Brooklyn Distilleries Switch from Spirits to Sanitizers During Coronavirus Pandemic
03/30/2020
Discover
In a city, state, country and world essentially shut down by COVID-19, we can all use any bit of uplifting news we can find. Small-batch, glass flask, Brooklyn-made hand sanitizer anyone?
The Duggal Visual Solutions team was bedazzled to find that its Brooklyn Navy Yard neighbor, Kings County Distillery, is hard at work producing hand sanitizer to fill the shortage in NYC.
“All the alcohol that we have is going to end up as hand sanitizer,” Colin Spoelman, co-founder and head distiller, told Eater NY. The food and dining blog reports that Kings County Distillery is producing a first run of 1,000 flasks, with enough supplies already in house to make up to 4,000 bottles. Spoelman said the distillery will be giving out the sanitizer on site with a suggested donation to cover the cost of production.
Other Brooklyn distilleries, including New York Distilling Company, Greenhook Ginsmiths and St. Agrestis Spirits, are producing sanitizer as well. It’s even becoming a national trend.
“We thought, at least this is a reasonable way to put ourselves to some use,” Allen Katz, co-founder and owner of New York Distilling Company, told Parade. “We have access to off-the-still gin made in our Brooklyn distillery that we can turn into a homemade sanitizer that meets CDC recommendations. We can use our resources to help support friends in the hospitality and trade who are in need right now.”
