USA, TX: Celis Brewery files for bankruptcy

It turns out that Celis Brewery isn’t being auctioned anymore as had been previously indicated by the public sale notice in the Statesman last month. Rather, the brewery owner Christine Celis filed for bankruptcy. This is amidst murmurings of the revived brewery’s financial troubles and that now-nixed auction, which was supposed to take place on July 2, the Eater Texas reported.

Celis filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, which means the brewery will remain open while she reorganizes the company. “Everybody keeps their jobs and retailers will keep receiving beer,” she told Eater as she confirmed the filing to Eater, but couldn’t comment any further. The cancelation of the auction was also confirmed by Amplify Credit Union’s commercial loan operations supervisor Matthew Stewart.

Originally, the public sale notice was placed in the print edition of the Statesman on Friday, June 21, noting that Celis Brewery (aka Flemish Fox Brewery & Craftworks) was up for auction to “satisfy a lien” by the Amplify Credit Union. “The entire property will be sold together on an ‘as-is, where-is’ basis,” as the notification read, which included brewery equipment and inventory. The auction was originally going to take place on Tuesday, July 2.

Celis’ late father Pierre originally opened Celis in 1992, as one of Austin’s first craft breweries, focusing on Belgian-style beers. Miller Brewing Company bought the brewery, which then closed in 2001. Christine Celis reopened the brewery in 2017 at 10001 Metric Boulevard with a taproom.

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