Today is "Learning to Homebrew Day!" Yes, this is an official holiday in the beer world!! In honor of this awesome holiday, we have presented 5 of the most helpful tips we wish we knew while learning how to make beer.
1. The key to a successful brewed beer is in the sanitation. You can make the most yummy beer, but if you forget to sanitize, say goodbye to your 'liquid gold.' This happened to us once in the early years. We had sanitized EVERYTHING ( so we had thought.) We bottled our beer, came back two weeks later, and saw floaty-s in the beer. It wasn't just one bottle, it was all of them. We thought it was yeast that got into the bottles during transfer. To make sure it was ok to drink, we took a bottle to Brewmaster, a local brew supply store, and they confirmed it as bacteria. We had to ditch the beer. We figured out we didn't sanitize the bottles good enough. Something must have been at the bottom of the bottles that we missed while cleaning them. Lesson learned!
2. Don't drink so much beer that you boil over. You have to drink beer while you brew, it's the law of home brewing! But just watch yourself on brew day! We had a brew day where four different brewers (two had won awards for their beer, the others were just learning) came over, with their equipment and supplies. One of the award winners kept saying through out the day about not boiling over. You can lose a lot of beer when it happens and then your recipe is off. (There are work arounds, it just plain sucks when it happens!) This advice quickly turned into bragging rites, with the more beer he drank. Soon his warnings turned into jokes, "How can you tell a beginner brewer from an expert brewer? If he boils over!!!!!" And guess who was the only one to boil over that day? Yep, the "expert"of the bunch! He will never live this story down!!!
3. Don't forget to transfer your beer! Always write down your transfer/ bottling schedule on a calendar. We forgot to transfer our beer into secondary in a timely manner ( 2 weeks is the norm, we transferred at 6 weeks!) As a result, the water in the airlock got so low that air got into the carboy and bacteria started to grow. We had to dump 10 gallons of beer.
4. If you're brewing in California, or a place that is experiencing a drought, make sure to capture your water as you are cooling it with your wort chiller. We run our water into barrels so we can later use the water for hydrating our plants.
5. It's ok to start with an extract for for first time to get the hang of brewing. There is a big learning curve when starting to brew. Start slow and small. A kit is a great way to learn to process and jargon, while successfully creating a drinkable beer!
So Happy "Learn To Homebrew Day!" We hope you find these tips helpful. We would love to hear any tips you have! And feel free to learn more about brewing with our article, "Making Beer."
Well, our hops are sending out shoots and that means that we need to trellis them FAST!!! There are a lot of different ways to do it (which I'll share in another post), but I wanted to share how Eric is building our hop garden out of old plumbing pipes we used for another home improvement project.
He started with a 14ft pipe that he hammered into the ground. This pipe is the main pipe that all of our coconut rope runs from/through. From there, he has created a 'spider web' from which all 11 plants will run up! It's a fairly simple project that takes all of 2 hours to create. Below are our pictures of the re-useable pipes. Scroll down to the bottom to see how it held up as the hops grew! I'm impressed!
Your car is packed. Your destination is routed. You will be spending the next 6 hours on the highway. You're prepped and primed, ready for this adventure. Until you get on the freeway and it's a parking lot! What!!!!! Does everyone have the same idea that I do? That's what happened to us as we left for a week long R & R. Everyone was fleeing the Bay Area for the Fourth of July Weekend, just like us!!! Let me tell you, we do not do well sucking on car exhaust. Knowing our goal and what general direction we needed to go in we found the path of least resistance and followed that path! And what we encountered, was well worth the additional THIRTY minutes (yes it took us a shorter time even with the stops we made) it took us to get there! We got to drive through the beautiful Sonoma/ Napa vineyards, discovered the Petaluma Creamery, and made the hubby happy by stopping off at the Lagunitas Brewing Company.
This experience reminds me a lot of running your own business, especially in relationship with the advice that Donna Maria from the Indie Business Network gives. She stresses the importance of being your authentic self, creating your own path when it comes to your business and having a community of people to learn from. Because when you don't create your own path, you may wind up doing what everyone else is doing and you get stuck in traffic. We as humans have an inclination get from point A to B. We often follow the "pack" because it's safe and sometimes it's easier to follow the person in front of you, than to do your own thing. But if you create our own path, you have experiences that you didn't expect. You might make a wrong turn, but you'll find your way again. And it is possible (stay with me on this one), you might actually have fun finding your own way!!!
I love the Fourth of July! Every year, our family goes to the Alameda Parade and watches the bands and community groups walk by. I'm the "embarrassing" one in the family as I am always hootin' and hollerin' with each group that goes by. I find it interesting that I'm only one of the few that does that, but that's another story. After that, we usually go party hopping and find a good place to watch the fireworks in the evening. This can be a hard task since often enough, the fog rolls in and seeing the firework display in any of the cities in the Bay Area is close to impossible. That's our tradition, and I now you have yours! If your tradition is to host a Fourth of July Party/ BBQ and are looking for a beer theme, well you've come to the right place. Here is a collection of ideas that may inspire you!
Have a Safe Fourth of July. Please let us know of any DIY beer themes you come up with, we would love to hear about them! Cheers!
About six years ago, we jumped on the urban farmer movement that was sweeping the Bay Area. We went on Urban Farm tours through out Oakland and Berkeley. We (shall I say I) because obsessed with the works and teaching of Novella Carpenter, a woman who turned a vacant lot next to her West Oakland Apartment into a farm, complete with turkeys, chickens, and rabbits. To me, she was a revolutionary... doing something that Oakland really need at the time, to invest in FRESH FOOD in communities where there was a grocery store wasteland. (There are parts of Oakland that do not have a grocery store within a 5 mile radius, but only convientient stores. Many peoples menu choices are Cheetos, Soda, and Hungry Man's Frozen Dinners.) One day, while driving on the freeway a couple of weeks after I finished Carpenter's Book GHOST TOWN FARM, I was very aware of the farming way of life. Eric and I noticed a Toyota Truck that had hay flying out of it (this is a sight you NEVER see in the Bay Area.) Of course I made Eric catch up to car wondering who/what farmer was in the middle of the city, and it turned out to be Novella Carpenter! I had a heart attack at that moment and quickly found a piece of paper which I wrote: I LOVE YOUR BOOK THANK YOU FOR BEING YOU!!! As we drove past her, I held this sign to the window. I'm proud to say she saw it. She gave me a thumbs ups and a huge grin! It was a sign, we were going to create our own farm!!! And ultimately, we would become happier, calmer people.
Plum Wine In The Making
And for the next four years, we had an 1/8 acre "farm" in our backyard completely with a plum tree, apple tree, fig tree and four chickens named Puffy, Cinderella, Bramha, and Lady. We grew Quinoa, Zucchini, Fava Beans, tomatoes, lettuce, and even our own Omega- 3 rich chicken food. I made homemade apple sauce, pies, plum jam, and plum wine. I even started experimenting with making cold processes soap (yes I am self taught!), laundry soap, and Eric started brewing beer. And don't forget, both Eric and I were both full time teachers as well. We learned a lot about farming and ourselves. Here are the top 5 things we learned about have our own 'farm.'
1) Don't Believe Everything You Read: One of the biggest reason this city slicker started an urban farm was because everything I read (books, blogs, how-to's) painted a picture that by having a farm, and living sustainably would simplify my life and the life of the community around me. I would let go of my worries, find inner peace, and heal a community problem of lack of fresh food in our community. Was I a little nieve? HELL YES I was... Maybe on Saturday morning I found peace, but that was probably because I wasn't around 30 kids.
2) Running a Family Farm is Hard Work: Don't get me wrong, gardening, cooking, and collecting eggs where very much a stress reliever, but not so much around report card time. There was a lot to do. We had to get up in the morning and water everything and collect eggs. And don't get me started about chickens...there was chicken shit EVERYwhere. They dug up my artichoke plants (which at that point... if the neighborhood skunks got them for dinner... good for the skunks!) I had so much zucchini, and lettuce that I couldn't give it away fast enough (we left boxes of fresh food for people to take!) Processing Quinoa to get toxins out of it is no joke.... it took ALL DAY just to clean one cup of the stuff. But the pies were good and plum wine would knock your socks off, I can't complain about that!
3) Giving Up is Not the Same as Knowing Your Limits: This experience led me to a new found appreciation for the farmers of the world, their hard work, and their commitment to bringing people food. As the years went on in our little farm, the more responsibility it took on. Eric and I were at the point, where it was becoming a full time job and needed to reconsider how we were going to keep up with all of this. Both of us have dreamed of a lifestyle such as this. We talked (and still do) about owning 50 acres, but this experience taught us that right now, at this point in our lives, we were not ready for it. To keep our sanity, we needed to scale back. We needed to get rid of those elements that were overwhelming and keep doing the things that only brought us joy! So, we found a nice home for our chickens in the next city over. We believed growing our own food is still a priority, but we only grew enough for the family. And I made cold processed soap a priority (how I went from classroom teacher to running my own soap business is a whole other story!), and Eric kept up with brewing beer on a regular basis. Most importantly, we had faith that one day we would have our 50 acres.
Yes, one day... What experience have you created in you life that have shown you your limits?
You've heard me say it before, and I'll say it again... Beer is a wonder beverage. It's not just good to drink, it's good for your skin. Did you know though, that beer can be used around the house? These three unusual uses for beer, might come in handy for you one day. (Note: We have tried this, and it works for us... let us know if it works for you!)
1) Polishing Wood Furniture: Need your wood furniture to be shiny for your house guests? Polish that coffee table by pouring a little bit of flat, stale beer on a polishing cloth. Follow it up with a dry buff and the table will look like new.
2) Slug Remover: Don't use horrible chemicals to remove slugs from your garden! Instead, fill up a saucer with beer and leave it in our garden. The slugs will be attracted to the beer, get drunk off of it and then drown! Refill the saucer daily and soon you will be slug free!
3) Redirect Bees: Bees and wasps also love beer. So, the next time you have a BBQ, don't forget to give the bees and wasps some beer too! Put a small amount of beer in cups around the perimeter of your party. Most of the the bees and wasps with be attracted to these cups, leaving your guests free from shooing these pests away!! And remind your guests not to drink from these cups! YUCKKK!!!
There are a lot of fun things you can do with beer bottles once you've drank the beer. Today we are going to go over how to turn you beer bottle into a glass. We have been using Ken Supplies Bottle etcher. In our experience we found that this tool provided a less jagged lip, which means it won't cut you lip when drinking from it.
Step One: Use the etcher to score your beer glass. See Video here.
Step Two: Dip the bottle into boiling water for one to two minutes.
Step Three: Lifting the bottle straight up and down, plunge it in to ice cold water. Wait for it to break off.
Step Four: You may need to do Step Two and Three a couple of times.
Step Five: Look at the lip. If there are chips in it, you may need to sand it. We use the P80 sander.
Step Six: You will need to sand it with a machine and by hand.
When you are all done, rinse the glass out and feel free to use. You can also take it one step further by gluing the top of the bottle to the bottom. Then you get a beer goblet.
At Handbrewed Soaps, we believe that brewing beer and soap
are both a science and an art.Just like
a science experiment, you must follow some basic rules in order to produce the
desired outcome or product—in our case, beer and soap.And, as with art, individual interpretation,
experimentation, and improvisation are encouraged and expected.While many brewers
feel that they have found the “best way” to brew beer, there are so many
variables in the brewing process, that there’s a good chance that a homebrewer
in your own neighborhood is doing something radically different or just subtly
unique enough that you could apply to your own brewing process to make more
interesting or flavorful beers… and soaps!At Handbrewed Soaps, we have developed our own unique style of brewing
and soap-making by reading, researching, and hanging out with fellow
homebrewers and soapmakers.We hope that
you enjoy the methods, tips, and tricks that we use in our brewing and
soapmaking process!
If you are new to brewing beer or soap, and want to learn
more about the basics of either (or both!), we highly recommend How to Brew byJohn
Palmer and The Soapmaker’s Companion
by Susan Miller Cavitch.Of course there
are hundreds, if not thousands, of resources online to help you get started and
support you every step along the way. Below
is an overview of how Brew Master Eric Swihart brews the beer, and how Soap
Lady Alyson Swihart transforms the beer into soap.Don’t worry, we don’t use all of the beer to
make soap-- we drink a lot of it too!!!
The VERY basics of
Homebrewing
We’re going to assume that you already have some basic
brewing supplies (boiling pots or kettles, buckets, fermentation vessels (glass
or plastic carboys), etc.).If not, head
down to your local homebrew store, and they will hook you up with everything
you need to get started.Likewise, we
assume you already have some basic soap making supplies including stainless steel
pots, hand mixer, and molds.Don’t go overboard.Start small and keep it manageable.It’s no fun to jump in over your head, only to get discouraged and
quit.Do what’s manageable for you right
now.Don’t jump in to all-grain brewing
until you have the time, equipment, and brewing experience to make the
jump.I brewed about 10 extract batches
before making the jump to all-grain.I’m
very glad I did, but if I had jumped in to all-grain brewing before getting
some experience with simple extract kits, I would have been very
overwhelmed.Have fun, start small, and
grow your homebrewing setup as your brewing skills advance.
Put together a recipe
What kind of beer should you brew?Brew the beer that you (and your friends)
like to drink.You’re going to be making
5 to 10 gallons of beer, and it would take one person a long time to drink that
much beer.So, make the kind of beer
that you—and your helpful/thirsty friends like to drink.At Handbrewed Soaps, our three most popular beers
(and soaps) are I.P.A., Oatmeal Stout, and Hefeweizen (American Wheat Beer, to be specific.)We decided to share our Orange Honey Wheat
Ale Recipe with you.We will first
explain the beer-making process, and then describe how Alyson transforms Eric’s
beer into soap.
Clean and sanitize!
Everything that comes in contact with your brewing
ingredients needs to be clean and sanitized.I personally recommend PBW (Powdered Brewery Wash), which is an
environmentally-friendly, biodegradeable alkali cleaner.After everything is clean, I sanitize it with
Star-San, an odorless, tasteless, food-grade sanitizer made from phosphoric
acid.I have never lost a beer to contamination
or infection, when I have used these two products to clean and sanitize my
equipment.Of all of the steps in the
brewing process, this is one of the most important.
Let’s make beer!
After everything has been clean and sanitized, you can and
should start making beer!In order to
make beer, you need four main ingredients: Water, Grain, Hops, and Yeast. Technically, any combination of grain can be
used to make beer, but the most common grain is malted barley, which serves as
the “base” for most beers.Additonal
grains (rye, oats, and wheat) and a supporting cast of specialty grains
(carmel/crystal, roasted, and dark malts) and adjuncts (honey, spices, herbs,
etc.) can be used to make some very tasty homebrew.Typically, the grain bill for wheat beers
(hefeweizens) is 30-70% wheat.The
grain bill for our orange honey wheat ale is going to be 40% wheat, with some
additional support from orange honey wheat and orange zest.
All-Grain Brewing
All of the beer we brew at Handbrewed Soaps (for drinking
and soap-making) is brewed on a three-tier, all-grain brewing setup built by
our friend and fellow homebrewer Jaston Hopkins, (aka Jaston of the
Woods).
Starch Conversion
The first part of all-grain brewing involves cracking or
“crushing” the grain you’ve selected.By
cracking the grain, two things are accomplished:1) you’re making the starch accessible for
conversion, and 2) the husk of the grain settles in the bottom of the mash tun
and acts as a filter to prevent grain from transferring into the boil
kettle.We are going to soak our grain
in hot water (at approximately 152° F) for about 60- 90 minutes. At this
temperature, enzymes in the grain start acting on the starch to convert it to
sugar (fermentable).This is a process
called saccharification.
Lautering and Sparging
Once the starches in the grain have been converted into
sugar, you need to separate the sugars from the grain.This is a process called lautering.Sprinkle 170° water over the top of the grain
to 1) stop the enzymes from converting starch and 2) wash the sugar off the
grain and into your boil kettle.The
process of sprinkling water over the grain to remove the sugar is called
sparging, which literally means “sprinkling.”The sugar water resulting from the mashing and lautering process is
called wort.(We have to go through a
few more steps before we have actual beer.)
Boiling
Once you’ve collected the wort in the boil kettle, and the wort
is boiling, add your hops at the times indicated on your recipe.Hops
added at the beginning of the boil are called bittering hops, because the
extended boiling time allows you to extract the highest amount of oils
(bittering qualities) from the hops.The
hops added during the middle part of the boil are for flavor, and the hops
added at the end of the boil are used to give the beer aroma.After 60 or 90 minutes, depending on your
recipe (and the style of beer you’re brewing), cool the wort with a wort
chiller.
*Wort is what we call beer before the yeast has eaten the
sugar and created alcohol.
Fermentation
1)Once wort reaches 75° (people have their own
preferences for higher and lower temps) transfer the wort to a sterilized carboy,
aerating it as much as possible in the process.Aerating the wort is helpful to ensure a vigorous, efficient, and
complete fermentation.
2)Leave 4” of headroom at the top of the carboy.During peak fermentation, the yeast will rise
(“krausen”) up to 4-6” above the liquid level in the carboy, and if you haven’t
allowed room for this to occur, prepare for a very messy result!
3)Put on
airlock or blowoff hoses, to allow for the yeast to “burp” off CO2 while
preventing external air from coming into contact with the beer
4)Put in a
cool dark place, and monitor frequently.When the “peak krausen” has dissipated and the airlock bubbles less than
once per minute, transfer the beer to secondary fermentation.
5)After 7-14
days, transfer the beer into keg or bottles, for carbonation.Beer can be carbonated in a keg in 2-3 days,
with forced CO2.Bottle-conditioned beer
takes approximately 2 weeks to become fully carbonated, by adding corn sugar to
the bottle prior to filling it with beer.
At this point, we take the beer to make the soap. See Part Two of our from Grains to Soap series to learn more!
So that important man in your life is a beer geek. He claims to know everything about beer including the style, the brewery, and alcohol ratio. So, this Father's Day, put him to the test! Create your own Beer Tasting Challenge! Here's what to do:
1) Buy a selection of beer for your participants. Choose some favorites and maybe some obscure ones. Note: Trader Joe's let's you mix and match your six pack!
2) Cover your labels, but don't take them off because you'll need proof. You can get as fancy as you want. I'm just using materials that I have around the house. We tend to brown bag it around here, so that's what I'm doing. I'll tie it with raffia to make it look special. Here are various levels of craftiness below!
Pic from Celebrate Mag!
Pic from Draft Mag!
3) Pour the beer into glasses and have him/participants taste. With each one, have him write down the style, the brewery, and alcohol ratio.
4) When he's done, give him the big reveal!
Even if he doesn't get them right, he'll be a happy camper after tasting six beers. And a few laughs will be had by all!
Interested to see how Handbrewed Soaps stands up to the test? Find out on Monday! I can't wait to see how Eric does!
Just because you have a lot of beer bottles sitting around your house, doesn't mean you have a drinking problem, it means you appreciate good beer! But I have to admit that when I take out the recycling, the neighbors know it's the Swihart family from the beautiful noise our beer bottles make when they hit the bin! And, let me tell you, it's loud! So I thought it would be a great idea to highlight 2 ways to up-cycle beer bottles, so that we don't disturb the neighbors!!!
1) Take that bouquet of flowers sweet hubby brought home and distribute it,in beer bottles. Tie the beer bottles up in raffia, lace, or ribbon and voila, a center piece. Most importantly you've saved yourself about a 6 pack worth of recycling worries.
2) Cut the bottom of a beer bottle off and use the tops as candle holders. (Tutorial on cutting beer bottles coming soon!) Again add the fluff and you're set!
Now you can tell your friends and family that you have multiple reasons for drinking as much beer as you do... it's not only for the appreciation of a great homebrew or craft beer, but it's a lifestyle. You can now decorate with beer!
I made some pretty rad liquid soap the other day!!! It came out clear! I loved the thickness of it. Not to thick, and not to watery. It was perfect (according to me!) But a couple days later I noticed clouding! A ghost-like appearance formed (like a whisp...think of the Disney movie BRAVE, but white, not blue) and eventually the whole jar clouded. NOOOOOOO! I have sequestered the soap (a recommendation not only from Fallor's Book, but I joined a liquid soapmakers group on Facebook and that was a recommendation as well. ) And as I waited, I continued to consult with the Facebook group. (By the way, it never cleared up... it stayed cloudy.) I learned 3 major reasons liquid soap clouds. 1) Cooking: You didn't cook your paste long enough. I did the clarity test and it was fine. I had also separated my soap into three jars and two of the three clouded.
2) Sanitation: There is bacteria or something yucky growing in your soap. Well, I sanitized my jars as well as boiled my distilled water before I added it to my paste. So I didn't think it was that, since it clouded so quickly after I made the soap!
3) Fragrance / Essential Oil: These oils are added at the cooling phase after you add the boiling distilled water, and as I learned from this group, all FO/EO act differently. Some may cloud the soap instantly or days after. Looking at my three jars of soap, all containing the same "clear" liquid soap, the only difference between them was, they all contain different fragrances! So I think I found the culprit! I added Brambleberry's Oatmeal Stout FO and all is good. The second contains a Honey Ale FO and it clouded... As well as the Tobacco Bay FO.
So now what? The soap is completely fine to use, but I REALLY want clear soap. Two suggestions I've read are: 1) Mix your FO/EO with a 1:1 ratio with Polysorbate -20. or ethyl alcohol and then 2) add this concoctions while your soap is still hot, but cooling!!!
I'll try this and let you know! And as always, I'm always open to suggestions!!!
Mother's Day is quickly approaching, and it's time to plan the perfect brunch for that wonderful lady who's favorite thing is beer! What more could she want than her favorite ice cold beer, but foods whose ingredients include just that, beer! And as a DIY'er yourself, what better way to tell your mom how much she means to you, than creating a brunch around her favorite theme! But don't worry, it's not as hard as it looks... I've found some great ideas and easy recipes to share with you!
Decorations: Beer bottles make beautiful table decorations and if you are a beer lover yourself, you probably have some sitting around! Simply wrap raffia or lace around them, insert her favorite flowers and viola!
Beverages: The first go to drink would be her favorite beer. Or, why not try a beer infused drink such as a beer cocktail? For a light citrus taste using a wheat beer, try a Ginger Rum Shandy. Or, for a more hardy drink, try a Ruddy Mary that uses a dark ale or stout! Both will be a winner.
And finally, have fun celebrating your Mom. She will love spending time together! And if you want to give her a gift, may I suggest a bar of Handbrewed Soaps? We have plenty of beer soaps to choose from! (I had to make the plug... it was so appropriate! LOL) Have a HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!
(Note: This post is not a tutorial on liquid soap. If you are interested in that, please see Humblebee and Me for a great tutorial or 'Making Natural Liquid Soaps'by Catherine Failor. This post is my notes on the Dilution Ratios of Liquid Soap. Your comments are greatly appreciated! )
My adventures in soaping have expanded into liquid soap! I've used Catherine Failor's book as a resources, reading it from cover to cover multiple times (a must have if you are making liquid soap!). However, I found it confusing when it can to the dilution section. So... in order to understand her ratios, I took my 6 lb. batch of soap and broke it up into six one lb. batches. Then I used her dilution chart and experimented with 3- one lb. batches.
In batch one, I diluted the paste by 35%, batch #2 by 30%, and batch #3 by 25%. I choose these percentages because I used soft oils and according to the book, the oils are more soluble. The second reason is that it's always easier to add water than to take it away. To have watery liquid soap, would be a whole new ball game! So I took lots of notes per batch to understand how the dilution process worked. Results: Batch #1: My soap did not dilute. So I had to add more water.
Batch #2: My soap was a little more diluted, but I still had to add more water.
Batch #3: Much better! There were chucks of soap in the crock pot that stubbornly wouldn't go away (the crock pot might not be hot enough) so I took a stick blender to it. The soap clumps went away, the soap turned cloudy, but it quickly went away and I was left with clear soap. I did add more water! Conclusion: For the soft oils I used, my recommendation is start off with a 25% dilution ratio. By the time I added more water to batch 1 and 2, I was at 20%. So, I found that a 25% ratio makes great shampoo or body gel while the 20% makes a great hand soap!
Yep... you just found out you're pregnant and you make soap for a living. Now what? Well, I've been there. Actually, I am there! We just found out we are having our third. Immediately, upon hearing the news, life changed... especially in the soap making department. So this is what I learned through the first 6 months of pregnancy and soaping.
Cue Top Gun Soundtrack
1) Use protection: (That's what we should have done not to get pregnant!) That's not what I mean! Just make sure you wear a gas mask, gloves, and glasses when mixing your liquid and lye. It's important now more than ever. We don't what you or the baby to have respiratory problems. Better yet, have someone do this step for you. I taught my dad to do it.
2) Lift with your legs: In the first 8 weeks of pregnancy, lifting your oils (if they are in buckets) may not be a problem, but as the pregnancy continues, your back with hurt just because you are caring extra weight. I use a back brace and lift with my legs. However, now I need someone to help... so I have my dad to help!
3) Push everything back on the counter by a minimum of 5 inches: Your belly is growing and you may forget. As a result, your belly may knock over your exfoliants, fragrances or anything that is sitting near the edge of your counter. This happens to me ALL the time, so push everything back on the counter.
Get sleep wherever you can!
4) Rest: Your body is working overtime. The scents of fragrances/ essential oils may make you feel sick to your stomach. Your joints (especially your hips) may spasm. Listen to your body and stop when you need too. Take a break. If you have a deadline, explain to your stockists or customers that you are working a little slower, they'll understand. Most importantly... ask for help and forgive yourself for not accomplishing what you intended to too. Your health and the babies are the most important.
And if you have asked for help during these 10 months, by the time the baby comes, you've trained someone in soap making so that you can concentrate on the baby and the marketing end of your business!!! It's a win win for everyone!
What tips do you have for making soap while pregnant?
Recently we have given our backyard a makeover. It has all of our family entertainment needs, complete with a brewhouse, a soap studio, a play structure, a garden, and soon to come: a fire pit. We have also dedicated several area of the yard to grow hops for our homebrewed beer and handbrewed soaps.
In order to grow hops, you need to plant the rhizome, which is a cutting of the plant's root structure. There are many different companies that sell hops rhizomes in the spring. For our hops-growing adventure, we chose ten different varieties from three different farms/cooperatives. Each has their own speciality and packaging techniques. I will turn this post over to the master brewer in the family to explain each.
Where to start?
You can get a lot of information online, of course, but Homebrewer's Garden by Joe Fisher and Dennis Fisher, and Homegrown Hops by David R. Beach provide great information that's not available online. I started there to get an idea about what all was going to be involved with growing hops. These resources are a great place to start if you're interested in growing hops. Important thing to remember: Hops rhizomes are only available in the spring, from February to April. So, if you want to grow hops, make sure you plan ahead, and maybe even pre-order your rhizomes, to make sure you get the varieties you want to grow.
Top bags: Freshops, Middle bags: Hops Direct Bottom Bags: Seven Bridges Coop.
Where to buy the hops rhizomes?
I wanted to buy direct from the hops farms, if possible. There are many different companies that sell hops rhizomes in the spring. Choose the one that best meets your needs (location, varieties offered, etc.) After doing my research, I decided on three different companies from three different growing regions to see how well different varieties adapt to my Bay-Area micro-climate in the Glenview District of Oakland, CA. (Get Local!) Freshops - Hop farm in the Willamette Valley (Philomath, Oregon) Hops Direct - Puterbaugh Farms, a 700-acre, fourth generation, family-owned hop farm in the Yakima Valley (Mabton, Washington) Seven Bridges Cooperative in Santa Cruz, CA - I chose this company because the rhizomes that they sell are from organic plants grown in California!
What varieties should I grow?
Criteria: Hops that were recommended for our Bay Area temperature and micro-climate; varieties that grow fairly easily and aren't susceptible to pests and diseases; a blend of bittering hops and dual-purpose (flavor/aroma/bittering). I purchased 3-4 varieties from each company. I tripled up on Cascade, knowing that I wanted a large supply of Cascade hops for my IPA's, and I wanted to see whose Cascade rhizome. Final order:
Freshops: Goldings, Willamette, Cascade, Chinook
Seven Bridges Cooperative: Columbus, Magnum, Cascade, Nugget
Hops Direct: Centennial, Cluster, Cascade
What kind of soil do hops need?
As for the soil, we made a special trip to American Soil and Stone in Richmond, CA-- a favorite local company of ours-- to see if they could help us put together a soil blend that would work best for our hops. After reading and researching online, I explained to the staff at American Soil and Stone what I was looking for. They recommended several of their different soil blends, and we decided on a mix of 1/3 ultra potting mix, 1/3 ultra bedding mix, and 1/3 local veggie blend. Some of the plants are going to be grown in raised planters, so I needed a medium that would maintain water, but also be good to drain water. This blend has both coconut coir and red lava. For nutrient needs, the local veggie blend has chicken manure, which is amazing as a short-term, quick-release fertilizer, and the ultra potting mix has a special long-term slow-release fertilizer in it. The one thing that I'm lacking, that David R. Beach recommends is Boron. He says that the necessary amount of Boron is a "pinch to the hill." I'm hoping that my special soil blend will get my hops plants off to a great start and provide me with wonderful, fresh hop cones for our homebrewed beer and handbrewed soaps!
Next step... building the planter boxes and planting the rhizomes.
