Texas Trailblazers, First Ever Texas ‘Brewstillery’: Ranger Creek Brewing & Distilling

Photos by Brandee’ Brantly

Ranger Creek is proudly the first combined brewery and distillery that is located in San Antonio, Texas. The detailed attention of Ranger Creek primarily focuses on the relationship between beer and whiskey. Mark explained Ranger Creek’s’ trailblazing philosophy. “Whiskey is just beer that’s been distilled. That means every craft beer drinker has a craft whiskey drinker inside of them. We view drinking craft whiskey as the natural next step from drinking craft beer.”

As a planned, purposeful collaboration, Ranger Creek boasts to highlight the relationship like no other “brewstillery” has, aging their beer in their own bourbon barrels and distilling their beers into whiskey. Much of the same equipment is said to be used to make both beer and whiskey due to the commonality of both processes. Each handmade batch is said to be made with lots of love and attention. TJ, Dennis, and Mark are three guys with a passion for beer and whiskey who created a unique vision that is unmatched in their collective small niche in the great, expansive state of Texas. They strive to use ingredients to make quality products by hand, traditionally, or original. Their extremely limited draft Russian Imperial Stout provides the best of both worlds, boasting a substantial ABV of 13.3% ( primary cask first fill Wild Turkey barrels and the secondary cask first fill Ranger Creek .36 barrels). They are in a unique position to release unique barrel-aged beers such as the Russian Imperial Stout listed above.

Boasting over 30+ major medals earned for the Texas Whiskey, Ranger Creek brand is multi-talented and highly decorated. They have used creativity to overcome the Texas heat, which doesn’t easily allow traditional brewing ingredients to grow well. The results of their focused determination and commitment to excellence and local farms are paying off as their brewery, distillery, and their brand is expanding exponentially, just as their local popularity is.