It all started with a group of guys with a passion for beer and whiskey and desire to be their own man. Pretty simple, huh? Some times it is just that simple. TJ Miller, Mark McDavid and Dennis Rylander all work for the same corporation in San Antonio and quickly found they had a passion for the same things: good beer and good whiskey. “Let’s start a brewery”, they said. “We love beer, and as the 7th largest city in the U.S. with a rich brewing heritage, San Antonio seems to deserve a proper microbrewery.”
Start a brewery? Not so fast. “No wait, let’s start a distillery”, they said. “We love whiskey, and Texans will love to drink a whiskey made in Texas. Plus, the craft distilling movement is about to explode.” So they started writing their micro-distillery business plan.“No wait, let’s start a distillery”, they said. “We love whiskey, and Texans will love to drink a whiskey made in Texas. Plus, the craft distilling movement is about to explode.”
Hold up though. Make a decision guys. “ Here’s an idea. Let’s do both! We love beer, we love whiskey, and it turns out that a lot of people are pretty excited about local beer and local whiskey. Plus, it makes pretty good business sense.”
Frequent visitors to the Flying Saucer, they ran into then Saucer manager Rob Landerman. The group quickly became friends and began homebrewing together. In fact, what later became Ranger Creek's South Texas Lager was an recipe Landerman won a an award in the Alamo City Cerveca Fest homebrewing competition. Landerman, who is also one of only two Certified Cicerone's in San Antonio. The Cicerone Certification is equivalent to a Sommelier in the wine world and jut as rigorous in it's training.
Now put together a little capital, purchase some Hungarian Brewing equipment, find a building and three years later you have Ranger Creek Brewing and Distilling, the first and only 'Brewstillery' in Texas.
Recently, Ranger Creek celebrated it's first birthday during their monthly open house. Many area San Antonio residents flocked to the brewery to help them celebrate one heck of a first year and were able to enjoy a birthday present for the guys brewed up in celebration: Uno, an Oak Aged Rye version of their popular OPA. “We created a new brew for our birthday, and we're excited to finally share it with everyone! Our first beer ever sold on November 21st of 2010 was OPA, and it has become our best seller. To celebrate the OPA, we created a special version of it. UNO is an oak-aged rye OPA. We started with OPA, added rye to the grain bill, and then aged it in oak barrels. The result is a delicious, interesting version of the OPA with new dimensions."
It's been great to watch the guys and the Brewstillery grow over time and get to know them. I remember watching the first runnigs of the whiskey pouring out from the still and the smell of that delicious raw liquor; watching the brewers from Freetail, Blue Star, and the Faust brew a collaboration beer for San Antonio Beer Week with Landerman; to helping Rob cook up a batch of La Bestia Aimable; and the many Ranger Creek beer dinners. It has been quite a year.
So what about the whiskey? A few weeks ago, Ranger Creek released its first batch of of sour mash from its small batch series: .36 Caliber. Named in honor of the gun used by the Texas Rangers back in the day, bottles have been literally flying off the shelves. Visitors to Ranger Creek tours will now get to sample the whiskey as well as the brews. Their flagship whiskey will be a traditional straight bourbon whiskey that will be ready in 2013-2014.
From Landerman's detailed approach and passion creating beers that will pair well with food, to Miller's fervor for making sour mash whiskey, a focus of using local ingredients, and a flair for all the is Texas, Ranger Creek is poised for success in the coming years.
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