Lehigh Valley distillery makes hand sanitizer during coronavirus outbreak

LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa. - The coronavirus has made hand sanitizer a hot commodity. Stores are out and online prices soared. A Lehigh Valley distillery is trying to make hand sanitizer more available to those who need it the most.

FOX 29 Photojournalist Bill Rohrer explains..

Logan Snyder and Caitlin Bagenstose just made a fresh batch of hand sanitizer from the distilled grains they grow at Eight Oaks Farm Distillery in the Lehigh Valley.

“It starts with about 95 percent then we will dilute it down prescribed 60 to 70 percent.” he told FOX 29.

FULL COVERAGE: CORONAVIRUS

Following the guidelines from the CDC, Eight Oaks Farm Distillery started production Monday morning.

Usually Eight Oaks Farm is bustling with people. For now, the distillery is closed due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Instead of whiskey and rum, Eight Oaks switched to making hand sanitizer.

Retired Army veteran Chad Butters, started Eight Oaks after his wife was diagnosed with cancer.

“The silver lining there is we had a real opportunity to spend some time together. As we started discussing what is it in life that we really want.” Butters explained.

Butters and his family got to work and made a list of things that would make them exceptionally happy. The number one thing on the list was spending time with family.

“No vacation homes or Harley Davidsons or anything like that. Just simply spend more time together and create a family business that was authentic and real and we can be proud of," he explained.

Eight Oaks Farm Distillery was born and it’s a family affair. His daughter Carly is the GM. His son-in-law Logan Snyder never thought this is what he’d be doing here.

“Yesterday afternoon, Caitlin texted me and said, I was in our company crew chat are we really making had sanitizer?”  he said.

It's a splash of positivity packed inside a bottle.

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