help please ale soap

[Melanie]

I bought a bottle of absolute bastard ale a week ago only thing in the grocery that you could get and not have to buy a six pack of, left it open pouring it from pitcher to pitcher so it would go flat.

Today I decide I am going to make a batch of beer soap or try to.

This is a first for me, begin adding the lye slowley and poof it goes nutso and foams up to the top of the pitcher. we survive that one and i finish adding the lye and mixing and put it outside to cool off.

I go out to check the temp and on top of it is a layer of stuff... what kind of stuff you ask???? got me but its thick and gelly like and the cooler it gets the thicker it is.

Is it still good? Can I go ahead and make soap with it? or should I start over and make goats milk or something else?

[sudsnwicks]

The foaming up is normal, even when the beer is flat. It would be much worse if the beer wasn't flat. Just make sure you use a tall pitcher next time so it doesn't overflow. As for the layer of stuff, I've never had that before. Does it dissolve back in when you stir it? I wonder if it's because you let it cool down. I don't usually wait until it gets all the way down to room temp so maybe that's how I avoided the layer. My guess is it's still good to use.

[Melanie]

thank you, I will go ahead and make it and let you know. I think next time I will stick to regular beer instead of ale. I think this will come out real brown. Oh should I let it gell or no?

[sudsnwicks]

Melanie, I always use ale. Most likely it will gel, since the sugars in the beer will help to heat it up. I doubt it matters which type of beer is used, except for how brown the soap turns out.

[Melanie]

thank you so very much. any new soap is a surprise but when i was taht glob I paniced.

[smittenheart]

Was it white??

I had 'chunks' in my beer before I added my lye to it..

[LuminousBoutique]

Did you heat the beer?

I dont know if this is the standard way to do it, but this has always worked for me....

I pour my beer into a saucepan, bring it to a simmer, and hold it at a simmer (not a boil) for about 5 minutes. Then I pour it into a pitcher and let it sit and get to room temp, sit it in the fridge for at least 48 hours before using it.

Yes it takes alot more time, but I've never once had it foam when I added the lye. I've not used Ale before though.

[JacquiO]

I never cooked the alcohol out of my beer but I've read that can help. Mine foams up too with the lye but making sure the flat beer is ice cold out of the fridge helps lessen it.