Catherine leads the group through the making of a moisturizing beer soap in Essential Depot’s RED Silicone Cylindrical Mold.
Catherine There two things I want to talk about and there are two books. They are both by Marie Gail. Marie Gail is I don't she is an expert, expert but in the soapmaking world she is very knowledgeable about labeling. This is the 2nd edition, she has a brand new one out, labeling for cosmetics, labeling for soap. We have talked about before you don't have to label your soap, but you do need to label it correctly. And so both of these are inside. I just wanted to show you what they looked like and it is probably a must for soapmaker's book shelf. A Who is the author? Catherine Marie Gail. And this is another book by Marie Gail, but I'm looking forward to it. This one is called Three Hundred Years of Natural Soap and Cosmetic Recipes, so I think it is a book of recipes. A Right here. It is has really some good stuff in there. Catherine She says there is really some good stuff in there. Thank you for bringing those so we could see what they look like. The second thing I want to talk about is soap calculator, soapcal.net or any of the soap calculators and soapmaker three. Does anyone have any trouble using either of those? A Yes Catherine I thought maybe, so I think that maybe Kevin and I might get our heads together and maybe talk about a lye calculator for the March presentations, and then maybe that will help you a little bit more on how to use a soap calculator and soapmaker three. So yes to that? A Yes Catherine Now let's talk about beer. A Yea. Catherine What really is beer? Has anybody here ever made beer before? A Homemade beer? Catherine Okay, so you’re familiar with the process, a little bit, or he is? A Yeah Catherine Well it's an alcoholic beverage, as we know and it is made from normally malted cereal grain and it is flavored with hops and it is brewed slowly with fermentation. We may know it as ale, brew, brewski, brown bottle, my favorite, liquid bread. So you can have your breakfast, like toast. In 1516, the Germans created a so-called purity law and I'm going to say it, it's called Reinheitsgebot and what that mean is that only three ingredients can be used to make pure beer and those three ingredients are water as a base, grain and hops. And in the 19th century, we have Louie Pasteur that came along and he created or added yeast to it, added fermentation to it. So let's talk about those three ingredients. First up is the water. Beer is made up of 97% water. Of course, like soap, we all have different recipes on what we use, but on the average it is about 97% water. And the type of water that you use makes a significant impact on what kind of beer it is. This will be considered probably a light beer (Pilsner) and it has almost mineral free water. Some of the dark beers, and this is just an example of dark beer, hard water is used to make those, so you see the color of the beer, using a dark beer, it's going to have a color your soap is. A light beer (Pilsner), your colors are probably going to be natural of the soap, the finished product. So water’s one and the next one is Grain, is the next one. So malted grains are the fundamentals of beer. They provide the sugars and they are natural sugars. And then they are fermented by the yeast, produced alcohol and CO2. CO2, is what gives it its carbonation. But most importantly the type of grain that you use has an impact on the flavor and the aroma. So this beer tastes different than this beer, probably different grains used. And the third one is the hops and it's the spice of the beer and they provide a bitterness and balance to the sweetness of the beer. And then Louie Pasteur added the yeast. What the yeast does, anybody ever made bread before, homemade bread. A Yes Catherine When you put your yeast in your water, do you add a little bit of sugar to activate the yeast? A Yes Catherine Exactly. So what yeast does is it activates the sugars, it produces the alcohol, the CO2, as well as the byproducts, which are phenols and esters. So bring it all together, how do you make beer? That's why I asked if anyone had made it before. So you have your grains and you put it in your water, whether its hard water or soft water, you put them in your water, and you let them soak, which releases the sugars out of it. Now you have malt sugar solution and it is boiled and we add the hops. If we stopped right there we would have a thing called beer wort. So it's beer without the carbon dioxide and without the alcohol. So it has all the goodness of the grains, the waters and the hops minus the alcohol and minus the carbonation. If you were a beer maker or you knew a beer maker, then that would be really an excellent base to use for your beer soap. But most people don't have that luxury. We can just get it already bottled. So let's move on and the third thing is the solution is cooled and then the yeast is added. So when we now add the yeast, it creates carbon dioxide and it produces alcohol. And when the main fermentation is complete, beer is bottled and sometimes they add a little bit more sugar to it just for a little bit more bottling action. So what do soap makers love about beer? Sugars. Sugars are said to create extra bubbles in your soap. Does anybody add extra sugar to their soap to make bubbles? Well beer is high in sugars as we know because the malts when they’re cracked and boiled, they release lots of lots of natural sugars, so that is one thing that soap makers’ like about beer is the sugars. Also the grain. Does anybody ever use a natural food elements, maybe like a carrot, or a cucumber in your soap? Well that's the same thing with grain, it depends on the grain that you get, it will give you a different effect, make your color effect, maybe your scent effect, maybe your skin loving effect and the hops. Apparently the hops have antioxidant and antibacterial properties. Do they survive saponification? I don't know. And then the water, we know that the base of our water that we use for soap lots use distilled water, some use rain water, but the water effects our soap. If we use cloudy, cloudy water, something we got from a creek, we are going to have a cloudy, dirty soap. So the mineral rich water is a perfect for making soap. What do shapers’ hate about beer, the alcohol? Alcohol is very very drying to the skin. So what we do is we add a little bit of moisturizing to combat that alcohol, and the sugars. If you ever made anything with a sugar base, you know like a milk soap, and if you didn't freeze it, then you know that it can turn brown or turn orange, that's the sugars in the milks that is burning and turning. Beer is the same way. We need to keep it cool in order to keep the sugars from burning. And again soap makers’ hate the sugars because it can actually overheat your soap. Anybody ever have a volcano? A Laughter Catherine It can happen, there you go, it's not really a volcano like it erupts, well I guess it could happen. A I was going to say it would get all over your hands if you don't put it in the sink real quick. Catherine She's saying that she doesn't put it in the sink it could get all over the table and all over your hands. That's pretty much what a volcano is, it's really not a volcano. But it’s got the sugars, it's getting too hot and the sugars are trying to find a way to escape so they escape everywhere. So we are going to see how it's done correctly. We are going to make beer soap today. And this is the beer soap we are going to make. We are going to make it in Essential Depot's round cylinder mold. Some people here have it and some people have used it and have had a little bit of a time getting it out. While I hope that ours are going to come out perfectly tomorrow. If were ready, are there any questions about beer? Well let's make soap. So I need you all to beer up if you all could. What I mean gloves, goggles, aprons and take everything off your table. There is a pit underneath, one is titled beer soap, and you might want to grab that out. Susan. I'm going to be kind of following you around with the camera so he can work the audio. Mike Do you want the camera off the tripod and follow her around? Susan. I think that would be better. You know I need a go-pro and stick it right here. Catherine Do you want me to ask Kevin if he would like to make beer soap? Susan We'll ask him Catherine I have a tray over here Susan Are the wall cameras recording the same as, okay Catherine Don't take anything out of your box, I just need you to put on your gloves, your glasses, you don't have to put on your glasses yet, your aprons and then we are going to sit down and watch a video on how to make beer soap. So whenever you are ready and then we are going to get right into it. So does anybody need more time or are we all set. Let's watch a video now Mike. Mike you want to make that a full screen. These are the ingredients that are going to be in your kit. Can everybody hear it, can we turn up the volume? Watching the video. These are ingredients already in your kit. What I'm doing here is what we have already done for, taking the beer and putting it in an ice cube tray and then letting it set out overnight. That will make the beer go flat, remove the carbonation and then I put it in the freezer. We have already done that for you. Catherine The question was did I do anything to the mold before I put soap into it. No I didn't. Room temperature mold and put the soap into and put the caps on it. It shows pinching the mold and breaking the air lock. At first it is hard to get out but once it starts moving, just constant steady pressure. A If you were to spray the mold, what would you use? Catherine If I used cooking spray would it work. I don't know I've never used cooking spray. Susan I have had some folks say that Crisco works really well. I personally tried spray Olive Oil one time and it did not work well. Catherine The video indicates that when you cut the soap it makes 11 even bars, but it doesn't make 11. So it's not hard to get out, I promise you. No trickery or anything. A Ours, I evenly greased it, but we were making a shaving soap so it was really soft and I froze it then because we couldn't get it out 24 hours later and I used the lid method like you did and both of us tried to get it out and couldn't get it out. We were starting, and then again maybe the shaving soap was a little softer, I don't know. It was coming around at both ends but the very middle we could not no matter what we did break mold. We waited another additional 24 hours and still struggled to get it out and it was hard to get out but we eventually got it out. Catherine This recipe I formulated for this is the same one you are going to use today. So fingers crossed it was a lower humidity where I live in Kentucky, I don't think we'll get a problem getting it out. I might eat my words, but we will see what happens tomorrow. It's a great mold, I really like it. I love silicone molds. The end caps are nice, it cleans up nice. If you do have trouble getting it out, and continuously have trouble getting it out, you could always and I have a video on soaping101 about it, you could line it with a little freezer paper and today Vita brought in, I know I'm not supposed to leave this area, what is this, is it velum? A I'm not sure what it is Catherine And she's going to put that in her mold and we'll see how. It's a textured mat so we'll see how that works. I need to know if anyone has questions about the video. Because I'm not going to make soap, I'm going to watch you make soap. So the first thing we're going to do, Brittan is going to go around with all of the beer and he is going to put it on your table. And then we are going to add the lye to it. Open your box, break out all of your supplies. Don't add your lye too fast to the beer. Be patient add it slowly. So ladies and gentlemen, is this anybody's first time to make beer soap. How do you do with it. A Great Catherine It was easy wasn't it? So if you want to add extra bubbles to your soap or the goodness of the grains or the hops, it is easy enough to buy the beer, pop the top, let it sit out overnight, let it go flat, freeze it, add it as you base. If you guys keep your soap on the table, we are going to label it while you're at lunch. Easy enough in the pot swirl first time anybody for the pot swirl? Easy, super easy. Ours is a little thicker. It's the recipe. There is a lot of hard oils in the recipe, so it did thicken up a little more, but it's the same principal if you're using a thinner batter. You go too thin on the pot swirl, they will be all running together. You want to keep it at a mediumish. She asked how much of the soap should she separate out, she said a third and I said fine. You can do more than one color in a pot swirl. You don't always have to do one color. A You can take the lighter less and go darker. Catherine Absolutely. It's your soap you can make it any way you want to make. Question: Does turmeric add any value? In our soap it is adding color. Does turmeric have benefits by itself? Yes, absolutely. Does it have complications? I don't know, but what we used it for was just for color. I don't think it has much of a scent. Question: Is it irritating. Paprika can be irritating, but turmeric not so much, but there are people that may be sensitive to it. Luckily not any of you. It's less sensitive than paprika. Paprika kind of heats your skin up. Has anyone used turmeric in cooking before? What kind of a dish would you use? It doesn't add spice, just savory. It's good for the digestive system. You take it as a capsule? It is anti-inflammatory. Susan It is also a really good facial with a little bit of honey, little bit of turmeric, little bit of yogurt and maybe some ground oatmeal, put them on. It makes your skin feel really good. You really have to wash it off. Catherine So if you want to make wine soap, this would be process the same way. Although wine is going to have carbonation, or does it? A No A Champagne Catherine Champagne does and you would do the same process with champagne. Absolutely. A Would you use the same amount of oil if you were going to do milk? Catherine You could use that recipe for milk as well, exactly. A Do you have something with champagne? Catherine I do have a video with champagne. A I did try to make champagne but the champagne didn't make it into the soap. A I would caution with red wine, it turns very brown. I've used white wine or parts of some red whites or part of red wine to add color, but red wine itself will turn it brown. A Have you ever used the flavored wines? Because a friend gave me a flavored wine of pineapples. Catherine I like that, did you bring it? A Can you make a beer liquid soap? Catherine Question is: Can you make a liquid soap with beer as the base. Yes. You can use pretty much any base for any soap. Will it be a pretty color, uhm, I'm not sure. A We'll say it's rustic Catherine Rustic. Do you make a lot of liquid soap? A Yes, mostly Catherine Yes, you should try it and report back to us. A Okay Catherine So pretty soon we will be having lunch. Susan We are going back to the Marriott. It is being catered over there, because we need to clean up after you guys. It will be all fresh and clean when you get back.