'Fool's Gin:' Illinois distillery switches up operation to make hand sanitizer
HIGHWOOD, Ill. -- A UW-Madison alumnus and a Wisconsin native have converted their Illinois distillery to make hand sanitizer for first responders and the general public. It's a job they don't take lightly.
Sitting 28 miles north of Chicago -- and conveniently on the way to Milwaukee -- is the town of Highwood, Illinois. A once-popular bootlegging destination during the prohibition era, it is also the home of 28 Mile Vodka & Distillery -- owned by UW-Madison alumnus Eric Falberg and Wisconsin native Matt Greif.
They've been open for less than a year now.
Eric Falberg
"We were distilling vodka, gin, bourbon and really getting going," Falberg said.
The momentum was suddenly ripped out from under them when COVID-19 spread worldwide, leading to stay-at-home orders and big questions for small businesses. That is until the two realized distilling vodka and gin isn't really that different from making hand sanitizer.
"The initial process is almost exactly the same. So, I'm using raw materials -- corn, wheat, rye, barley -- to create a ferment that creates the alcohol, which I then distill," said Greif.
Matt Greif
In the new process, though, Greif doesn't water-down the end product. It's 80% alcohol mixed with hydrogen peroxide and glycerol. "Fool's Gin" -- their aptly-named hand sanitizer -- is keeping them in business and their employees paid.
"This is the first time since we've opened that I'm running at maximum capacity," Greif said.
It is their way of helping their community get what they need to stay safe.
"Really, we're at war with something that's invisible," said Falberg. "We have something that we're capable of doing, so we're going to do everything we can to make sure we do that."
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