Koval Distillery is a craft distillery located in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

(established in 2008). It is the first distillery within Chicago's city limits since

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

. Koval's founders, Robert and Sonat Birnecker, left academic careers to found the distillery, aiming to bring the distilling traditions and techniques of Robert’s Austrian grandfather to America. Certified both organic and kosher, Koval creates whiskeys, brandies, and liqueurs in their distillery in the Andersonville neighborhood of Chicago's Northside. The distillery is

kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, ), from the Ashke ...

. Koval (Yiddish for blacksmith) was founded by Robert and Sonat Birnecker.

Spirits

Koval produces a variety of

whiskey Whisky or whiskey is a type of liquor made from Fermentation in food processing, fermented grain mashing, mash. Various grains (which may be Malting, malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, Maize, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky ...

vodka Vodka ( ; is a clear distilled beverage, distilled alcoholic beverage. Its varieties originated in Poland and Russia. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impurities and flavourings. Traditionally, it is ...

brandies Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured with ...

and

liqueur A liqueur ( , ; ) is an alcoholic drink composed of Liquor, spirits (often rectified spirit) and additional flavorings such as sugar, fruits, herbs, and spices. Often served with or after dessert, they are typically heavily sweetened and un-age ...

s. Of particular note is Koval Bierbrand, a spirit distilled from

lager Lager (; ) is a Type of beer, style of beer brewed and Brewing#Conditioning, conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be Pale lager, pale, Amber lager, amber, or Dark lager, dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially availab ...

in cooperation originally with Metropolitan Brewing and later with

Goose Island Brewery Goose Island Beer Company is an American brewery in Chicago. The oldest currently operating brewing company in Illinois, it began as a brewpub that opened in 1988 in the Lincoln Park, Chicago, Lincoln Park neighborhood, and was named after Goose ...

Awards

* 2017 Illinois Small Business Persons of the Year *Illinois Exporter of the Year 2016

References

{{Reflist Food and drink companies based in Chicago Manufacturing companies based in Chicago Distilleries in Illinois