WGME ARC Maine || Maine small business makes soap with beer

Elaine Kinney of White Pine Bath + Brew discusses her beer soaps on ARC Maine

"We are continuing our Small Business Saturday preview here on ARC Maine, highlighting another unique local business. This one combines beer with skin care." 

"You got my interest in this one right here. Here to explain is the owner of White Pine Bath and Brew, Elaine Kinney...Talk about this concept of beer and soap, and how did this even happen? Is this kind of like the Reese's Peanut Butter commercial where somebody had some beer and some soap and you guys ran into each other?"

"Yeah. So it's kind of a combination of factors that got me going. I love beer, and it's Maine - so what is more Maine than micro breweries, right? I started doing beer soap - a friend actually taught me how to do it. I'm not the only person that does it, but it's very uncommon. I was going through a bit of burnout from a previous career, and I was looking for something new...a business that would have better work life balance. A friend said 'Why don't I teach you how to make beer soap and you can run with that if you want?' So I said 'Absolutely, that sounds like so much fun.' ...This was back in around 2020 a little before and I just kind of decided summer of 2020 I'm going to go for it. I'm going to go all-in on the beer soap business."

"Okay, tell us sort of the process of making it, and then we're going to kind of try out this."

"Absolutely. So, I do partner with local breweries to collect their beer. It's brewery waste. So, it's one way I'm making it more sustainable. I take the beer home, I boil it to remove the alcohol and the carbonation, and then I combine it with [sodium hydroxide]. What it is is it's a solvent to dissolve the sodium hydroxide or the lye. And then you pair it with some sort of fat source like cocoa butter, shea butter, those really skin-loving oils. I do it in this big lobster pot on a burner. It's just a full chemical reaction I'm facilitating called saponification. When you add heat to that, it just speeds up the chemical reaction. So by the time you're done with it, there's no more sodium hydroxide left. You're left with this beautiful new product of soap, and then you pour it into the molds. Then you get to cut it like with this."

"I feel like we're on Sesame Street - a new word, 'personification'. "

"So I put it into a loaf mold...and then you just push it right down. Takes some muscle."

"Yes. Oh, that's so satisfying!"

"Isn't that fun"

"I feel so invigorated right now. That was amazing."

"It's the funnest part of the job... I love to keep that rugged top like the Maine mountains - gives it more character and personality, and I just trim up the sides.

"Listen, when you walked in, you start putting these soaps down. I mean, I'm going to compare it to food. Like I walked into a buffet with all the different smells. I can't tell what the heck I'm smelling, but it smells good! What am I smelling?

"So the large one right here is actually the Lump of Coal, just untrimmed. This is the finished version of that. A little bit of a cologne smell, smooth and sweet. Also you're getting Cranberry Frost here and that's in the set or individual bar. So obviously that's a little bit more of like a fruity tart. Then I have Beer + Christmas Cheer, which is like a citrus and clove and pine combination."

"Oh my gosh, I love that one!"

"This one is kind of dear to my heart because it reminds me of my mom. She always kept a tea called 'Constant Comment' in the house growing up, and totally by accident I created this soap and realized it smells just like it. So when I make this I always think of her."

"It's so nice that you work with all these local breweries. So it's just a really fun gift because if you have a beer lover in the family, they'll appreciate it."

"What are some of the other ones you have up here?"

"Yeah, so those three are my holiday seasonals, and then I have some fall ones as well. I have Spiced Chai. This one I actually made for my sister cuz she loves chai. I'm a big chai fan myself. Vanilla cinnamon.">

"Oh, and this has Octoberfest by Rising Tide in it, which is really cool."

"So, all of the beers I'm using are local to Maine specifically."

"You put them on each container package, right?"

"Yeah, exactly. I put it all on the package, so you can tell if you have a favorite brewery, you can kind of pair it."

"What's this that almost looks like a Christmas ornament right here?"

"So, this is a brand new product. I just barely eaked-out in time for the holidays. This is a stocking charm. So, you can use it as both decor and a gift, and you hang it up with your stocking. There's a little wooden tag, and you can write the name - pen works really easily - write the name to personalize your stocking. It comes with a little organic cotton soap bag."

"Oh, that's amazing. They're just cute and they smell amazing."

"You alluded to this. Tell us just a little bit more about your mission to be more sustainable. You know, this is beer that would otherwise potentially be thrown out, right?"

"Yeah. So, when I started the business, it didn't even occur to me. It's something that sort of morphed as my mission as I got more into the busines,s and I started digging-in and learning more about how I can be more sustainable as a small business...There's all of this overproduction waste in any manufacturing industry, but in brewing as well. I had a couple breweries reach out to me and say, 'We have shortfills. We have overstock. We don't know what to do with it, and we'd have to otherwise throw it down the drain. Can you use this?' So I started partnering with these breweries and reaching out more and more. I'm using this beer that would otherwise go to waste, and I'm actually able to put it into the soap, and you get some extra skincare benefits. So the hops is really soothing for irritation - it's anti-inflammatory - and then there's biotin and vitamins in the brewers yeast. So it's this fun way to boost the soap...I'm also able to be more sustainable and help other local businesses reduce their waste."

"I bet the breweries love it, too."

"Yes, absolutely."

"Also nice, too, you guys have gluten-free options as well?"

"Yes. Over the summer, I partnered with Lucky Pigeon Brewing. I use one of their beers...it's a gluten-free beer that I use in my soap. I'm actually gluten-free now myself. [I use this beer] just to give that extra layer of security and safety for those who are just like, 'I want to try beer soap, but I'm not sure if I'm comfortable with it.' So, it's in my fragrance-free cocoa butter bar now."

"Amazing, all right. So, where can people place orders or find you? Maybe at some makers markets? And is there a deadline you want anyone to know about when it comes to holiday orders?"

"Right. I think your safe mark for holiday orders would be December 15th. If you can get it in by then, you're good. My website is the best place to reach me. It's whitepinebathbrew.com. And if you order this weekend, I'm actually doing a special sale for Black Friday/Small Business Saturday/Cyber Monday. So, it's going to run from midnight on Black Friday morning all the way through Cyber Monday. Automatic 20% off the whole website."

"I like the sound of that. Hey, I have to ask this. I'm a musician. This looks like a musical instrument. This cutter. What is it called?"

"It's just a soap cutter...I got it on Etsy."

"It works really well. I thought it would have some kind of fancy name or whatever."

"Well, congratulations on such a successful business and good luck this weekend for Small Business Saturday!"

Shop beer soap at https://whitepinebathbrew.com/