Lye Free Beer Soap

I was looking for beer soap recipe, and came across this tutorial. In the tutorial, it mentioned the use of lye and to wear protective gloves while pouring it into the beer. What is lye and is it toxic? If one has to wear gloves to make soap, why am I rubbing it all over my skin? The mini Sherlock Holmes in me kicks in.

Lye is a corrosive alkaline substance, commonly know as sodium hydroxide. It is used to cure many types of foods and lower grades of lye are commonly used as drain openers and oven cleaners. So basically what soap is doing is lightly corrode away the dirty or oily film layer on the skin, 'leaving your skin clean and smooth' but over time causes dryness. It's also what the average shampoo does to your hair but that's for another post.

There are many makers selling beer soaps but I have found only one that is lye free on etsy - Cardamom & Beer.

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Like a beer boy loves cake

These are pairings created by Andy Sparhawk on Craftbeer.com

Riding the Wave of Love - Coconut & Currieux
Coconut helps cool hot, spicy foods like Southeast Asian cuisines; Indian or Indonesian. It also quells American heat, like bourbon. Currieux is Allagash Brewing Company’s (Portland, ME) original barrel-aged beer, a Belgian-style Triple that is aged in bourbon barrels for eight weeks. While resting, the beer takes on some of the previous resident’s character; vanilla, coconut and residual whiskey flavors, that blend perfectly with the Triple's fruitiness. Candy sweetness matches the cake to magnify a long wave of vanilla and warm sugar.

Tee & Cakes comments: This pairing brought out the sweetness and cakeyness of the cake. It made the cake taste like the comfort food we know it to be. This is a simple and traditional cake, but one of the harder ones to pair. It seems like a heartier beer brings out the lightness in this cake.


Finding Balance - Chocolate Bacon & Scotch Ale
I’m sure any expert will tell you, though I didn't bother to look it up, that a key to a happy marriage is balance. Well, a key to enjoying great craft beer with food is the same. We accomplish that by finding complementing characteristics or playing off of opposing flavors and textures—similar to introducing the future in-laws.

The crunchy bacon atop this cake's creamy milk chocolate icing offers a contrast to the rich malt character in Moylan's Brewery & Restaurant’s (Novato, CA) Kilt Lifter. The carmelization in the Scotch Ale complements the milk chocolate sweetness, only to be countered by the bacon’s saltiness.

Tee & Cakes comments: This pairing brought out the toasty and maple flavors in the cake; it also made the beer pop. The cake elevated the beer this time and I think that was nice. Bacon on a wedding cake is certainly unconventional, but really fun and easy to pair.


Spicing Things Up - Carrot Cake & Maricaibo Especial
People get married because they are much better and stronger together than if they were apart—also, for the tax break. The same is true with carrot cake and Jolly Pumpkin’s (Dexter, MI) Maricaibo Especial, a sour Brown Ale brewed with cacao, cinnamon and sweet orange peel. Both are amazing alone, but together, they really spice it up. The sugary sweetness of the cake is balanced by it's more earthy ingredients of carrot and cinnamon, which helps cut the tart acidity of the beer. Meanwhile, the spices in the beer intensify the flavors of the cake. And, if the wild Maricaibo gets out of hand, the carrot cake's cream cheese frosting and cooling carrot calms things down before the police get called.

Tee & Cakes comments: This pairing made the spiciness of the cake come out. We never would have imagined a sour beer could pair so well with something rich and creamy like a carrot cake and cream cheese icing. This was one of our faves.

Passion - Red Velvet & Legendary Red
If your zeal for your bride or groom is as fiery as the fans of this cake then you’re set. Red velvet aficionados seem to argue over the perfect recipe more than beer geeks grapple with Black IPAs. Tee & Cake's red velvet has a pleasant corn bread character; likely from the buttermilk, which is a generally accepted ingredient in red velvet camps. We think that makes the bready flavors of Golden City Brewery’s (Golden, CO) Legendary Red Ale a match made in heaven… with or without coconut and pecans.

Tee & Cakes: This pairing gave new meaning to the word comfort food. The beer made the whole cake taste like butter. Totally rich and decadent. Red velvet cake is the ultimate in comfort food desserts, and is a staple in the south.



Affinities - Grey Lady & Lemon Curd
Some flavors just go together; lemon goes with a lot. Maybe that is because it enhances the flavors it’s paired with. In Grey Lady, a Witbier brewed by Cisco Brewers Inc. (Nantucket, MA), the piquant esters (fruitiness) liven the tangy wheat flavors and sharpen the spice. When paired with lemon curd (a smooth lemon filling or topping) you flip the switch on a laser light show in your mouth!

Tee & Cakes comments: This pairing really brought out the lemonyness of the lemon curd. It was bright and fresh.

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Polish and antique wood with beer

Turns out, all those spilled beer is exactly where they should be! Some ways you can use beer to polish wood funitures and floors:

Basic polish: pour some flat beer onto a microfiber rag and rub it into wooden furniture to add some shine and deepen the color.

 

Polish Recipe #1: This one is good for oak furniture. (credit)

Boil together

one quart of beer

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoons beeswax

Cool, then wipe onto your furniture. Let this dry. Polish with a soft cloth.

Antique wood with beer: Traditional dark beers will create an antique wood effect far quicker.

Highlights

• Chestnut dark mild beer has the strength to stain the wood, premium lager would do nothing.
• Sand off the layers of polish or varnish. 
• Must use CLEAN CLOTH for staining. Dip cloth into a dish of dark beer and rub onto the surface of the wood. 
• Let a corner of the clean cloth soak into the dark beer and sit the beer soaked cloth on top of the wood for an uneven finish look that antique wood have. 
• Add a light coat of varnish to seal the color in when you have the color you want.

 Detailed instruction here.

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Beer Chicken

Recipe from the Food Network

Ingredients

• 1 (4-pound) whole chicken
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 3 tablespoons of your favorite dry spice rub
• 1 can beer

Directions

Remove neck and giblets from chicken and discard. Rinse chicken inside and out, and pat dry with paper towels. Rub chicken lightly with oil then rub inside and out with salt, pepper and dry rub. Set aside.

Open beer can and take several gulps (make them big gulps so that the can is half full). Place beer can on a solid surface. Grabbing a chicken leg in each hand, plunk the bird cavity over the beer can. Transfer the bird-on-a-can to your grill and place in the center of the grate, balancing the bird on its 2 legs and the can like a tripod.

Cook the chicken over medium-high, indirect heat (i.e. no coals or burners on directly under the bird), with the grill cover on, for approximately 1 1/4 hours or until the internal temperature registers 165 degrees F in the breast area and 180 degrees F in the thigh, or until the thigh juice runs clear when stabbed with a sharp knife. Remove from grill and let rest for 10 minutes before carving.

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Cocktail Recipe: SNAKEBITE

Had this concoction at a beerfest in 2011.

• 1/2 pint Lager (Had it with Left Hand Milk Stout)
• 1/2 pint sweet or dry Cider (and Crispin Cider)

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