Dr. Robert Birnecker at helm of emerging Craft spirits movement; still technology

CHICAGO, June 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The art of craft distilling is booming in the United States from a few dozen distilleries less than a decade ago to an estimated 500 by the end of 2014.  Since only a small percentage of those starting these distilleries had a background in the industry, many have relied on Dr. Robert Birnecker, and his consulting company, Kothe Distilling Technologies to get started.

In the last 5 years alone, Birnecker is responsible for assisting a third of all craft distilleries in the United States and Canada; providing everything from education, equipment, set-up, consulting, and at times, even contract distilling, to over 50 distilleries. Since Kothe Distilling Technologies began offering workshops in 2008, close to 2,000 aspiring craft distillers have learned how to start a distillery and make distilled spirits from Birnecker. He also lectures worldwide and teaches distilling at the Siebel Institute.

Nearly all of the distilleries Birnecker has set up have gone on to produce award-winning spirits.  When he is not helping others join the small batch revolution, Birnecker, with his wife Sonat Birnecker, own and operate KOVAL distillery (www.koval-distillery.com), winner of numerous international accolades and named one of the "top 10 craft distilleries" in the US by Whiskey Advocate. 

Birnecker is also revolutionizing pot still technology, having helped one of Europe's most prestigious still manufacturers, Kothe Destillationstechnik, create a uniquely tech-saavy stills for the artisan distiller. A 5,000 liter, top of the line, two-story-tall custom copper hybrid pot still was installed at KOVAL's distillery last fall and soon five other distilleries in the United States that Birnecker is assisting will be using this technology.

Kothe Destillationstechnik stills maintain the artisanal process of making cuts by hand, but also afford the distiller automation features that both collect data from still and allow for monitoring via a computer or iPad. Robert engineered many of these advances himself, and is the sole representative of Kothe Destillationstechnik for North America.

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SOURCE Kothe Distilling Technologies