PHOENIX – A local brewery is brewing up more than beer these days because of the coronavirus outbreak in Arizona.

SanTan Brewing Company in Chandler has turned its operation into producing 400 gallons of medical-grade hand sanitizer for first responders and health care professionals.

Crescent Crown Disturbing will return more than 16,000 gallons of draft beer that would’ve been served at now-closed restaurants and businesses.

“We can make sure the people in our community are safe and help flatten the curve here in Arizona,” SanTan founder and brewmaster Anthony Canecchia told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Thursday.

“By flattening that curve, we can hopefully get Arizonans back to work more quickly.”

The majority of the beer they’re using is IPAs, which SanTan says are best consumed within 90 days of distilling.

SanTan is processing the beer by pumping it from the kegs directly into the stills. From there, they’re pushing the sanitizer back into kegs and delivering it to health care facilities, police and fire departments in Chandler.

“These are the people who don’t have a choice,” Cannechia said. “They have to be out, they have to put themselves in harms way, so they’re the first ones who need it.”

They’ll also use the hand sanitizer at SanTan’s Brewing and Crescent Crown warehouses to make sure employees are staying safe.

“It’s so important for us to make sure that we’re taking care of the people and helping in our community,” Canecchia said.

Canecchia noted that they will have enough supplies leftover to run a second batch of just over an additional 400 gallons of hand sanitizer. SanTan is in the process of ordering additional ingredients like glycerin and pharmaceutical alcohol to run more batches in the near future.

For Canecchia, the project is close to him because his sister and brother-in-law are doctors in New York City, where the epicenter of the United States coronavirus cases are located.

SanTanitizer is currently not available to the public, but SanTan will post on its website and social media channels when the product is available for public purchase.

The community will be able to purchase it when they order food for takeout, pickup or delivery.

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Nailea Leon contributed to this report.

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For all articles, information and updates on the coronavirus from KTAR News, visit ktar.com/coronavirus.