Texas Craft Distilleries Are Filling The Void, Supplying Sanitizer For COVID-19 Outbreak

A couple of weeks ago, distilleries across the country started an initiative to make hand sanitizer in order to help alleviate the nationwide shortage due to COVID-19. But in Texas, what started as a good intention opened a regulations can of worms involving State and Federal entities and requiring a huge effort from some unlikely folks.

With sales declining after closures of restaurants and bars, Texas distilleries realized they could produce high proof ethanol, a key ingredient in hand sanitizer. But soon they faced hurdles in obtaining other important ingredients such as glycerol, hydrogen peroxide and a variety of “denaturing” ingredients typically used in high-alcohol products not intended for human consumption. So, what if they sent the high proof ethyl-alcohol to pharmacies with access to the rest of the ingredients instead? They quickly encountered other barriers such as having to pay federal excise taxes — designed for alcohol to be consumed as a beverage — even if that alcohol was compounded into a sanitizer formulation.

As news of craft distillers willing to make sanitizer spread, the American Craft Spirits Association (ACSA) and the Texas Distilled Spirits Association (TDSA) were flooded with calls from all major healthcare providers, EMS and every type of law enforcement agencies, it became clear that the solution was engendering its own problems. Something had to be done to mitigate a situation without precedent.

“We have received calls from sheriffs, fire and police departments, game wardens, even the Department of Defense and US Army bases looking to secure sanitizers for frontline forces. “You know it is serious when even the military is looking for hand sanitizer,” says Spencer Whelan, executive director of the Texas Whiskey Association (TXWA) and CEO of the Texas Whiskey Trail.

“We have a clear solution to a problem, but there’s lots of confusion, especially at the federal level, with different questions and regulations that don’t make sense in certain scenarios,” he says. “I feel like I have had a master-class in chemistry and supply-chain logistics these last few days. We need to make sure it’s going to where it’s needed first, but we need help to coordinate the supply chain so we can get it in the right hands.”

Whelan began working with Mark Shilling and Chris Seals who have been on the national COVID-19 response team for the ACSA, and with Amber Hausenfluck of the TDSA, to clarify guidance on  legislation in order to establish a supply chain that permits distilleries obtain the raw materials needed to make their own sanitizer, or to allow them to transfer ethanol without the typical restrictions and taxes imposed on beverage alcohol.

“We’re trying hard to coordinate our requests to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), the Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission (TABC), the FDA, Governor Abbott’s office and the Texas Department of Emergency Management requesting assistance, to take this opportunity to use the distilleries as essential businesses and manufacturers. Texas agencies like TABC, and the Governor’s newly formed Supply Chain Strike Force have been fantastic, very supportive and receptive within their regulations.”

Texas Craft distilleries rely on tourism and visitors to stay in business, so their revenue loss is compounded on top that of bars and restaurants because it requires travel which isn’t encouraged, they are restricted on the amount of bottles they can sell to go, and have no delivery options under the state’s antiquated Blue Laws.

“This is a very fluid situation and while our members are suffering along with bars and restaurants, we are trying to put public safety in the forefront and work with the state to protect Texans,” says Whelan. “Distilleries are operating without knowing that the costs will be covered. We’ve cancelled or postponed all Texas Whiskey Trail activities and despite the growth in tourism we’ve seen, we hope we can use the distributed nature of distilleries to help their local communities however we can.”  

In this light, Whelan is envisioning the Whiskey Trail to serve as a logistics network while distilleries are closed to the public. “We are looking for coordination, procurement and financial assistance to make sure that we meet the need,” he says, emphasizing that the impact of COVID-19 is particularly hard for new distilleries, because much of their upfront revenue will come from tasting room, cocktail and bottle sales until they can produce enough product and get into distribution. 

There are now 29 distilleries that are, or soon will be, working on sanitizer solutions. Most of the newly formed Texas Whiskey Trail distilleries and many of the TDSA member distilleries are now participating statewide. They are calling this effort their #StillStrongTX campaign. These distilleries are either already producing, or will soon start offering WHO formula hand sanitizer, prioritizing local healthcare organizations and first responders.

The membership of both organizations held joint informational conference calls to inform all distilleries about the FDA, TTB and state guidelines during the declared public health emergency. Immediately, distilleries that are often fierce competitors began calling each other directly to source ingredients and bottles, and share formulation and production methods. Some distilleries like Gulf Coast Distillers, Ironroot Republic and MKT Distillery have had to shift from plans of offering items to the public to prioritizing healthcare and first responder groups first.

Based in Denison, Texas, near the Oklahoma border, Ironroot Republic has decided to shift all their production into sanitizer solutions mostly for local front-line healthcare workers in their community. This is notable because just last month they won the World’s Best Bourbon award from Whisky Magazine for their Harbinger Bourbon. So, while demand is high, they are pausing to work for their community.

“Right now, we’re having difficulty sourcing the ingredients to make sanitizer on site,” says Robert Likarish, owner of Ironroot and secretary on the board of TXWA. “We have thus far been producing 180 gallons a week of high proof alcohol to give to local hospitals who then use their staff compounding pharmacists to make sanitizers for the hospitals and local first responders. The requests keep coming in from farther and farther away – so we are just trying to keep up now. For the foreseeable future, I don’t see us making any whiskey – hopefully the industrial sites will catch up. Beyond a couple months, I don’t know how long financially we’ll be able to continue, but we will continue until we can’t afford the grain anymore. “

In Houston, Gulf Coast Distillers is doing large scale industrial production of sanitizer to get items into the retail supply chain. Last week, the company’s president and CEO, Carlos de Aldecoa, announced the emergency repurposing of some production and bottling lines for the manufacturing of hand sanitizer to meet the extraordinary community demands. Since they are registered as industrial producers, they were one of the first to make FDA formulated products; they intended to get it in stores but gave away so much to first responders that they decided to make it a donation based item to those who need it most.

Milam & Greene Whiskey in Blanco, Texas is producing hand sanitizer called “Heads and Hearts Hand Sanitizer” which is available at the distillery for free for the community. The team is also distributing high-proof alcohol to be used as a sanitizer to hospitals and healthcare facilities, and the Milam & Greene staff is delivering sanitizer to charities like Caritas of Austin. Master distiller Marlene Holmes is currently distilling their spirits to ensure the ABV is high enough to be an effective sanitizing agent. “We follow the guidelines of the Texas Whiskey Association and WHO, we use neutral grain spirits and package it with love,” says CEO Heather Greene.

“We are using the WHO formula for hand rub sanitizer,” says Jessica Leigh Graves, co-owner of Austin’s Violet Crown Spirits. “The hand sanitizers most folks are used to are more gelatinous than this formulation. It still works fine in the same pump and squeeze bottles; it’s just going to be runnier. In fact, you can also use it as a spray.” They are currently bottling in liter (32 oz) and gallon (128 oz) jugs with plain screw tops. “They’re intended to refill the containers you’re already using. Keep those pump and squeeze bottles – we can’t get any for the time being.”

Graves has been getting requests from doggie daycare facilities, medical professionals, food trucks operators, restaurants and coffee shops doing to-go, and has been doing deliveries for three straight days. She is trying to focus on essential personnel who are interacting with the public and taking care of patients, like nursing homes, clinics and hospice.

With three veterans as its founders, Desert Door Distillery is donating directly to many organizations, including the San Antonio Police Department, area nursing homes, and area shelters, and plans to help the Austin restaurant and bar community by giving sanitizer to distribute with to-go orders. “Desert Door has resources and capabilities that can be helpful during this time, and so we are going to stay in the fight making hand sanitizer to WHO and FDA standards. We will be providing 8 oz bottles free of charge to the public and will continue to do so for as long as necessary. It is our social and moral responsibility to do so,” says co-founder Ryan Campbell.

According to Whelan, large scale requests are coming in daily. “I personally got a couple of gallons of hydrogen peroxide from Walgreens around Austin so that Still Austin could use it for their formulations,” he says, noting that the South Austin distillery is working directly to provide sanitizer for Texas Oncology, and Garrison Brothers Distillery, the state’s first legal bourbon distillery since prohibition, has been producing five gallon buckets of their formulation and giving it away to local nursing homes and law-enforcement groups like the Blanco County Sheriff’s Office. “Having a distilling industry in your state is a good idea from many different perspectives, and this crisis is showing how important it is to Texas.”

“Pernod-Ricard America, owners of Firestone & Robertson, also made a large commitment to produce sanitizer, and we are very grateful for their work too,” says Whelan, who is also working on social distancing protocols for distilleries so that sanitizer and/or bottle pickups are done with public safety in mind.

“Everyone is doing what they can, but it may take a system-wide effort between distilleries to manufacture enough finished product and get it procured or out to market,” says Whelan. Just a decade ago, Texas didn’t have this kind of distilling capacity; today, with the growth of the industry, distilleries large and small are an essential part of the state’s economic infrastructure.

“We are all really exhausted, but I honestly think that lives are being saved by Texas distilleries right now,” Whelan adds. “Ironically, this week has been very sobering, but we are all honored to be doing what we can to help in this crisis.”