Beer n Chocolate advice please!

[Birdie Wife]

I'm going to try a new recipe which uses stout and chocolate. I'm thinking of calling it the New Year's Resolution Out The Window Soap

So I have a couple of cans of stout reducing nicely on the hob, and I'm thinking of adding a 2-3 tbsp of cocoa powder to that then using it as my full liquid portion, adding the lye directly to it (once it's chilled overnight). First question, is this approach okay?

Second question, what is the likely end fragrance of this mixture likely to be?

If I add some cocoa butter at trace, will that improve a chocolatey fragrance?

What EOs would you recommend (if any?) - I'm not using fragrance oils at the moment as I want to keep my soaps as natural as possible.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Genny]

Instead of adding the cocoa powder to the liquids, I'd add it to the oils since cocoa powder is oil soluble, not water soluble.
I'm not sure how strong your stout is, but unless your soap batch is over a couple pounds 2-3 TBSPs of cocoa will most likely leave quite a chocolaty scent.
I wouldn't add any cocoa butter at trace, unless you plan on HP'ing. Otherwise the cocoa butter will most likely solidify fairly quickly & give you some butter spots when you go to cut your soap.

For EO's, I'd go with something spicy like allspice, black pepper, cinnamon, clove bud, ginger, vanilla oleoresin, patchouli, vetiver, something along those lines.
Or, leave it unscented for now & see how you like it that way. If you don't like the way it smells, just rebatch it & add an eo.

 

[AlchemyandAshes]

You won't get any scent from the Cocoa powder, but you may get a faint scent from the Cocoa Butter. My beer soaps have a slightly sweet yeasty/nutty scent that I think spicy EO's top off nicely...like Clove, Cassia, Cinnamon, Anise, etc.
I like the sound of Spicy Chocolate Stout soap...mmm...
As for adding it all to the lye...I prefer not to. It's not that you can't...I just don't like mixing my lye with anything but water or aloe juice (or salt or sugar)...personal preference, but I just feel like less goes wrong that way :lolno:. I like to add my beer or wine (concentrated after simmering) to my soap batter at thin trace. Works every time.

 

[AlchemyandAshes]

Genny: You and I are definitely on the same page today!

 

[Birdie Wife]

Brilliant, thank you both

I'm using a recipe that uses around 2lb of oils so I'll leave it with no fragrance for now and see what happens. The pan of stout is smelling heavenly!

 

[Birdie Wife]

Another couple of questions - when I'm adding the reduced beer at trace, how concentrated should it be and how much should I add?

ETA - okay, I've figured out the answer to the first question is probably along the lines of 'how long is a piece of string?', so, let's stick with how much liquid can I add at trace, per pound of oils?

Oh, don't tell me, it depends on how concentrated the beer is...

 

[AlchemyandAshes]

I usually simmer beer down to half it's original volume. How much you add depends on you. Just subtract how much you add at trace from the liquid amount you mix with your lye upfront.
For example, if your recipe calls for 100 oz of water and 40 oz of lye...you could go as high as 60 oz of beer at trace (making a 50% lye solution - 1:1 concentration= 40 oz water + 40 oz lye), but I would do something more like 40 oz beer at trace and make my lye solution with 60 oz water:40 oz lye (for this example)

 

[judymoody]

To me, unscented beer soap smells kind of like fresh baked bread!

As mentioned above, neither the cocoa powder nor the cocoa butter is likely to impart much scent. Too much cocoa powder will also give you brown lather.

In addition to the great earthy and spicy suggestions you already have, I like to use folded orange and coriander in beer soap. Vanilla and patchouli is another great pairing.

I have a LOT of beer from a friend who is a home brewer. I generally use the divided method that Shawnee suggested but with a slight variation. I dissolve my lye in water and after cooling down I add the beer. It often froths up and heats up but then calms down (use a tall vessel with a lot of head space). Once it's back down to about 40 degrees C, I soap it. This way, it doesn't overheat in the mold.