There's a lot of scary news out there in light of the Covid-19 Pandemic. So here's one that's inspiring!
The capital of the Philippines, Metro Manila, is currently on a community quarantine from March 15-April 14. The announcement resulted to people hoarding their supplies, including Alcohol Sprays.
*Raoul Masangcay, the Head Brewer and Owner of Elias Wicked Ales & Spirits was worried that his brewery/restaurant will not have enough disinfecting alcohol sprays to use. Then the brilliant idea of creating his own distilled disinfecting alcohol was born. "The ingredients are malted barley and sugar to create alcohol (using yeast). Then, we distill it to concentrate to 70% using a potstill," Raoul shares his process.
"Everyone is scared of running out of alcohol right now. We had this ability to create some for us, then we decided to share what we have with others. We named the sprays "Spray for Manila" as a portmanteau for Spray and Pray," Cyrus Cruz, Elias Wicked Ales & Spirits' Consultant shares.
The sprays are currently available for free at their brewery. In order to share their sprays to more people, 1 bottle is allocated per guest.
*Raoul Masangcay is the Philippines' first certified Beer Sommelier (Certified Cicerone).
EDUCATION
• Intensive Brewing Science at UC Davis, California (under Dr. Charles Bamforth) • Brewery Quality Control at American Brewer’s Guild, Vermont
• Advanced Draft System Training at Micromatic, Philadelphia
• Professional Craft Distilling at Vermont Technology, Vermont
• Introductory Sommelier Course by the Court of Master Sommeliers
ACHEIVEMENTS
• Belgian Blonde: 1st place Belgian category, 2016 & 2017 (Cherry Blossom Festival, USA) • Belgian IPA: 1st place IPA category, 2017 (Hop Blossom Festival, USA)
3rd place Belgian category, 2017 (Virginia Dominion Cup, USA)
• Biere De Garde: 1st place Best of Show, 2017 (Ocelot Invitational Competition, USA) • Brewery Representative of El Segundo Brewing Co. (Savor DC, USA)
More info: Instagram
Wicked Ales & Spirits decided to distill their own alcohol sprays from their brewery
Raoul Masangcay, Head Brewer for Elias, thought of making alcohol for their own use, initially.
Apart from making their cider and beer, they added the production of the alcohol sprays for a few days
They created the alcohol with their own supply of ingredients and made sure to measure each batch to have 70% ethanol
They eventually decided to bottle it up to give to guests for free. They called it Spray for Manila
The sprays were placed all over the brewery/restaurant and reminded staff and guests to sanitize as often as possible
Guests were given 1 Alcohol Spray Bottle each
