Beer in soap? Oh, yes! This stuff is fantastic for your skin, and beer creates an awesome full lather. However, you must freeze the beer before you make the soap or you will be looking at a volcanic eruption when the lye is added. I’ll walk you through it.
Additional supplies:
2-inch capped PVC pipe
Ingredients:
7.6 oz beer
2.9 oz lye
8 oz olive oil
8 oz coconut oil
4 oz castor oil
Recommended Scent Blend
Musky and marvelous but not like the scent of beer at all.
• 60 drops cedarwood
• 40 drops clove
• 6 drops patchouli
• 40 drops bergamot
• 20 drops clementine
Method:
SAFETY CHECK!
Pop open your beer, pour it into an ice cube tray, and set in the freezer until frozen. Remove beer cubes from the freezer and weigh 7.6 ounces in a nonreactive, heatproof container. Then weigh lye in a separate container. Take these outside in a well-ventilated, safe area and add the lye to the beer, mixing thoroughly. It may fight with you a little bit and form crystals, but just stir those tiny crystals with a nonreactive spoon to get rid of them. Set in a safe spot to cool.
Meanwhile, weigh your oils and place over medium heat until thoroughly melted. Remove from heat, add essential oils for scent. Check that your lye and oil temps are both around 100°F to 110°F and blend your lye/beer into your oil blend. Mix these thoroughly with a stick blender. Mix until you have reached trace, and then mix a little longer, just to be certain. Line PVC pipe with parchment paper, leaving additional paper sticking out of the top. Pour your liquid into lined soap mold. Set aside in a safe, upright spot to harden for 12 to 24 hours.
After this time, remove the cap from the bottom and pull the parchment paper. This will release your soap, which should slide right out. Peel off the parchment paper and cut your soap. If you would like to add “head” to the top of your beer soap, the instructions follow, otherwise, set aside to cure for 4 to 6 weeks and then share with your favorite beer lover!
Beer creates a lovely foam and contains amino acids and hops which soothe, soften, and moisturize skin. It contains wonderful amounts of B vitamins, biotin, riboflavin, and pantothenic acid that make it excellent at clearing up irritations such as acne, dermatitis, and eczema and balancing oil production.