Making soap with hop aroma

My wife wants to make some soap using some hops with a more floral aroma. Has anybody done this before? She read somewhere that you need to soak the hops in some oil in order to extract their oils. Could you still use pellets, or would it need to be whole cone?

I recently (5-6 weeks ago) received some of this emulsified cascade hop oil product to see if I could cheat and boost aroma in finished PA / IPA:
http://www.hoptech.com/products/pure-cascade-hop-oil-2-oz

I found that at any use level, the beer tasted like soap. I had to use it at about 8x the recommended use level to get even the faintest whiff of extra hop aroma in beer, and at that level the beer smelled like soap and tasting it was like washing my mouth out with soap.

(I can see now why that website doesn't have a user-ratings system. Not that it matters, there aren't enough negative stars in the cosmos for that product in its intended use.)

So in short, it sux, sux!, sux!!! for beer, but I was thinking: it might be OK for soapmaking?

I don't make soap, and I'm surely not planning to use it in beer. I've kept the stuff in the lab fridge. So if anyone wants this 2oz bottle (minus the perhaps less than 0.1oz I used), you can have it for the price of postage. PM me.

(Unfortunately, Norway might be postage-rate prohibitive, as well as possible import issues?)

Yeah thanks, but we are wanting to extract the oils from the hops. Just wondering if anybody's got any experience with that.
We even got the soap making down. Just need to know about using hops.

Theoretically you don't need to do anything to get hops aroma in your soap. Simply mix shopped hops into your soap (I'm guessing right after you're done stirring it, or "at trace") and you should get hop aroma.

I am pretty sure Yooper has made hop soap. IIRC the only downside was that the hops turned brownish.

I have meant to do this, but I still have so much soap from my first two batches I am not in a hurry to make more. Perhaps I need to cut my recipe down so I can make it more often...

The hops oils/scents don't survive saponification. It may be possible to add hops essential oil after saponification in a hot processed soap to retain hops aroma, but I don't know about that.

Damn, ok any other good aromatic plants that the aromas do survive? Flowers or anything of the sort?

joshesmusica said:

Damn, ok any other good aromatic plants that the aromas do survive? Flowers or anything of the sort?

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No. That's why essential oils and fragrance oils are sold- for soapmakers who want fragrance in their soap.

Even if I add some essential oils (and I do occasionally), only very strong smelling ones last for very long. Fragrance oils last (soapmakers say they "stick") but I don't use them.

What a great idea! I have an herbal extraction kit, and I make my own soap. I'll try this!

MannyEdwards said:

What a great idea! I have an herbal extraction kit, and I make my own soap. I'll try this!

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What is this "kit" you speak of?

Never mind! I don't need another thing to try! :cross:

Homercidal said:

What is this "kit" you speak of?

Never mind! I don't need another thing to try! :cross:

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Heh, I know what you mean! It's an essential oil distillation setup. You put your herbs (or hops) in a flask with some ethyl alcohol, boil it, and collect the condensate. This is your essential oil of whatever you extracted.

Here's one from Amazon. I think it's too pricey, but I just wanted to give you an idea of what to search for.

MannyEdwards said:

Heh, I know what you mean! It's an essential oil distillation setup. You put your herbs (or hops) in a flask with some ethyl alcohol, boil it, and collect the condensate. This is your essential oil of whatever you extracted.

Here's one from Amazon. I think it's too pricey, but I just wanted to give you an idea of what to search for.

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Interesting. Looks similar to another device I researched.

I could see making a small one out of mostly spare parts. I don't think that temperature would be as critical in this application either.

Homercidal said:

Interesting. Looks similar to another device I researched.

I could see making a small one out of mostly spare parts. I don't think that temperature would be as critical in this application either.

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That's right. Temp control is not critical -- just boil the stuff and have cold tap water to condense the vapor. And by the way, these essential oils are used extensively in massage therapy, so there you go.

MannyEdwards said:

That's right. Temp control is not critical -- just boil the stuff and have cold tap water to condense the vapor. And by the way, these essential oils are used extensively in massage therapy, so there you go.

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But I'm afraid the essential hop oils will put the wife to sleep. Definitely NOT the purpose of giving a massage!

Homercidal said:

But I'm afraid the essential hop oils will put the wife to sleep. Definitely NOT the purpose of giving a massage!

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Well, you have a point there. Try something invigorating. Citrus oils have stimulant properties -- try Citra!