Bourbon & Oak had the chance to interview Mark McDavid from Ranger Creek Brewing and Distilling. Mark is Co-Founder/Sales & Marketing and is one of three managing owners along with TJ Miller, head distiller, and Dennis Rylander, who’s in charge of Finance/Accounting. Ranger Creek makes a variety of beer and whiskey products that have been heavily awarded. I’v had the pleasure of trying and reviewing four of their products and I quickly became a big fan of the distillery. Below is our interview with Mark, be sure to check out their site to learn more about Ranger Creek. 

Tim: How did the idea for Ranger Creek come about and how long have you been crafting products? 

Mark: The idea for Ranger Creek was born when my two business partners and I met in corporate America.  We were beer and whiskey guys, and San Antonio needed a brewery and a distillery.  Instead of picking one or the other we decided to do both.  This was unprecedented here in Texas, so we broke new ground here.  But we followed in the footsteps of what Rogue, Anchor, and New Holland were doing in other states.  We were the first production brewery in San Antonio of the modern era, and we were one of the first three Texas whiskey distilleries.  We’ve held our corporate day jobs while we built the business on nights and weekends.  We started operations in November of 2010.  That’s when we sold our first keg of beer and started filling our first whiskey barrels.   

Tim: Where did the name Ranger Creek come from?

Mark: Ranger Creek is an actual creek right outside of San Antonio.  If you drive through San Antonio on I-10 you’ll see an exit off the highway for “Ranger Creek Rd”.  We try to honor Texas by using local ingredients and a do-it-yourself mindset.  The “Ranger” part of the name reflects the Texas Rangers, who carried many of the pistols that our whiskies are named after.  The “Creek” part of the name reflects our commitment to using local ingredients and the local climate to produce things that are authentic and uniquely Texan.

Tim: I’ve been fortunate now to have tried four of your products. What is the story behind the small caliber idea? 

Mark: Traditional big barrels of whiskey take years to mature, even in a hot climate like San Antonio.  We’re working towards the release of our traditional big barrels, but we wanted to have some fun, experimental, craft whiskey to drink and enjoy while we waited for those big barrels.  That’s what the Small Caliber Series is all about.  We age the whiskey in small barrels and have fun with the recipes.  The small barrels age in about 12-18 months instead of taking years.  They are hand crafted and small batch, and every single bottle is hand labeled and written on by hand.  The small bottles visually represent the small barrels in which the whiskey was aged.  Similarly, when we release the more traditional big barrels, we’ll put those in big bottles.

Tim:You make whiskey and beer at your facility, do you have a favorite product from each category, or an overall favorite product? 

Mark: Yes, we make everything from grain to glass, and we’re very proud of that.  We don’t source any pre-made alcohol.  Personally, I’m the kind of drinker who likes a different beer or whiskey for every occassion, so I appreciate the diversity of our lineup.  I probably drink the most of our .36 Texas Bourbon and OPA.  But I’m probably proudest of our Rimfire Mesquite Smoked Single Malt and our Texas Bourbon Barrel Imperial Brown Ale because they are so unique to us and really represent what we stand for.

Tim: Ranger Creek has won several awards for products can you describe the overall feeling of this and what each award means?

Mark: The awards we’ve won have been incredible.  Exciting and humbling all at the same time.  Our Smalle Caliber Series was supposed to just be fun and limited edition, but it has been kicking butt in competition.  That’s really cool to us because there has been a debate about if you can make high quality whiskey in a small barrel.  I think we’re proving that you absolutely can.  Our .36 Texas Bourbon has won a Gold medal in almost every competition we’ve entered it in, and in many of those competitions we’re going up against the biggest names in Kentucky bourbon.  That’s really cool to me.  We also won Best of Show in the 2015 American Craft Spirits Association competition for our .36 Single Barrel, and that was a HUGE honor.  We accepted the award during a big dinner in front of all of our craft distilling peers.  Balcones won it the year before, so at least we kept it in Texas!  I joke with TJ that he hasn’t earned the title “Master Distiller” until he wins a gold medal for every single whiskey we sell.  But all joking aside, Rimfire is the only one that hasn’t won a gold medal so far, and it has won a silver medal, a bronze medal, and an 86 point rating from Jim Murray. 

Tim: I am a craft beer guy turned spirits enthusiast, how do you feel about bourbon-barrel aging trend currently going on with craft beer?

Mark: I LOVE the bourbon barrel aging trend going on with craft beer.  Personally, these are some of my favorite beers.  What a perfect marriage for beer and whiskey guys!  From a Ranger Creek perspective, I love it to.  We created our Texas Bourbon Barrel Series last year to highlight the beers that we age in our own whiskey barrels.  That’s a really cool thing that only a brewstillery like us can do, and we can do it really well.  That’s the main reason that our Texas Bourbon Barrel Imperial Brown is the beer I’m the proudest of. 

Tim: Do you have a favorite cocktail recipe using one of your whiskies?

Mark: Our .36 White is really the whiskey made for cocktails, and I created a beer cocktail that is my favorite right now.  It’s called a White Whiskey Radler, and it uses the .36 White, lemon juice, and simple syrup as a base, then adds ginger beer and our Love Struck Hefe.  It’s a really unique and refreshing cocktail that integrates both sides of our business, plus it quenches your thirst during our hot Texas summers!

Tim: Where will Ranger Creek go from here? Are there more products on the horizon?

Mark: We’re working really hard to keep up with the demand of our Small Caliber Series but also to fill a lot more big barrels and get ready to release those.  Our business really changes when we can finally get the big barrels released.  It’s a huge investment in time and money, but we’re getting closer and closer.  Our first big barrel release will be our .36 Texas Bourbon, and it will be a Texas straight bourbon.  We do have a VERY limited release of our 2015 .36 Single Barrel planned for this holiday season, too.  We’re also always experimenting with new ideas, but we don’t have anything that we’re ready to talk about yet.