Ida-Destille

Heidi Brintrup – owner and distiller of the Ida distillery – comes from a family of hoteliers in Austria. From 1983 – 1993 she ran the family business in Styria with a hotel and three restaurants together with her mother – Johanna Schweiger. It was also she who awakened and passed on the passion and feeling for single malt whiskey and special distillates.

This happened long before the single malt became – deservedly – ​​the “fashion hype drink” that it has been for some time.
In 1993, Heidi Brintrup went to Sydney, Australia with her family, then to the Rhineland in 1997 and completed her studies in social behavioral sciences. What remained in all these “non-gastronomic” years was that early, old love for fine distillates. However, the dream and idea of ​​being able to work productively and creatively in this area were still far away.

In 2014 she moved with her husband Bernd to Idafehn to an old East Frisian farm that had formerly used agricultural premises. This was probably the birth of that dream. Everything seemed to fall into place quite naturally.

The former, old distilling tradition that existed in East Frisia, which has died out, and the idea of ​​reviving it, the usability of the existing premises in our own yard and, last but not least, the desire to create a “grain” in addition to our own single malt whiskey to create a flavorful cultural spirit and not just a high-proof by-product of beer.

Author: Dirk Jahn