Faced with a public health crisis that threatens to shut down industry and potentially devastate some smaller businesses beyond repair, some employers are stepping up to the challenge of staying open – and meeting the need.
Dillon’s Distillery says they’re cranking out bottles of 65% alcohol not for consumption, but to use for disinfecting. The small-batch liquor company is bottling their products with simple but clear labels and offering to ship them out to anyone who needs sanitization products but can’t find them on the shelves.
They're not pretty but they work. We're bottling up some 65% alcohol for disinfecting. Any essential service individual or organization who needs some, reach out, we'll have 1,000+ bottles for tomorrow, on us. More hand sanitizer is here for anyone in need.
They're not pretty but they work. We're bottling up some 65% alcohol for disinfecting. Any essential service individual or organization who needs some, reach out, we'll have 1,000+ bottles for tomorrow, on us. More hand sanitizer is here for anyone in need.
— Dillon's Distillery (@dillonsdistills) March 17, 2020
Reach out via DM pic.twitter.com/AYF0lsO24L
Likewise, the Old Fourth Distillery in Atlanta says they’re making their own alcohol-based disinfectant to try to meet the desperate need, mixing the alcohol they normally use for spirits with water and aloe to make hand sanitizer. The company is giving first dibs on their new product to first responders and emergency workers on the front lines of the health crisis.
“We're a distillery. Obviously under normal circumstances we're making vodka and gin and bourbon," owner Craig Moore said.
While the Grey Goose in your liquor cabinet at home isn't strong enough to kill germs, products that contain 60 to 95 percent alcohol are effective in sanitation. A slew of other distilleries, one of the few businesses legally allowed to make the alcohol strong enough to be used in sanitizer, have stepped up to the plate:
Hand sanitiser is selling out everywhere. So we have started using our distillery to make Punk Sanitiser. We want to do all we can to help everyone get through this difficult time. pic.twitter.com/mDCQLCyPX6
— James Watt (@BrewDogJames) March 18, 2020
#Recharge — A distillery in Portland, Oregon, is now making hand sanitizer and giving it away to customers.
— David Beard (@dabeard) March 15, 2020
“Ultimately, I’m part of the community, I want my friends and neighbors to be happy and healthy,” the owner says.https://t.co/bgeIkwrMu3 h/t @kvox
Hand sanitiser. This is what we did today. From tomorrow we will be offering 50 free bottles per day at the distillery shop. Online orders will receive a bottle too. 70% ABV. Don’t drink it. #handsanitiser pic.twitter.com/ylUqjauoQC
— Silent Pool Gin (@SilentPoolGin) March 17, 2020
A Pennsylvania distillery owner who grew increasingly angry as he saw the skyrocketing price of hand sanitizer has decided to do something about it: He’s temporarily converting his operation into a production line for the suddenly hard-to-find product. https://t.co/pp3HuM0vjq
— The Seattle Times (@seattletimes) March 17, 2020