Caledonia Spirits click image During the first few months of the pandemic, the 500-gallon copper still at Caledonia Spirits distilled something very different than its acclaimed Barr Hill liquors: hand sanitizer. It was 80 percent alcohol, 100 percent Vermont and zero percent potable, said Harrison Kahn, vice president of marketing. Caledonia Spirits collaborated with several other Vermont companies to make and deliver 30,000 gallons of hand sanitizer distilled from keg beer surplus caused by abrupt bar and restaurant closures. Some sanitizer was donated, but it was also sold at cost to first responders, hospitals and the public. Its production kept Vermonters employed while providing a safety supply worth its weight in gold at the time.