CLICK HERE if you are having trouble viewing these photos on a mobile device
Falcon Spirits distiller Farid Dormishian is known for his award-winning bottles of herbal amaros and vapor-infused gins. But during the coronavirus pandemic, he is converting his Richmond boutique operation into a production line for another type of alcohol: hand sanitizer.
“We’re a tiny distillery but this is an easy way we can help everybody,” says Dormishian, who is creating the gooey substance for local first responders only. He has an order from the City of Berkeley for 1,000 bottles. “The sooner we can get rid of this (virus) the better.”
The dire shortage of Purell and other hand sanitizers with at least 60 percent alcohol has spurred distillers and brewers into action across the country. In the Bay Area, Hanson of Sonoma, an organic vodka distillery, started making hand sanitizer last week as a way to help the community and keep employees working. And Heretic Brewing of Fairfield is planning to start production this week.
It took two weeks for Dormishian and the others to receive approval from the three agencies involved in the process: the Food and Drug Administration, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, and the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. They’re all making a version of the World Health Organization’s recipe for hand sanitizer, which includes ethanol, glycerin, hydrogen peroxide and distilled water.
A former biochemist, Dormishian says the active ingredient is pharmaceutical-grade ethanol — basically high-proof vodka — and that the glycerin is what moisturizes the skin. Most hand sanitizers also contain essential oils to mask the strong scent of alcohol, he says. While WHO doesn’t forbid the inclusion, they don’t recommend it, either.
“Someone might have an allergy to the essential oils,” he says.
On Sunday, Heretic Brewing owner-brewer Jamil Zainasheff announced on Twitter that he and his crew received the government green light to start making what he calls Germ Juice instead of their luscious IPAs. Once labels and bottles arrive Tuesday he can start production. They’ll be selling it to the public during their brewery’s take-out hours, 3 to 7 p.m. daily.
Federal and state agencies have given us the green light to start producing hand sanitizer. Its nice to be able to take our expertise in distilling and produce something people need in a time like this. @HereticBrew pic.twitter.com/lCl8lfM0ol
— Jamil Zainasheff (@mrmalty) March 22, 2020
They’ll be selling it to the public in two sizes — 2 ounces for $3, 16 ounces for $15 — during their taproom’s take-out hours, 3 to 7 p.m. daily. Nearby Travis Air Force Base has already requested a large order.
“We want to do anything we can to help out our local community during this crisis, they mean everything to us,” Zainasheff says. “And with our taproom and restaurant closed due to the shelter-in-place, this is all we have going on besides beer-to-go.”
Zainasheff says he plans to make hand sanitizer as long as there is a need and the government allows it. Or as long as people like him can find containers. Much like the shortage of hand sanitizer, there is also a scarcity of glass and plastic bottles on the market. What is out there has tripled in price in the past week, according to Scott Hanson of Hanson of Sonoma Distillery.
Hanson and his family distill their vodkas from organic grapes, and after being contacted by a large hand sanitizer manufacturer to buy their alcohol — another ingredient now in low supply — they decided to start making their own. Their recipe also includes aloe vera gel.
“We realized that we had the capability and instead of distilling it for spirits we should do it for something that people really need right now,” Scott Hanson says. The first batch of 1,000 blue spray bottles sold out in two hours to employees, business partners and distillery club members. The next batch, which should be completed by week’s end, will be available to the public.
So far, Hanson’s distillery has donated batches to the Marin County Sheriff’s office as well as PG&E, who is providing it to their workers in the field.
Overall, there’s a much bigger demand than the family realized. Right now, they’re trying to scale up production to meet that demand, which will include hand sanitizer delivery around Northern California. For the time being, they’ve stopped making their naturally-flavored vodkas.
“This is all we’re doing right now,” says Alanna Hanson, Scott’s daughter and the company’s marketing manager. “It’s needed and at the end of the day, we all need to try to do things to help each other get through this. We’re really lucky that it keeps us in business and keeps our employees busy during this time.”
