Hopewell Distillery Will Not Tap Out, Produces Hand Sanitizer

HOPEWELL, NJ — Raymond Disch and his son Sage are keeping the spirits flowing at Sourland Mountain Spirits while also helping others through their newest venture of producing hand sanitizer amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Ray Disch opened his Hopewell distillery at 130 Hopewell Rocky Hill Rd. in 2017 and was formally one of the founders of the Triumph Brewing Company in Princeton. He was also a big proponent in getting New Jersey to pass a law allowing craft distillery licenses in 2013.

When Ray heard about other distilleries switching gears to produce hand sanitizers in late February he had his son head up the change in Hopewell.

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"It was a very challenging yet rewarding transition," Sage said. "We were fortunate enough to have connections through our spirits to use those ingredients to make sanitizers. But to find enough to produce at the scale that was demanded in the local community was tough."

Being a distillery also helped Ray and Sage quickly transition over to making sanitizer as they already had a license to produce large quantities of alcohol, which normally could take more than a year.

The pair were able to get all of the ingredients needed and also plastic bottles and labels to begin mass production.

"There was a tremendous demand by the end of March and early April," Sage said. "The demand was everywhere really so it was important to us to prioritize how we would get our limited supply of sanitizer to the right people."

They started by dropping off sanitizer to local hospitals including Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset, Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center and Capital Health Medical Center in Hopewell. Then they donated to local police, fire, emergency responders and nonprofit charities.

"It was very cool to get this to the frontline first then scale up to get it to more and more people," Sage said.

The distillery is working at a 80 percent donation, 20 percent profit ratio to also help keep their business going and employees working. They have even hired more people to help with bottling and production.

"Everyone feels a little blessed being a part of solution," Ray said. "We are all in this together."

The sanitizer business also helped Sourland pick up sales on the spirits side as well.

Ray noted that when the coronavirus hit they saw about a 95 percent loss in sales due to restaurants, bars, and retailers closing and customers choosing to purchase less expensive alcohol as they were drinking more often.

"Locally with the pandemic it has caused customers to really refocus in terms of appreciating and supporting local business," Sage said. "People are seeing local businesses that are no longer open or laying off employees... That is resonating in the local community and they are now able to support us like we are able to support first responders."

Sourland Mountain Spirits is offering gallon size and 8 ounce bottles of sanitizer for sale with contact-less curbside pickup or a flat fee of $20 for delivery anywhere in New Jersey.

Sourland Mountain Spirits is also still offering their spirits for curbside pickup and delivery including vodka, gin, rum, whiskey and more.

To order sanitizer or spirits visit sourlandspirits.com or follow them at facebook.com/SourlandMountainSpirits or instagram.com/sourlandspirits.

• Read more: NJ Coronavirus Updates: Here's What You Need To Know

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