Brew The Life You've Always Wanted: Goal Setting September 07, 2018 00:00

I've been trying really hard to fit into the concept of brewing not just being about beverages, but as a concept of self improvement.  Something to the effect of "Brewing the Life You've Always Wanted."  Well, here is my chance because September is Self - Improvement Month. 

Setting goals has always been a great motivator to get my ass in gear.  By writing down things I want to do in the future, I am able to revisit them on a daily basis to guide me where I want to be.  They especially help on days were I want to sit and binge watch Netflix. Let's be clear, there is nothing wrong with that. 

I make two types of goal lists.  One list is about were I want to be in the future, there is an actual timeline and action steps of what I need to do monthly  to reach that goal.

Example:  By March of 2019, I will have lost 10 pounds.  I will exercise for 30 minutes 5 times a day.  I will eat a whole food diet and allow myself one cheat day a week.  I will evaluate this plan after the first month of implementation.

The other is more like a self-case bucket list of things that I can do in the more immediate. These type of goals allow me to see the things that are important to me that I might not make time for.  By identifying them, I can calendar them in, and I know after I do them, I will feel soooooo good!

Example:  Knit a scarf. Learn how to make tomato sauce from scratch. Go camping with friends.

So what are some of your goals?  What are things that you want to do or learn in the next 2-5 years. What are some thinks that you want to do in the more immediate?  How can you incorporate these things into your life on a daily basis?

Cheers, 

Why Add Wine To Your Soap? September 05, 2018 15:05

I fell in love with red wine while camp in the Great Basin.  I was archaeologist's intern (a story for a later time) this particular summer. One of the crew members had brought a case of Bordeaux Wine. Our day looked something like this: Wake-up at 5am, be in the field from 6am- 4pm, clean-up, make dinner and relax for the evening. Luckily for us, the people on our team preferred beer to wine, so we got to enjoy it all ourselves.  I had just turned 21 and had no idea about wine. During that summer, I learned a great deal about wine and life. Fast forward to the present, I can gladly say that a wine from the Bordeaux Region of France will definitely bring back those fine memories.

I wanted to bring those memories to our soaps.  So, I created our Merlot Wine Soap in that image... think sandalwood meets vanilla.  Besides inspiration, wine adds other great properties to soap including antioxidants from the grapes as well as a lather that won't quit.   

So don't just bring a glass of vino into the tube with you, bring a whole bar... of soap that is!

Cheers, 

Why Coffee Grounds Should Be Used In Your Beauty Regimen June 20, 2018 07:00

Learn how and why coffee grounds should be used in your beauty regime.

3 AWESOME FATHER'S DAY ACTIVITIES June 13, 2018 14:42

Father's Day is June 17! What better way to show him how much you love him with these fun activities.

Use Coffee Ice Cubes In Your Next Iced Coffee, Smoothie or Chili Recipes March 25, 2018 00:00 1 Comment

You don’t have to waste coffee anymore!  Didn’t finish that pot you made earlier this morning?  Don’t pour it down the drain, make coffee cubes with it!

2 Tread Brewing: A Great Santa Rosa Brewing Company March 11, 2018 15:03 3 Comments

This past month, our family stumbled on a great brewery in Santa Rosa. Read more...

How to Make A Wine Bottle Centerpiece March 04, 2018 06:00 3 Comments

Planning a wedding, a bridal shower or hosting a wine tasting party where you need cheap wine decoration STAT? Well here is the Wine Bottle Craft for you! It’s a Twine Wrapped Wine Bottle! Read More Here! 

Chocolate Stout Beer Cake Recipe February 26, 2018 14:05 2 Comments

This Chocolate Stout Beer Cake Recipe is the best for any occasion.  Even the kiddos like it! Read more here ...

Three Beers To Try This Valentines Day February 08, 2018 00:00

Forget the roses, bring on the six pack!  Here is our 2018 Valentines Day Beer Round -Up! Read more here...

Free Valentine Day Cards: Beer Theme February 04, 2018 08:00 1 Comment

Looking for free Valentines Day cards that have a beer theme?  Well, Handbrewed Soaps has you covered. Attach these to a bottle of beer or hand them out at work with a bar of beer soap (wink, wink)!  We have two different types of cards to choose from:  Beer Mine (Download HERE) or I'm So Hoppy You Are My Valentine (Download HERE)!

We wish you a Hoppy Valentines Day!  Let us know how you use these cards!

Cheers!

Announcing the Handbrewed Soap’s Brew Life Tribe! January 24, 2018 13:42 1 Comment

Join our New Private Facebook Community called the Brew Lab!

Take The Excuses Out of Brewing January 16, 2018 07:00 3 Comments

You LOVE beer.  You LOVE to brew.  But, how often do you find yourself coming up with excuses as to why you can’t brew?

How To Plan A Brew Calendar January 09, 2018 14:12 2 Comments

Creating a brew calendar can make your life a little easier in the brew department. It allows you to create less waste in the long run, and bring more intention to what you are brewing. Read more..

Figuring Out What To Brew in 2018? January 02, 2018 08:30 3 Comments

New Year, New Beer!  I love January.  It brings a feeling of fresh starts, new beginnings, and new beer to brew! But how do you know what beer to brew? Read more...

How to Make Snowman Ornaments Out of Beer Bottle Caps December 11, 2017 13:54 1 Comment

A cheap and easy DIY project for the beer lover in your life!!  Every beer lover needs a Beer Bottle Cap Snowman Ornament this holiday season. Read more...

How To Make Spent Grain Doggy Treats October 04, 2017 16:02 2 Comments

As on any brew day, we have carboys of beer, and a CRAPLOAD of spent grain.  Spent Grain is the grain bi- product of the beer process.  It CAN produce a lot of waste.  Many brewers try use it in different ways to keep it out of the landfill. We use spent grain in our soaps. But today, I made it into doggy treats.

I used the Deschutes Brewery recipe that you see below. (By the way, their Freshly Squeezed IPA is AMAZE-BALLS!)

Ingredients:

4 C spent grain from your local brewery or homebrewer

2 C flour

2 large eggs

1 C natural peanut butter

Directions:

Blend all ingredients together with your hands in large bowl, then roll out on flour coated surface and use cookie cutter to make desired shapes. Put onto cookie sheet and pop in a 350 degree oven for 30 min and then reduce heat to 225 degrees for 2 hrs to get longer lasting treats. Your pups will love ’em!!

Makes approximately 100 small treats.

Lessons learned:

We dried out our spent grain, but realized after that I probably didn’t have too.  If you want to learn how to dry out spent grain, look here!

Also, there are no preservatives in these so they can mold within days… so, throw those bad boys in the freezer to keep them fresh!

One last thing, don’t forget, hops are poison to dogs, so keep them away from our furry friends!

Let me know how this recipe worked out for you!

Cheers!

Does Beer Really Soften Your Skin? Beer Buster's Edition September 12, 2017 10:22 2 Comments

In this weeks episode of our Beer Buster's Edition, we really see if beer bathing is all that it's cracked up to be (in the form of a beer pedicure!)

Want to learn how to use beer in other ways besides drinking and cooking with it?

Click HERE to find out how beer cleans jewelry! 

Can Beer Really Polish Jewelry? Beer Buster's Edition August 11, 2017 11:25

This week on Confessions of a Homebrewer's Wife, we begin our Beer Buster's Series.  This week... we put the beer myth: "Can Beer Really Polish Jewelry?" to the test!

We hope you've enjoyed today's video!  Join us next week as we find out if beer gives a better pedicure than water!

Please leave a comment below on a Beer Myth you would like us to "BUST!"

Cheers! 

We Are Going To Beer Bust! Join us on Fridays! August 07, 2017 21:40

Join us on Fridays to Beer Bust!  We will put beer to the test.  Can you clean your hardwood floors with it?  Can you polish your jewelry with the bubbly?  Are there more uses for beer than just drinking it? We'll find out!

How to Trellis Your Hop Plants July 13, 2017 00:00

Here is how we trellis our hops!  Let us know if you have any questions!  

What you need:

Three Top Questions People Have About Beer Soap July 06, 2017 00:00

We know you have questions.  Here are the top three!

• Will I smell like beer?

No you will NOT smell like beer… we promise.  But you will notice the lather it adds to the soap.

• If I get pulled over by the cops, can I blame it on the beer?

Good try….  But no!

• Do you use the bi-products or the actual beer?

Both… we use spent grains, hops and actual beer.  Learn more about the process here!

Check out our other questions here and leave comments below for any additional you have! We’d love to answer them!

Cheers!

How Often Did The Founding Father's Take A Bath? June 29, 2017 00:00 1 Comment

Ever wish you were a fly on the wall to hear what these guys were talking about as they signed the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution?  Ever wonder how stinky the room was?  I do, probably because I'm a soap person.  But seriously, it had to smell pretty bad.  Hygiene at that time was A LITTLE DIFFERENT than it is today!  Getting clean in Colonial America meant 'sponging off' usually just the hands and face.  Those that had a more luxurious home, may of had a wash basin and pitcher.  An under shirt was used to conceal sweat that would stain the "fancy" fabrics these men probably wore.

If you needed to thoroughly wash (which was usually once a month) a wooden tub would do the job. However, it was an ordeal to prepare this bath.  The tub had to be dragged out, someone had to draw the water from the well and then heat it.  The towel and soap would need to be found. And the person would have to stop worrying about catching a disease, as it was commonly though that a clean body would attract illness.  In other words, dirt and your natural oils created a protective layer guarding against disease.

Then there was the soap making processes that was fairly tricky.  Soap making was left to the women.  They had to make lye and save enough oil to make the soap.  They needed 6 bushels of wood ash for the lye and 24 pounds of grease/oil to make one barrel of soap.  To make lye, they added wood ash to a barrel and layered each addition with straw.  The straw would stop the ash from clogging as water was added every once in a while to it. The ash water (lye) would seep out of a hole at the bottom of the barrel.  The grease and lye were cooked together to make a very soft soap that was used for monthly baths. The most challenging part was figuring out how strong the lye was.  To see if the lye was strong enough, they tested the lye on a potato.  If it perforated, it was strong enough!

So yes, that room was EXTREMELY smelly.  Maybe I wouldn't want to be a fly on the wall!  LOL

Hope this creates some great conversation this Fourth of July!  If you need some cool beer labels for your party, checkout our free printable beer labels.

Cheers,

References:

http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/autumn00/bathe.cfm

http://www.chagrinvalleysoapandsalve.com/idascorner/soap/the-origin-of-soap

http://roleofwomenincolonialtimes.weebly.com/making-soap.html

Free Printable Fourth of July Beer Labels June 27, 2017 18:38

Looking for free printable Fourth of July Beer labels?  Here you go!

• Download file (it's PDF; 2 per sheet)

• Print onto label paper ( I use the full sheets and cut them out!)

• Stick them to your bottle.  

Easy Peasy!

We hope you will enjoy them as much as we do! Happy Fourth of July!

Beer Gummy Bear Recipe June 16, 2017 19:13 2 Comments

We had so much fun making these Beer Gummy Bear Treats.  It's a great way to use some of that homebrew...(Homebrewer's wives, you know the struggle is REAL!)

Check out our Video and Recipe below to make your own.  It's super fast and easy!

Ingredients

• 1 Cup Beer

• ¼ Cup Sugar

• 3 Tablespoons Unflavored Gelatin 

Instructions

1. Pour the beer into a saucepan over medium heat.

2. Add the sugar and gelatin, begin stirring immediately. Stir none stop until the sugar & gelatin are completely dissolved. (If you want to keep the maximum amount of alcohol in, make sure the liquid stays well under 170°).

3. Pour the beer gelatin mixture over your molds (you will need 3 molds and you can find them here!) Use a spatula to fill the bear cavities and scrape off the excess. 

4. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours.

5. Take each beer bear out of the mold and enjoy! 

Cheers!