I have some Eucalyptus EO so thinking about using it for this recipe. Did some research and found that Rosemary, Peppermint & Lavender blend well with the Eucalyptus.

Thinking about getting Lavender & Rosemary. What would be the right % of each EO in the blend? I tried using the Fragrance Calculator but it only allows calculation of one EO for the quantity of soap. What if you wanna use more than one EO? Did I miss something?

Unfortunately it may come off as offensive to some, so if it did for you, I sincerely apologize

No it didn't. It's absolutely fine.

The only advice I will give is goes easy on the stick blender. Short burst and then manual stirs. Don't over blend. It will heat up the soap & speed up the acceleration.

Awesome. Thanks.

I have some Eucalyptus EO so thinking about using it for this recipe. Did some research and found that Rosemary, Peppermint & Lavender blend well with the Eucalyptus.

Thinking about getting Lavender & Rosemary. What would be the right % of each EO in the blend? I tried using the Fragrance Calculator but it only allows calculation of one EO for the quantity of soap. What if you wanna use more than one EO? Did I miss something?

I don't want to ask for unsolicited recipes since I understand these are proprietary things you guys have developed painstakingly. Apologies if this is the case!

 

[Tara_H]

I tried using the Fragrance Calculator but it only allows calculation of one EO for the quantity of soap. What if you wanna use more than one EO? Did I miss something?

Which calculator are you using?

This one lets you enter the blend of oils you want at the beginning, there are a few spaces provided to start with and you can add more if needed: Enter Your Own Blend » Essential Oil Calculator

Edit:

I don't want to ask for unsolicited recipes since I understand these are proprietary things you guys have developed painstakingly. Apologies if this is the case!

You'll find that generally people don't give exact recipes because it's very important when starting out to learn how to - first, check that any given recipe you find online, in a book, etc is actually safe to use, because many aren't, and - second, adapt recipes to your own needs, because everyone's personal preferences, humidity and temperature levels, source for ingredients, equipment, purity levels, etc will be different, so what's "perfect" for one person could be a nightmare for you. I doubt anyone will take offence to genuine questions