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Anheuser-Busch, New York distilleries making hand sanitizer during coronavirus crisis

This really is Beyond Beer.

Brewing giant Anheuser-Busch is making hand sanitizer to help during the coronavirus crisis — while a series of hip New York firms also producing artisanal bottles of the potentially life-saving product.

The world’s biggest brewery company best known for lagers like Budweiser — as well as its Beyond Beer line of hard seltzers and canned wines — announced its support for the crisis late Saturday.

“We have a long history of supporting our communities and employees – this time is no different,” Anheuser-Busch announced on Twitter.

“That’s why we are using our supply and logistics network to begin producing and distributing bottles of hand sanitizer to accommodate the growing needs across the United States.”

The sanitizer was shown in containers similar to those usually holding its beers — which also include Michelob Ultra, Stella Artois and Hoegaarden — and the tagline, “It’s in all our hands to make a difference.”

The company said it would be working with the Red Cross to determine where the hand sanitizer “will be needed most” — while stressing it was being made “in addition” to beer during the time of national crisis.

The mega-brewery with at least 19,000 staff was not the only company helping with hand sanitizer, which quickly sold out from most stores after the coronavirus hit the US and is now desperately needed by health workers on the frontlines of battling the pandemic.

A series of small boutique New York distilleries are also making their own — with beautiful bottles giving them a decidedly more artisanal feel.

“I never thought in my life that I’d be in the hand sanitizer business,” Stephen DeAngelo, founder of Brooklyn’s Greenhook Ginsmiths, told Eater.

The Greenpoint company has been shipping small bottles along with online orders of its booze — and has accepted two orders from hospitals, for 2,500 gallons and 1,700 gallons of hand sanitizer, Eater said.

“I don’t think the future is too bright for gin right now,” DeAngelo told the site. “This helps to keep my staff busy at this time, and we’re doing a lot of good for the hospitals as well.”

Williamsburg’s New York Distilling Company, meanwhile, has been producing its homemade sanitizer in beautiful 200ml glass flasks.

“The distillery is very interested in making larger quantities of hand sanitizer as a public service for our community,” head distiller Bill Potter told Eater.

St. Agrestis Spirits teamed up with Greenhook Ginsmiths so it could include a bottle of artisanal hand sanitizer with every order, with founder Louis Catizone saying that deliveries are the only thing keeping the business “alive.”

“We’re going to keep making and giving out free hand sanitizer until someone tells us to stop,” Catizone told Eater.