Breweries and Distillers are Making Hand Sanitizer for Hospitals in Maine

Talk about a 180 in your business plan.

I’m very sure 3 months ago not one brewery or distillery ever in their wildest dreams thought they would change their production models from beer to hand sanitizer but that's just what is happening across the state of Maine, according to pressherald.com.

Craft breweries and distillers have embarked on a journey with the University of Maine to make high-alcohol content sanitizer, the newspaper stated.

Not just any sanitizer, but medical-grade sanitizer.

Since most restaurants and bars were forced to close their doors the day before St. Patrick’s Day, a huge day in the restaurant business, many breweries were stuck with a lot of beer.

Some breweries were facing a loss of 60 to 80 percent of their business, according to the Press Herald, and the list of breweries involved in the project with the University of Maine is long. Allagash, Rising Tide, Oxbow, Foundation, Shipyard, Baxter Brewing, Maine Beer Company, and Bissell Brothers.

According to presshearld.com, distillers that are aiding the effort are Hardshore Distilling, New England, Stroudwater, Sebago Lake, Split Rock, Blue Barron, Mossy Ledge, Wiggly Bridge, Round Turn, Chadwick’s Craft Spirits and Three of Strong Spirits.

The tanks that normally hold beer are used to distill the beer to a 96 percent ethanol.

After that, the breweries are shipping it to the University of Maine where hydrogen peroxide and glycerin are added to create the hospital-grade hand sanitizer, the newspaper stated.

This is such an example of New England's ingenuity. I love this!