ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — MARCH 19 UPDATE:
The owner of 3 Daughters Brewing has made the decision to not hand out the hand sanitizer. Mark Harting issued the following statement:
"We made hand sanitizer and our community responded. Over the past several hours we have received THOUSANDS of phone calls, emails, texts and people showing up at the brewery.
"Our desire to help our community has quickly grown into an event that we did not intend; hundreds of people gathering at our brewery at the same time. As such, it is the responsible decision for us to cancel our plan. Please allow us the opportunity to distribute all of this responsibly and in accordance with state and federal guidelines.
"Please do not show up at the brewery tomorrow. We will donate all products and future products through several charity organizations within the community. We are sorry, in these unprecedented times, we never expected this incredible response, and, as is our mission, we always want to do what is in our community’s best interest."
ORIGINAL STORY:
A staple of St. Petersburg is doing its part to help, as the coronavirus pandemic takes the Tampa Bay area -- and the world -- into uncharted territory.
While he normally brews beer, cider and hard seltzer, the owner of 3 Daughters Brewing figured they could assist people who are scrambling to find hand sanitizer to help limit their chances of getting COVID-19.
In response to the outbreak, 3 Daughters Brewing has begun bottling 4-ounce bottles of hand sanitizer. And, it plans to make them available to patrons for free beginning Thursday.
“We wanted to look for a way our large brewing capacity could help the community," owner Mike Harting wrote in a news release. “We are all in this together and this is an opportunity to give back to people who may not have been able to find it in stores.”
Harting says the alcohol-based hand sanitizer doesn't smell like flowers, but it works "very well."
“Though our tasting room is closed by government mandate, we still want to find a way to help people during these uncertain times," Harting explained.
3 Daughters is one of the largest independently-owned breweries in Florida. The free hand sanitizer is available starting at 10 a.m. Thursday and any following day -- while supplies last. There's a limit of one per person.
And, 3 Daughters isn't alone in turning to hand sanitizer production.
Kozuba & Sons Distillery has halted its production of spirits and is shifting all available resources to make hand sanitizer.
"Our hand sanitizer will be made using the highest grade spirit that otherwise would have been used to make vodka," the distillery wrote in a Facebook post. "We are following all World Health Organization (WHO) hand sanitizer formulation recommendations. We will have a limited amount available simply because bottles are difficult to come by at the moment. We will do our best to purchase more bottles with dispensers as soon as they become available."
Kozuba & Sons said it would let the public know when its sanitizer becomes available for purchase.
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