Hello everyone! I just wanted to send an update about what we're up to in light of the coronavirus pandemic going on and all of the business closures, etc. You may have read a number of stories about distilleries starting to produce hand sanitizer during this time. It's a little more complicated than just mixing a high proof alcohol solution, but we have ordered the materials we will need to at least produce some in bulk. Our current plan is to work with a charitable organization we've worked with in the past, called Chicago Social Change, who work directly with underserved communities in Chicago. They will help deliver it to hospitals, urgent care centers and individuals in some of the south and west side communities in Chicago. Places and individuals that might not otherwise have access or the resources to purchase these products.

Unfortunately, this will take another week or two to get all the ingredients in house and produce. While the FDA and government has loosened regulations on making this stuff, they only did so to a point. There's a specific recipe to follow to allow its use in hospital settings or for personal use, and you have to register it with the FDA. We had to order USP grade hydrogen peroxide, glycerol and a couple of specialty chemicals to denature the ethanol, so it's not drinkable, then label it according to their standards. Still a lot of red tape, but we're gonna chop through it and get this done.

So, while we wait for that, we've been working on getting our GinQuila bottled, getting ready to start producing more vodka and gin, and doing a lot of in house projects. Taking a positive spin on it, we're taking this as an opportunity to get things done we might not otherwise be able to focus on. We installed a new three compartment sink for clean up work, made some improvements to the gin and vodka still, cleaned up, and we'll start working on some light renovations in the future tasting room. I also took the opportunity to keep developing the initial craft beer whiskey recipe by brewing some beer, and working on a whole number of other little projects.

Everyone here is safe and healthy, and we hope that all of you are as well. Thanks so much for following us and/or investing in our project. We will all get through this together.