Brush Creek Distillery, a small-batch distiller set in Brush Creek Ranch in Saratoga, Wyoming, announced in February that Philip Mundt has been appointed as head distiller and production manager. A native of Colorado and previous production manager at Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey, Mundt brings more than a decade of industry experience to Wyoming where he will oversee all operations at the Distillery as well as manage partnerships and collaborations with The Farm at Brush Creek.
Set on a 30,000-acre working cattle ranch in Saratoga in south central Wyoming’s North Platte River Valley, Brush Creek Distillery incorporates ingredients from the land in its on-site distilling and blending programs. Mundt takes pride in perfecting each step of the process from field harvesting Wyoming barley, to experimenting with different flavors in the fermenting process and maturation in the barrel and cask finishes.
“We could not be more thrilled to welcome Philip to our team as head Ddstiller,” said Andrew Wason, managing director of Brush Creek Distillery, in a press release. “With knowledge of the entire distilling process along with a passion for building on tradition to create a product that is unique to its surroundings, we are confident that he will bring our program and our product to the next level.”
With more than 10 years of experience in the industry, Mundt comes to Brush Creek Distillery from Colorado where he served at Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey first as a distiller followed by six years as production manager. During this time, he managed a staff of 10 distillers, brewers, engineers and supervisors. Prior to this he served at Mother Earth Brewing in North Carolina, which is where he began learning about distilling. His love of whiskey is a direct result of travels abroad and studying at universities in Switzerland and Scotland.
In his new role, Mundt will lead all operations at Brush Creek Distillery including recipe development, mashing, brewing, distilling, barrel and cask operations, blending and packaging as well as education among his distillery team and ranch guests. Because of his background in brewing, Mundt will also oversee all Brush Creek Brewery initiatives and cask-finished brewery collaborations in Wyoming and Colorado.
Coming from such a large facility, Mundt is most excited about the small batch nature of Brush Creek Distillery’s system in order to create some very unique and exclusive spirits. Additionally, the opportunity to select barrels from the best distilleries in the country for in-house aging, cask finishing, and blending programs will allow him to exercise his creativity in the distillery’s releases. He has plans to implement future programs in collaboration with local breweries, vineyards in Napa, and even doctoral students in Oregon. He also plans to introduce on-site single malt whiskey production.
“Joining the Brush Creek Distillery team as head distiller is the career moment I am most proud of,” said Mundt. “I am elated to work with this skilled team to introduce new programs and bring to market high-quality spirits found nowhere else.”
Brush Creek Distillery launched its first line of Brush Creek spirits—consisting of Brush Creek Straight Bourbon, Brush Creek Straight Rye, Brush Creek Vodka, and Brush Creek Gin—in the Wyoming market in 2020 and will expand into the Texas and Colorado markets in early 2021.