Riley’s has always taken a hands-on approach to problem-solving. For company president and longtime brewer, Dan Riley, that meant custom-building his own  brewery/distillery, piece by piece. So when the COVID-19 crisis hit in 2020, causing a critical shortage of hand sanitizer among hospitals, medical workers and first responders, Dan saw the opportunity to help and once again grabbed his toolbox.  

After obtaining the required license and permit, Dan converted his distillery bottling operation into a production facility for Riley’s Hand Sanitizer.  The sanitizer is formulated to meet the specifications of the United States Food & Drug Administration (FDA), which requires the product to be 80% ethanol for optimum effectiveness as an antimicrobial agent.  Dan works hard to ensure that all ingredients for his sanitizer are locally sourced, whenever possible. 

At first, Dan produced just enough sanitizer to help with local needs, but word of the product quickly spread. Within weeks, Dan and his team were producing 40,000 12- ounce bottles of Riley’s Hand Sanitizer every day to meet the soaring worldwide demand. As the pandemic spread and local businesses began to lay off workers, Dan hired dozens of additional employees to help with round-the-clock production.