Beer Soap

Our Homebrewed Beer

I became intrigued recently to try to make soap with beer. Apparently, the use of the beer imparts a nice, rich lather to the finished soap and is a conditioner for your skin. Plus, it just seemed kinda cool and might appeal to my beer lovin' handmade soap usin' friends and family (which is everyone in Flagstaff!).

To make a beer soap, you replace the distilled water you would normally use with cold, flat beer. I followed a tutorial here for some guidance. I used Obsidian Stout by Deschutes Brewery for my beer of choice because 1) I think it's delicious and I would have some leftover to drink and 2) I was curious what color the dark stout would give my soap. I poured almost two bottles of beer into a pyrex a few days before, stuck it into the fridge and stirred it occasionally to coax it into flatness.

In my research, I was warned that once adding the lye to the beer, it would stink to high heaven. And it did...yikes! Kinda smelled like death. I'm glad Matt was out of town to not subject him to that smell. But, from what I have gathered, the intense smell does not last in the final bar or even any beer smell really.  I still smell some faint hops, but I added rosemary, sage and fir needle essential oils to this soap, so it smells woodsy and crisp. I think the stout added a nice, simple brown color to the final bars and these babies will be ready to use in about 4 weeks. Success!

Beer Soap