Pierre Celis, Legendary Brewer, 1925-2011

While I was purchasing some beers, including a bottle of Pierre Celis's Grottenbier, to drink with Easter dinner the shop owner asked if I intended to drink a toast to Pierre's life.



I had no idea he'd just passed away (9 April 2011). Pierre Celis was a true legend in the brewing world. Even if you don't know his name you have felt his influence.

Pierre Celis was born in Hoegaarden, Belgium where he spent much of his life. After the town's last brewery closed in the 1950s, Celis was singlehandedly responsible for reviving the witbier style in the '60s. By the time his brewery burned in 1985 its beer, Hoegaarden, was highly successful, attracting the attention of the large brewing companies. Celis was underinsured so had to partner with what soon became Interbrew (now InBev). The relationship soured, partly because of pressure to cheapen the brewing method, and Celis eventually ended up in Austin, Texas where he founded another brewery. Their beer, Celis White, was a beautiful interpretation of the witbier style. Again, financial issues forced him to partner with a megabrewery, this time Miller. And again, he left after feeling pressures to cut corners. Blue Moon, brewed by MillerCoors, illustrates what happens to a traditional style after a big brewer gets through with it.

Pierre Celis's respect for brewing traditions and local styles had great influence in this country. Many small brewers who were getting started in the late 1980s made pilgrimages to Austin to learn from the master. It would be difficult to find a beermaker from this period who didn't consider Celis a role model.

Of course the Pierre Celis story has local relevance with the acquisition of Goose Island by Anheuser-Busch InBev. The popularity of wild fermented and sour Belgian styles is exploding and the big boys want a piece of it. In recent years Goose Island has invested much time and effort into domesticating the microorganisms and improving production consistency for these beers—exactly the sort of preliminary work a huge brewer could make quick use of. Let's hope that all parties involved have learned something from the legacy of Pierre Celis.

Most of Celis' equipment from Austin was purchased by Michigan Brewing in Webberville. I've heard that Pierre helped them get going brewing his beers, and they do still make beers under the Celis name. I haven't tried it, but it does get pretty good reviews.
http://www.michiganbrewing.com/CelisBee ... fault.aspx

Their beer, Celis White, was a beautiful interpretation of the witbier style. Again, financial issues forced him to partner with a megabrewery, this time Miller. And again, he left after feeling pressures to cut corners. Blue Moon, brewed by MillerCoors, illustrates what happens to a traditional style after a big brewer gets through with it.

Just to clarify a few things:

Miller invested in Celis (and a few other microbreweries) in an attempt in the mid 90's to ride the wave of popularity of microbrews at a time when domestic beer sales were flat to declining. Miller mismanaged them, largely on the distribution side and there were frustrations among all parties. Miller eventually exercised an option to buy out the Celis family's remaining interest.

Blue Moon was an example of a different strategy taken by Coors, prior to its merger with Miller, to brew a Belgian style beer with a broader appeal to the average American palate, rather than buying microbreweries with a more limited appeal with their traditional style brews. There was no connection between the Celis investment and the introduction of Blue Moon, altough maybe some Celis learnings were applied post merger.

nr706 wrote:Most of Celis' equipment from Austin was purchased by Michigan Brewing in Webberville. I've heard that Pierre helped them get going brewing his beers, and they do still make beers under the Celis name. I haven't tried it, but it does get pretty good reviews.

I haven't tried it either but have wanted to. I never noticed it while in Michigan but never remembered to search it out either. Hmm, it looks like MBC's beers might be distributed in Illinois. Anyone seen them?

rickster wrote:Miller invested in Celis (and a few other microbreweries) in an attempt in the mid 90's to ride the wave of popularity of microbrews at a time when domestic beer sales were flat to declining. Miller mismanaged them, largely on the distribution side and there were frustrations among all parties. Miller eventually exercised an option to buy out the Celis family's remaining interest.

I'm sure the situation was complex and there were many reasons Miller and Celis went their separate ways, not the least of which was distribution mismanagement, as you point out. Sales of Celis White actually declined after Miller became involved, something that's not supposed to happen after joining forces with a marketing powerhouse. But Celis was also unhappy with the brewing side of the partnership: "They cheapened the beer and cut out imported Czech hops." That quote and much more is from an excellent article about Pierre Celis written by Roger Protz in 2005.

rickster wrote:Blue Moon was an example of a different strategy taken by Coors, prior to its merger with Miller, to brew a Belgian style beer with a broader appeal to the average American palate, rather than buying microbreweries with a more limited appeal with their traditional style brews. There was no connection between the Celis investment and the introduction of Blue Moon, altough maybe some Celis learnings were applied post merger.

Good point. I tried to differentiate between Miller and MillerCoors but should have written something like, "Blue Moon, originally brewed by Coors" instead of "Blue Moon, brewed by MillerCoors."

Just saw this now... Sad news... The man was, not surprisingly, well known and highly regarded in Belgium...

I remember when I moved to Belgium in the 80's and first tried a witbier from Hoegaarden... quite a revelation...

The only white beer I've ever tried that was brewed in the US and that pleased me was Celis' original (and all too short-lived) product from when he first moved to the States... great stuff...

Antonius