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Local rum maker now running to make hand sanitizer

Black Creek Distillery joining fight to protect residents against COVID-19

By Bruce Hope bruce@opcfla.com
Posted 4/22/20

MIDDLEBURG – Local rum maker Black Creek Distillery is joining the fight against COVID-19.

They have shifted their focus from the production of the popular elixir to manufacturing a product …

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Local rum maker now running to make hand sanitizer

Black Creek Distillery joining fight to protect residents against COVID-19


Posted

MIDDLEBURG – Local rum maker Black Creek Distillery is joining the fight against COVID-19.

They have shifted their focus from the production of the popular elixir to manufacturing a product that’s in huge demand but short supply: hand sanitizer.

“The TTB [Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau] who governs us, let everybody who is a small distillery like us know that they were relaxing the rules so that we could make industrial alcohol, which is what hand sanitizer is characterized as,” said Dave Fleming, co-owner of Black Creek Distillery with his wife, Suzette. “So up until June 30, we don’t have to get an industrial alcohol permit. They gave us the WHO [World Health Organization] recipe, and they provided us a label for the back of it that says as long as you make it just like this, this is your label,” Fleming said.

Usually, Black Creek is a rum distillery. The process of creating rum is different from industrial alcohol. Rum is made using raw brown sugar. Hand sanitizer is made using white granulated sugar.

“The people from our Middleburg Wynn-Dixie have gone above and beyond to make sure that they had enough sugar because we just bought almost 600 pounds of it,” Fleming said. “You can’t normally go into Wynn-Dixie and get 600 pounds of sugar. You can’t get more than two of anything right now. The other stores in the area were willing to help, but Wynn-Dixie, literally, after I asked, two days later, walked in the door and said, ‘I’ve got your sugar, and let me know when you need more.’”

Fleming says the white sugar ferment used for the sanitizer takes longer than the brown sugar ferment used in rum, so it is slowing the manufacturing process. It’s going more slowly than usual, but he says that he’s gotten help from his yeast supplier, and more ingredients to speed up the fermentation are on the way to help move the process along. He is looking to be able to begin boxing up the first completed batch by next week.

“At that time, I’m thinking we’re going to have somewhere around 500-600 bottles, but they’re 16-ounce bottles,” said Fleming. “They’re going directly to the supervisor of elections Chris Chambless – that’s who asked us to do it. Once everybody’s got their little 16-ounce bottles, we’re probably going to go to gallons.”

Including labor, Black Creek won’t make any profit.