How to Make Beer Soap: Step by Step Guides to Follow

Do you wish to brighten your skin? Fighting acne? Controlling the oil production pores? Lastly, do you want to exfoliate your cells dead on your face? What if I were to tell you that you can do all of that with just one product and you can DIY that product at home. No beauty parlors, no skin treatment, no expensive beauty merchandise. All you need to make your skin look amazing is a tall glass of beer. 

Let’s dive in.

What is Beer Soap?

Simply put it’s a godsend use of a boozy drink. You might have heard of beer shampoo, much like that Beer soap is a simply made soap that you can easily learn. It has many health and skin benefits and the best part is that it’s really good for the enjoyment. 

Required Tools To Make Beer Soap 

As described above it’s quite simple to make beer soap, you will find the following ingredients easily at your own house. 

• Soap Molds 
• A measuring jug 
• Blender 
• Thermometer 
• Ladle 
• Plastic pitcher 
• Spent beer grains 
• Kettle for brewing 
• Your choice of essential oils
• Olive Oil
• Coconut oil
• Shea butter and cocoa butter 
• Pharmaceutical potassium chloride 

The body butter, oils, and essential oils can be decided by you. There are vegan-friendly options in the market as well. You can use mango butter, avocado butter, and oils, you can go for sunflower oil and almond oil. You can pick the oil and butter in whichever way you want your body to smell.

Make Beer Soap in just 8 Easy Steps

To make things easier follow the steps and make Beer soap easily-

Step 1: Decarbonisation of Beer

Ideally 24 hours before you embark on the journey of making your beer soap, you will have to remove the carbon dioxide from the beer you have chosen. Leave the bottle top open since it’s considered safer to use a beer that has gotten flat. Bear in mind that if you mix some of the mentioned ingredients with regular beer that contains C02 then it can lead to an explosion. Plus the bubbles are of no use in the process of beer which is also why you should de-carbonate your beer. 

To do this you have to put your beer into a pitcher, preferably one that is made of plastic, and leave it out for a night. When the beer has gone bland and has no visible bubbles you’d know that your job is done. You can also put your beer on the stove, heat it on medium to de-carbonate it like that but that process is dangerous since how flammable beer is.

Step 2: Melting the Oils and Butter

Put Shea butter, cocoa butter, olive oil, coconut oil into a cooker, put the heat on low. Make sure that the oils that are solid are melted properly and then mix the liquid oils. Stir till the solid oils are melted.

Like mentioned earlier don’t be constrained to stick to this recipe, you can use oils of your choice. After the oils have melted, cool it down. Now you have time to work on the next steps as it cools down.

Step 3: Measuring the lye

The potassium chloride mentioned above is called Lye. This is one of the major ingredients for making this soap happen as it’s responsible for turning the property of the oil into soap. Make sure you take precautions, this is a chemical and the process involves a very real risk of an explosion. We would recommend wearing eyewear that protects the eyes and gloves. Make sure lye doesn’t touch your skin and if it does run water on the given area for a couple of minutes. Measure lye using the pitcher and make sure it’s plastic. It shouldn’t be glass or metal. Metal corrodes when it comes in contact with lye and glass cracks. 

Step 4: Combine the lye with beer

It’s time to mix the beer that is decarbonated with the lye we’ve prepared. The Lye converts the beer and oils turn into soap. The beer is acting as a substitution for H20 which we would’ve used if we were making a normal soap. Put lye in the pitcher containing flat beer and don’t ever do it vice versa.  Also, remember to do this very slowly. Iye would eventually be mixed with the beer and reduce the probability of an explosion. Don’t do this step indoors, and in case you can’t find a proper outdoor location then make sure that the indoor area is properly ventilated.

For at least two minutes keep stirring the mixture. The liquid might get darker and that’s normal so don’t worry it’s supposed to happen.

Step 5: Lye-Beer mixture shall be cooled

Combining beer and you will create some heat. Make sure you cool down this mixture before you move on to the next step. To cool it down you can either leave this mixture out or you can plunge it into an ice bath.

In case you’ve chosen an ice bath then fill your sink with ice cubes and place the container in cold water until it is absolutely cold. Ideal temperature-85-90 degrees Fahrenheit, check the temperature with a thermometer and don’t physically touch it.

Step 6: Add the beer-lye mixture to the oil

After it’s cooled down, you can put it into the cooker and put the heat on low. Properly mix the solution with the oils by stirring it through a spoon. If the purpose of your soap is exfoliation then this is an ideal time to mix beer grains into the mix. However, be modest with the quantity, one to two tablespoons are enough, or else it’ll make the soap too scruffy.

Step 7: Blending substances

Make sure you have a good blender for this. Mix beer, Iye, and oil, and then blend it till it turns into a paste. With just a ladle you can’t mix everything to a perfect consistency that’s why a blender is a must. It also saves a lot of time and gives the mixture the required texture. You can add your choice of essential oils in this step, it should be based on how you want your soap to smell. Few options are pine, vanilla, lavender, jasmine, rose, and even chamomile. If you know your essential oils then you would know that less is more, you just need a couple of drops in your mixture. Add a few drops and blend it again.

Step 8: Pour the paste into molds

Once the blend is done, you will have a thick but gushy paste. It may still have the smell of beer but don’t worry it will pass. Pour the paste into the molds of your choosing. Let the molds cold and solidify. A couple of tips for the molds-

• Try going for silicone molds, they are easily available and they hold this kind of paste well.
• If you have used wooden molds, the insides should be lined with paper before you put them in the freezer.
• Go for molds that can restrain heat, your molds are never heated but when you pour the mixture into them it will go through a chemical reaction that will create some heat and if it cannot constrain it then the mold’s physical properties might change.

To flatten the surface use a ladle and smoothen the surface on the top. Then allow the mold to be cooled down. Put it in the freezer for 3 to 6 days. After which the paste will harden into the desirable solid soap that is now ready for use. Although for best results you should wait for at least 6 weeks, it will give the mixture an ample amount of time to harden absolutely. The harder the soap is, the longer it lasts. So if your schedule allows you to give it more time then please do.

Beer Soap Benefits

Now that you know how to make beer soap we would like to further your interest in the matter by letting you know of the various benefits of beer soap-

• It helps skin maintain its natural PH balance 
• It is anti-bacterial in nature 
• It helios reducing acne 
• It helps in producing less oil in the pores
• Beer is rich in vitamin b which helps in moisturizing your skin
• These soaps are cruelty free and with the right ingredients they are also vegan-friendly
• They last longer if they are hardened for longer
• The final fragrance you end up with is much better than anything store-bought.
• They are super easy to make and the entire DIY process is very easy on the pocket. 
• The final product is very personalized hence the recipe is as you like it once you have mastered the procedure.

Conclusion

Even though the best results require patience, DIY can be a very fun activity. Once you have mastered the craft you can play around with it the way you want to, nobody gets it right the first time so again be patient if you want good skin that is moisturized and oozing with your favorite fragrances. Make sure you are safe while attempting this.

FAQs

Is beer soap good for your skin?

Yes, beer soap is amazing for your skin, it enriches you in various ways. It balances your skin’s PH level. The richness of its vitamin B moisturizes your skin. It helps you combat acne. Overall it cleanses your skin.

Does beer soap contain alcohol?

Lye doesn’t go with alcohol, it eliminates it in the initial steps and you can’t make beer soap without lye so no beer soap does not contain alcoholic properties.

Does beer soap smell like beer?

As long as you use a good quality essential oil then it doesn’t smell like beer.

What are the benefits of beer shampoo?

It’s extremely healthy for the scalp and gives hair a bouncy volume and a rich texture. It improves the softness of one’s hair as well.