Teach Soap

Hey All,
There's one particular soap I made that uses ale for water. I simmer it, freeze it, and add enough water to make the amount I need for my lye.

Other than that, the recipe is not unusual: olive, palm, coconut, a bit of castor. There's also some beeswax in itt, so i soap it a bit hot, maybe 130. But I do that with others, too.

But every time I make this soap--EVERY SINGLE TIME! It separates. The first couple of times I was caught off guard, because it seemed like I'd hit trace, I'd put in my EOs (which I blamed for the separation for a while), pour into the mold, and ... oil slick and curds. I'd dump it back into the pot (cursing, of course), stick blend it into submission hoping it didn't set up too fast, and then plop into molds.

Eventually, i got smart and just hot processed it. since there's no coloring, it doesn't make that much difference. But even hot processing, it goes through a separation stage, where the oils and "chunks" separate, and need to be stick blended and hand mixed back into submission. And this is before the EO, so they aren't the culprit.

What do you think? Is it the ale? The temps? I do other soaps at relatively high temps, and this doesn't happen to them (or once in a great while). This one is consistent.

Thanks!

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Lesli Sagan
Avital's Apiaries
Like us: http://www.facebook.com/AvitalsApiaries

I soap my beer soap at around 110, so it's possible that your temp is too high.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Have you tried making it with a different beer? Or not adding the bees wax? OK, I know that would be hard for you!
When I make my beer soap I also simmer it... allow to cool, put in fridge but I have never frozen it. I don't see why freezing it would make the soap separate. Like Irena I do not soap that hot as I tend to use either beer, milk or a puree... so too much sugar, it will heat up enough on its own. I have a recipe that will always rice on me... at first I thought it was the FO\EO I used, but then I realized it was that particular recipe.

Had another idea... if you really want to keep the bees wax in it... how about making a small batch of white that you put on the top like foam and use the bees wax in this?

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

I started making it with Guinness, then switched to a local Nut Brown Ale (for local appeal). I don't remember if the Guinness version did it... I don't think so, because I would remember--but I can check my notes. Hm. Maybe it's the local ale!

I thought about doing a foamy top, but it would mean two bathes of lye, and I can be lazy about these things. My soaps are more rustic than lovely, most of the time.

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Lesli Sagan
Avital's Apiaries
Like us: http://www.facebook.com/AvitalsApiaries

So, Have you tried another beer? If that one is a local they should have other beers they make... you could try one of their other ones. I have never tried a handcrafted beer, seems like once they are opened they tend to disappear? Maybe this spring I will try one. I usually don't do beer soaps unless I can mix the lye outside and it is way toooo cold right now.
As for the foam topper- I get a lot of compliments when I do that. Do you ever make two batches of soap in one day? You could make the beer first and then steal a little batter from the second batch for the top of it.

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

I haven't yet--I just made a 10 lb batch from the last ale. Maybe I'll try the same ale, but soaper a lot cooler. At least HPing it, it didn't matter so much that it went through an oil-separating-yuck stage...

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Lesli Sagan
Avital's Apiaries
Like us: http://www.facebook.com/AvitalsApiaries