Capstone Spirits is family owned and operated. The inspiration for the business was to have a “hobby” that used all our engineering and process skills but still left room for creativity. The family members are:
Technical Director and Master Distiller, John A Hrubec (Hans)
Prior to co-starting Capstone Spirits, John held a number of technical positions ranging from laser optical design to pharmaceutical process control. The idea of starting a distillation business fit perfectly with his scientific and technical background and leveraged his degrees in Physics to solve various problems in engineering and process control. His other interests include jewelry making and astrophotography. A lifelong amateur astronomer, John also helps run the Morgan County Observatory in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia.
CEO and Financial Manager, Kathryn A Krenn (Thryn)
Prior to co-founding Capstone Spirits, Kathryn had a long career in process control and technical management for a large American corporation. Keeping ahead of all the legal and financial challenges of a distillery business keeps her busy to say the least. In addition to that, Kathryn is a director of the Northern Virginia Beekeeping Association and runs the on-site apiary on the grounds of Capstone Spirits providing the honey ingredients for many of our products. Kathryn’s interest in teaching and astronomy has led to her being one of the principle members of the Morgan County Observatory in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia.
Production Manager and Master Distiller, Nicholaus K Hrubec (Nick)
With a background in engineering and experience both with machining and construction, Nick literally was involved from the ground up. Helping both construct the buildings on the distillery site as well as much of the custom equipment used in our process, Nick is well suited to run the operation. Like all of us, he has a lot of different interests from music to electronics. In his spare time Nick works as a audio engineer for a couple of well-known local bands and plays various instruments.