Why beer soap?

[Dawni]

Yes thank you @DeeAnna, I learned something new today.

 

[KiwiMoose]

The lather lover's soap swap found beer works better than just granulated sugar for enhancing lather, so I don't think you can sub soda pop and expect the same results as you would get with beer. I believe Brewer George explained his thoughts on that point a few years back. He's a beer brewer and has learned his beery chemistry.

I find beer soap tends to gel a bit more easily, all other things being equal, so I don't CPOP and I only cover the top lightly to prevent dust from settling. I don't recommend insulating heavily if that's your tendency. For those who dislike letting their soap go into gel, this is one case where you should go with the flow and let the soap gel. Trying to prevent gel in a soap that wants to gel easily is a fool's errand.

To make beer soap, I use whatever soap recipe happens to be my current favorite and simply substitute beer for the water. I use a spicy, warm fragrance such as Nature's Garden Cracklin' Birch that is a unisex-to-male scent.

*Looks up Cracklin' Birch to see if it's available in NZ*

 

[msunnerstood]

I leave some of the beer out and add it after the cook with HP

 

[Marilyn Norgart]

I leave some of the beer out and add it after the cook with HP

I thought you were going to say you drink some--Julia Childs style

 

[msunnerstood]

I thought you were going to say you drink some--Julia Childs style

1 for me, 1 for the soap lol

 

[KDP]

I love beer soap! One of my fav combos for scent is, Patchouli, Dragon's Blood, Sandalwood and a schosh of Orange. Mmmm...smells sooooooo good!

 

[amd]

Lemon Verbena, Dragon's Blood, Macintosh Apple, Apple Cider, Coffee, Juniper Breeze, cucumber, Cherry Almond, Bayberry, Baby Powder, and White tea and fruit blends

Lemon Verbena, MacIntosh Apple, Apple Cider, Cucumber, White Tea would go well with an IPA
Dragon's Blood, Coffee, Cherry Almond, and rich fruit blends pair better with darker porters and stouts
I'm not sure what Juniper Breeze smells like, but it might go well with a blonde or pale ale, as those tend to be more neutral in smell. You could also do lighter fruit scents with IPA, blondes or ales too.
I would steer clear of baby powder.
When picking out scents for my beer soaps, I open up the beer and the FO and smell them together. If they smell good, I make it. If they don't smell good, I try another FO.

Personally, I'd stay away from scents like cucumber, baby powder and white tea because they're not usually notes you'd find in any kind of beer.

I'm with ya on the baby powder.... but one of my favorite breweries has a cucumber melon beer, and a mango white tea beer, and they are both fantastic! LOL. The craft beer world is shaking things up and there's getting to be a lot of experimental beers going on. I recently had a beer made with mushrooms that was delicious. If you're making soap for beer aficionados... you can be as original as you want to be for scents.

 

[bookreader451]

What kind of beer would you use? I have a fridge full of coors leftover from a pig roast and we don't drink it. Also would a "good beer" (meaning not coors, maybe a nice German import) be better?

 

[Relle]

What kind of beer would you use? I have a fridge full of coors leftover from a pig roast and we don't drink it. Also would a "good beer" (meaning not coors, maybe a nice German import) be better?

I don't know those beers as I'm in Australia, but ANY beer will do.

 

[bookreader451]

I don't know those beers as I'm in Australia, but ANY beer will do.

Great! Christmas presents for my boys, done!

 

[math ace]

I used Cypress and Bayberry and it was fantastic - really complimented the residual beer smell - a reasonably fresh, masculine smell.

I LOVE this suggestion. I just got a sample the Cypress and Bayberry from Candle Science. It is so strong OOB that I really was hesitant to use it... Of course, it didn't help that that the scent had leaked out because the lid on the bottle wasn't tighten when it shipped! No matter, I think beer soap might be the perfect place to use the rest of the fragrance up!

Lemon Verbena, MacIntosh Apple, Apple Cider, Cucumber, White Tea would go well with an IPA
Dragon's Blood, Coffee, Cherry Almond, and rich fruit blends pair better with darker porters and stouts
. . .
When picking out scents for my beer soaps, I open up the beer and the FO and smell them together. If they smell good, I make it. If they don't smell good, I try another FO.

This was very useful. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[Misschief]

I'm with ya on the baby powder.... but one of my favorite breweries has a cucumber melon beer, and a mango white tea beer, and they are both fantastic! LOL. The craft beer world is shaking things up and there's getting to be a lot of experimental beers going on. I recently had a beer made with mushrooms that was delicious. If you're making soap for beer aficionados... you can be as original as you want to be for scents.

That's why I suggested reading the descriptors for the beer. I've not seen one that has those kinds of fragrances/flavours. Interesting!

 

[MGM]

The first soap I ever made was in a workshop at a brewery. One of the fragrance choices was cucumber and I used it. I used hops and ground oats in the soap for a bit of exfoliation. It was lovely! On retrospect, a more robust FO might've made more sense, but that was when I was young and innocent, before I became a FOHo....

 

[KiwiMoose]

I LOVE this suggestion. I just got a sample the Cypress and Bayberry from Candle Science. It is so strong OOB that I really was hesitant to use it... Of course, it didn't help that that the scent had leaked out because the lid on the bottle wasn't tighten when it shipped! No matter, I think beer soap might be the perfect place to use the rest of the fragrance up!

.

Yes - the supplier in NZ gets it from Candle Science, so that's the one.

 

[Weety]

Love reading everyone's beer soap making experience! It's very helpful. I am making my first beer soap this weekend. i have been reading and watching video's all day...ugh. LOL. So much info out there. I'm using a darker stout beer that a friend brewed and I LOVE the smell. I worry that if I boil it that I will loose the awesome smell. Also, does anyone replace the full water content with beer or do you do half and half? I have also learned through reading and video's that it dark beers accelerate faster. Working on my recipe. any suggestions as to what i can use in place of Palm Oil? Just trying to find a good butters and oils to use. I think I'm over thinking things...
Thanks a bunch

 

[The_Phoenix]

I scent it with whatever. Initially I used only masculine scents, but ladies like beer, too (myself included), so I have also scented it with coffee, agave/lime, and a few others. My favorite is BB's Autumn Fig Harvest. When people smell it, they get wide-eyed. When I first made beer soap, 100% of the liquid weight was beer, but I've since lowered the beer amount. I MB my lye 50/50 and just add beer for the remainder. I also make wine soap, same process. It's fun to come up with other things to use as your liquid and see how it affects the soap. Just use your usual recipe and you'll be fine. Also, the beer smell disappeared in all of my soaps. But I've never made it without a FO so who knows if it sticks after the cure. Have fun with it.

 

[Weety]

I scent it with whatever. Initially I used only masculine scents, but ladies like beer, too (myself included), so I have also scented it with coffee, agave/lime, and a few others. My favorite is BB's Autumn Fig Harvest. When people smell it, they get wide-eyed. When I first made beer soap, 100% of the liquid weight was beer, but I've since lowered the beer amount. I MB my lye 50/50 and just add beer for the remainder. I also make wine soap, same process. It's fun to come up with other things to use as your liquid and see how it affects the soap. Just use your usual recipe and you'll be fine. Also, the beer smell disappeared in all of my soaps. But I've never made it without a FO so who knows if it sticks after the cure. Have fun with it.

Thank you for your input! I make wine soap but for whatever reason I am seriously over thinking the beer soap... I think.

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

I've gotta try making the beer soap' love lots of bubbles & it sound like this is gonna do the trick. do I boil the beer prior to soaping? im guessing to remove all alcohol from the beer?

 

[KiwiMoose]

Love reading everyone's beer soap making experience! It's very helpful. I am making my first beer soap this weekend. i have been reading and watching video's all day...ugh. LOL. So much info out there. I'm using a darker stout beer that a friend brewed and I LOVE the smell. I worry that if I boil it that I will loose the awesome smell. Also, does anyone replace the full water content with beer or do you do half and half? I have also learned through reading and video's that it dark beers accelerate faster. Working on my recipe. any suggestions as to what i can use in place of Palm Oil? Just trying to find a good butters and oils to use. I think I'm over thinking things...
Thanks a bunch

I use soy wax 415 in mine

 

[Weety]

I use soy wax 415 in mine

Huh, I would not have even thought to use that. I just so happen to have some on hand