Meet the Team behind Handbrewed Soaps

Handbrewed Soaps is a family operation! As we have expanded, we've enlisted more family members and friends to help! As they say, to raise a business, it takes a village!

Beer Brewmaster: Eric Swihart

The talent behind the homebrewed beer.  When he's not brewing, you can find him teaching middle school band and orchestra here in Oakland!   Eric enjoys the outdoors, playing with his kids, and playing in his band Fast and Vengfully. He is also the mastermind behind many of our slogans, video ideas, and other Handbrewed Soaps shenanigans!

Soap Brewmaster: Alyson Swihart

That's me!  I'm the soap maker!! When I'm not making soap or any soap related activity, you can find me hiking, hangin' with the kids, or gardening.

Assistant Brewer: Fred Noel

That's my dad!  He's the brains behind the expansion.  He's always into making things bigger.  For example: he's the dad that when you say you want a dog as a child, he thinks Mastiff or Great Dane when you ment Yorkie. Or as a child you want to decorate the outside of the house for Christmas, he's the Dad that makes a bigger than life size wooden Santa Claus to stand on your lawn, when you were thinking maybe just some lights on the porch? So, he's built bigger soap molds, a soap studio, and now helps make soap as I get bigger in my pregnancy. 

Soap wrapper extraordinaire/ Daytime child overseer: Donna Noel 

That's my Mom!  Without her, soap production would slow WAY down! She watches the kids when soap needs to be made! And she's the person that wraps the majority of the soap! She is such a master of soap wrapping, that she goes into a zen like state reciting the mantra, "Peel, Wrap, Stick."

Soap testers: My kids

They are the ones who are first to wash their hands with a newly made batch of soap! They are also marketing managers as I often find video on my ipad that they have made talking about Handbrewed Soaps: See recent video.

Promotion Guru's: Friends, Family, You!

These are the people that have answered the call when we needed help with running a booth at a festival, needing homebrew because we have run out, mentioned us on social media, walked into stores and have talked to retail owners about our products both here in California and out of state.  Most importantly, it's the users of Handbrewed Soaps that enjoy and give feedback to what we do!! Thanks for all you do!

Why Beer Soap?

Well for one, we LOVE beer!   

My Husband brews many different styles of beer, from wheats to ales to stouts… and each beer gives the soap a unique character.  From color, to their own natural scent (I add no additional scents).  What I’ve noticed is that they all have a great lather and moisturizing effect!

The jury is still out on some of these ideas (I think these are fun factoids), but beer is reported to:

Skin Care: Brewer’s Yeast, an ingredient found in beer, is thought to help keep the skin smooth and diminish discoloration. (Ancient Romans and Egyptians are reported to use it in their beauty regimes)

Relaxation: Hops, an ingredient found in beer, itself is known for its relaxing properties. Hops contains poly-phenols thought to account for its anti-bacterial, preservative effects; and it also contains skin-softening amino acids. (Beer Spas are popping up all over Europe)

Hair Care:  Beer is extremely rich in amino acids, which help improve hair follicles and coat and repair each strand of hair. (Beer is a home remedy for dull and frizzy hair for ages)

Now you may be thinking to yourself, am I going to smell like beer when I get out of the shower? Don’t worry, you won’t.  The “beer smell” and the alcohol both disappear during the soap-making process.  However, the esters produced by the yeast used in the beer-making process, like banana (Bavarian Hefeweizen), clove/bubble gum (Belgian Saison), chocolate (Chocolate Stouts), for example DO contribute to the scent of the soap.  Your skin will thank you for a bath in beer! And by the way, there is no alcohol in the final product.