I apologise for the all caps but y'all, THIS IS SERIOUS!
Whether you love or hate microbreweries and craft beer, this is an injustice that we cannot let stand. I say this only partly in jest.
Back when lockdowns started to happen, a lot of local breweries across the country got to work creating hand sanitizer. Remember back in March and April when it was impossible to find any? Brewers stepped up and instead of making locally sourced craft beers they just made the alcohol to in turn make hand sanitizer.
Some of them sold the sanitizer at cost; others, like Warfield, pictured above, simply made it then handed it out for free to essential businesses, like the one I work for.
Well, it turns out the FDA is going to punish them for that.
When the onset of the pandemic led to a massive increase in demand for hand sanitizer this spring, many distilleries stepped up to alleviate the sudden shortage. The main ingredient in sanitizer is ethanol, which they are in the business of making, albeit typically in more fun and tasty formats. More than 800 distilleries pivoted from spirits to sanitizer, offering it for sale or in many cases donating it to their communities free of charge. Their prompt action helped ensure supplies of sanitizer when it was otherwise unobtainable. (Even then, the FDA needlessly complicated things, imposing additional requirements on top of guidelines published by the World Health Organization for emergency production. The FDA's mandate that all alcohol used in sanitizer first be denatured—rendering it undrinkable—created a bottleneck that raised costs for distillers and slowed production.) Producing sanitizer is viewed as a point of pride in the distilling business, a way that they were able to help their communities in a fearful time of crisis. Now, however, that good deed is being punished with unanticipated fees by the FDA. "I compare it to surprise medical billing," says Becky Harris, president of the American Craft Spirits Association (ACSA) and of Catoctin Creek Distilling in Purcellville, Virginia.
This article states that the fine is as high as $14,000! For an industry that is mostly made up of local, small business owners who've already lost a lot this year, this is an unforgivable ask which will likely force many of them to shut down.
2020 has been a year of living in a sci-fi hellscape. I've learned to live without and give up a lot of small pleasures in life. But goddammit this is just a bridge too far.
Besides spending time with my family, the one thing I can't wait to do after the pandemic is over is to settle into a nice patio seat on a warm summer day and drink locally made beer while waiting for a hamburger.
There's nothing like coming back from a long hike or bike ride and getting that cold microbrew.
But all is not lost. Here's how we can help:
Here is a list of ways to contact the FDA.
Hereis the docket number for reference when you contact them:
FDA-2020-D-1106
We’ve all been through a lot this year and I know so many of us spent a lot of energy to GOTV, and in a lot cases are still working for the chance to dispose of Mcconnell as “leader.”
But on this last day of this awful year, maybe we can make one more final push. We've sacrificed so much already. This is just too much.