Five and 20 Spirits & Brewing, Westfield’s brewery, distillery and winery hybrid, is temporarily shifting their focus to producing hand sanitizer in order to aid in efforts to fight the sweeping spread of the coronavirus locally. They plan to donate the sanitizer to departments of health, non-profits, local healthcare workers, their staff, and restaurant, bar, and distribution partners.

Five & 20 will also be donating product to a growing list of non-profit organizations, including North East Community Nurses, Community Resources for Independence, Benedictine Sisters of Erie, Josephite Sisters of Erie, Bay City Cremations and Our Lady of Mercy, amongst others.

The distillery says that they decided to start producing the much-needed sanitizer because they are fortunate to already have the ingredients, equipment, and processes in place to distill a product that will make a real difference in the community.

“Everyone’s just trying to do the best we can in the circumstances,” Mazza Vineyards Vice President Mario Mazza says. “We are fortunate (like many other distilleries) to have the ability to make a key ingredient (ethanol) for something in short supply, so it seemed only logical to help the community (that has supported our businesses for 50 years).”

Plans call for over 400 gallons of hand sanitizer to be produced per week, with over 3,000 gallons in production overall.

“We are ramping up production, not without some hurdles on the supply chain side, so we can provide  health care workers, non-profits and community organizations in need. We’re also providing sanitizer to our customers, staff and accounts as well as they continue to work and service their communities.”

Mazza says that Five & 20 could start selling the sanitizer in the future. The best way to support them is to purchase their beer, spirits and wine during these trying times. You can purchase their whiskies and bourbon online. The distillery is also offering curbside pickup for call-ahead orders. Call (716) 793-9463 to place your order. All sales proceeds will go directly to support the hand sanitizer production.

“We appreciate any support folks can provide by purchasing our beers, spirits or wines to help keep our doors open and keep our staff going.”

For more information, please visit https://fiveand20.com/distilled-with-love/.

Brian Campbell is a Co-Founder and Brand Manager of the BNBA’s enthusiast arm, Buffalo Beer League, and writes the weekly Buffalo Beer Buzz column. If you have beer news that should be included in the Beer Buzz, Brian can be reached at buffalobeerleague@aol.com, on Twitter (@buffbeerleague), Instagram (@buffalobeerleague), and Facebook (@thebuffalobeerleague).