Central Coast breweries donate beer to make hand sanitizer

WATSONVILLE, Calif. (KION) Breweries on the Central Coast are donating gallons of beer to Blume Distillation, where it's being turned into hand sanitizer.

Two of the breweries that participated are Fruition Brewing in Watsonville and Other Brother Beer Co. in Seaside.

"We donated about three hundred gallons of beer to that," owner Kevin Brown said.

The brewery made the donation at a time when businesses are trying to stay afloat.

"I mean, it was obviously a decision to make to donate rather than sell," Brown said.

So they sent the beer to Blume Distillation in Watsonville.

"We boil it, make distilled spirits," Blume Distillation CEO David Blume said. "But we take it all the way up to 80 percent alcohol, mix it with things that are good for your hands, and then we have sanitizer."

Once the beer is distilled into hand sanitizer, it's bottled, and then distributed. Today, it was given to the City Manager, who plans to hand it over to first responders.

"The last thing they should have to worry about is whether or not they have enough hand sanitizer to keep themselves and their daily members safe," Watsonville City Manager Matt Huffaker said.

Blume distillery plans to send bottles of their sanitizer to Native American Reservations.

“These populations are being much more affected with deaths from the virus than people who have really good access to healthcare,” Blume said.