Distillery turns to making hand sanitizer during pandemic

THREE OAKS, Mich. – The Journeyman Distillery in Three Oaks is known for its craft alcoholic beverages, but it’s recently transitioned to giving out free craft hand sanitizer in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We send it into our steel units and create a spirit,” Journeyman General Manager Mike Brown said.
“And then cutting it back to bring it down about 75 percent alcohol, and then thickening it with some additives so that we can rub it on our hands and get the full effect of hand sanitizer.“

But the free bottles of hand sanitizer (limited one per person) isn’t just for customers to take home. 

Brown said its manufacturing will ramp up in the coming weeks to service efforts most in need of them.

“(It’s) significantly large quantities of hand sanitizer for local hospitals and other organizations,” Brown said.
“(It’s for) those who have the community at their best interest, I think that’ll be our next step.”

According to Journeyman, 40 percent of all the distillery's sales Saturday went straight to paying all its employees who can’t come into work in the coming weeks.