North Carolina breweries send $1M in unused beer to be made into hand sanitizer

RALEIGH, NC (WTVD) — Some studies show that drinking at home may have increased during our time away from work, but Americans are not consuming anywhere near the amount beer they do when restaurants and bars are open.

Sumit Vohra is the CEO of Raleigh’s Lonerider Brewing Company, one of many craft brewers in North Carolina.

“For the beer industry, it has become extremely tough because we have a perishable product that has a limited shelf life,” Vohra said.

Thanks to COVID-19, all is quiet at the brewery. But earlier this year, Lonerider, along with other breweries, ramped up production for March celebrations like St. Patrick’s Day and the March Madness college basketball tournament. Brewers also stocked up for April which was supposed to be Beer Month in North Carolina.

And now it’s all going bad.

“The kegs continue to increase from out-of-stock product in the market, out-of-date product in the market that we need to take back and/or beer that’s here that we can’t actually sell that was destined for bars,” Vohra said.

The North Carolina Beer and Wine Wholesalers Association estimates more than a million dollars in beer is going bad in our state. Nationwide it’s many, many times that.

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