Pic(k) of the Week: A pleasant Saturday afternoon

About to enjoy a cocktail in the alley, at Independent Distilling Company in Decatur, Georgia, USA.

Social distancing and all that: so very 2020. To be precise: 5 December 2020.

Then, this happened:

On December 29th as part of the CARES act, the FDA issued a set of two fees to craft distillers that created hand sanitizer during the pandemic. The program would require distilleries to pay a $14,060 Monograpah Drug Facility Fee as well a $9,373 Contract Manufacturing Organization Facility Fee.

Beyond the simple fact that $23,000+ is a ton of money for a small business, especially during a pandemic, the fee was also to be due almost immediately: on February 11. If distillers, who didn’t know about the fee at all until 29 December, didn’t stop selling sanitizer and de-register themselves from the FDA eDRLS system by 31 December, then they would also be charged the same fee again in 2022.

Then on New Years Eve, Brian Harrison, the Health and Human Services Chief of Staff reversed the mandate: “Small businesses who stepped up to fight COVID-19 should be applauded by their government, not taxed for doing so. I’m pleased to announce we have directed FDA to cease enforcement of these arbitrary, surprise user fees. Happy New Year, distilleries, and cheers to you for helping keep us safe!”

For distillers, many of which made hand sanitizer as a way to give back to their communities during a difficult time, not make a profit, the announced reversal was a welcome relief in the final moments of 2020.

— Forbes (1 January 2021)

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• Staying local, the chaser for my shot of bourbon was also local: Night on Ponce, an IPA (7.5% alcohol) from Three Taverns Brewing, only two city blocks from the distillery.


• Pic(k) of the Week: one in a weekly series of images posted on Saturdays, and occasionally, as is the case today, with a good fermentable as the subject.
• Photo 2 of 52, for year 2021. See it on Flickr: here.
• Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M10 II.
  • Lens: Lumix G 20/F1.7 II.
  • Settings: 20 mm | 1/800 | ISO 200 | f/1.7
• Commercial reproduction requires explicit permission, as per Creative Commons.


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