Motorworks usually brews booze. Coronavirus shifts production to something more needed
Motorworks Brewing is temporarily stopping production on what was going to be a brand new product to make hand sanitizer instead.
The homemade product consisting of one part aloe gel and nine parts alcohol will be ready by the end of the week. Motorworks plans to donate the product to first responders, nursing homes and the general public.
Motorworks colloborated with Dark Door Distilling out of Tampa last year to turn their Midnight Espresso Coffee Porter into their Eye of Midnight whiskey. A second collaboration was underway to transform their Pulp Friction grapefruit IPA into a new American whiskey and gin.
“With the global shortage that is ongoing, the FDA made a change to what’s allowable for hand sanitizer because you literally can’t find it right now,” said Barry Elwonger, Motorworks director of sales and marketing.
“A friend from Dark Door reached out about what FDA did and asked what we can do,” Elwonger said. “We already have some alcohol from the Pulp Friction we were already working on so why don’t we go ahead and use some of that stuff instead of making the final product of the alcohol, turn it into hand sanitizer and take care of our community.”
Dark Door jumped on the idea.
“We kind of turned this around on a dime,” Elwonger said. “I talked to him last night and we’re going to have a finished product in hand to share by the end of the week.”
Madelyn and CJ Schmidt of HIT promotional products in Largo donated the funding to get production underway.
Donations will be prioritized to first responders and nursing homes, and the general public will be able to pick up one per person during the hours of noon to 7 p.m. at Motorworks, 1014 Ninth St. W. in Bradenton.
Motorworks, like all other Florida bars, had to shut down their bar portion of their business for 30 days, but remains open for packaged sales and production of its beers.
Elwonger said it’s not a time to worry about sales.
“I don’t care about putting out product,” he said. “The focus is doing something to get rid of this virus so everybody can get stay safe and get back to normal.”
This story was originally published March 18, 2020 at 2:26 PM.