Celis Brewery Set to Reopen In Austin, TX

Blue Moon creator, Keith Villa credits the local wits he drank when he was getting his doctorate in Belgium at Vrije Universiteit Brussel in the late '80s-early 90s as his inspiration (one of which was probably Celis' own Hoegaarden, by then an Interbrew brand). Probably didn't hurt that Celis' beers were already pretty well distributed in the US by the time Blue Moon was released.

 

I totally get that angle, and if IPAs are needed to keep the lights on then it's great that they understood this. That's why I mentioned that "it also might be good business for them to take that path" when I brought the issue up. Just keep in mind that only time will tell if it was a smart business move even if the odds are good.

Grasping authenticity can be akin to quicksilver, but the perception of authenticity can still be very important in the marketplace anyway. The measures that they are taking with the old recipes are an investment in their "authenticity." Recipes, ingredients, personnel, equipment, family heritage, location, name, etc... all of these things are in place to convey this. They are banking on this being a wise business decision for their intended audience. Celis brewing a NE IPA has no sense of authenticity. I'm not saying that's bad, but it is a different sort of investment in their identity. Maybe this duality will hedge their bets. On the other hand, NE IPAs are targeting beer nerds rather than someone who just wants an IPA... and beer nerds will be more judgemental regarding authenticity.

 

There's actually a certain amount of commonality between a wit and a NE IPA, and that stems from the grist bill. So at least they'll have the right ingredients on hand .

 

And the demand for these two on BeerAdvocate is about equal too.

 

Any other brewery, without such a strong legacy and seeming commitment to uphold it, and I'd be more concerned than I am that there would be a lack of focus.

Plus, Celis White's crossover appeal has been demonstrated previously. If promoted correctly it should be a success on its own.

 

Agree.

Prediction: The re-introduction of the original Celis recipe beers produced by a Celis family member, who has brewing in her blood, and from a Celis Brewery in Texas will produce a wave of trading frenzy among BA beer traders and also result in lots of threads asking if anyone has tried it yet. This will generate a huge surge of interest and popularity among BA members, propelling the beers onto the "Best New Beers" list and eventually pushing them up to somewhere below the mid point of the Top 250 beers (an index of popularity rather than quality).

Meanwhile many Texans, and the other over 40 folks who had the "Original" Celis beers back in the day while spending time in Texas, will find their nostalgic personal dreams of having such a beer again now made possible. Some few will be disappointed that it is not as good as it used to be, but most will just enjoy the beers for what they are. The social media effects will take hold and the local fan base will grow rapidly especially among those who can visit taproom and the "Celis museum" to see the equipment transported from Belgium where it all began. The Celis Brewery may even match or exceed the status of Live Oak among the Texan beer lovers. They will also develop a good bit of cache as a "must visit" beercation destination while visiting Texas.

 

Is that the good version or the bad version? .

I actually think they'll have to ramp it up to levels where it's on conspicuous display at most beer stores and supermarkets, and hope that's in the works.

 

Oh, the good version.

The ramping up will take some additional time since they don't yet have the established customer support base nor the national distribution network needed to fulfill our dream case.

However, Duvel Moortgat might just decide that their business model should lead to a new sister brewery joining their partnership. Then we'd see the Celis witbiers on the shelves in the same vicinity as the Duvel, Ommegang, Boulevard, and/or Firestone Walker beers.

 

Yup, as Christine Celis mentioned in the Brewbound article: “We have to build a brand again,” Celis said. “For a whole lot of people, they don’t know who Celis is.”

Best of luck to the Celis folks to build their brand anew. It is a much more competitive market space today vs. when Celis was brewing in the past (decades ago).

Cheers!

 

Your optimism and sense of style would make you a good fit for their marketing department. My prediction about your prediction is that the BA top 250 is very unlikely to say the least (but I'll be happy to be wrong), and the surge of interest on BA will die down quickly except for the tiny handful of folks who bother to post in threads like this one.

 

My worry is people getting interested because they remember the Celis Brewery or have heard of it. They try it when it opens but don't realize that the launch lineup won't necessarily be representative of the breweries impression farther down the line.

They may be turned off of trying it again if they were wanting good belgian style beers and are just presented with IPA's. If people don't realize that they will need to wait a couple of months to get the legacy beers then they may not.

Also there may be people that realize the White is coming later but assume that it'll be a hoppy modern interpretation like a White IPA and decide not to try it when its available...


Granted I think that a lot of those people would never actually go to the brewery so the point is moot. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the people who will love the nostalgia of having the brewery back won't actually know that it's back until they see the beers on the shelves of HEB.

 

Well, as you say, time will tell.

But as I think about the Celis situation, I keep hearing echos of what things were like for Cantillon before the Social Media fed focus of attention was turned their way. Cantillon beers gathered dust on the shelves, almost nobody posted about them, but now.... Similarly, while Jean Van Roy and his brewery and museum are still mostly unknown in Brussels, on his occasional visits to Philadelphia he is sometimes recognized by "ordinary" people such as hotel clerks. Any venue where he and other Lambic brewers are showcased is a packed house (and many of those attending never even heard of the BA Top 250 list). At any given time Cantillon has about half a dozen places on the Top 250 list and 10-12 places on the Beers of Fame List.

 

I wonder how closely Celis would follow your anecdote with Cantillon.

Cantillon's beers significantly diverge from the normal beers everyone was used to so once they gained recognition with social media things skyrocketed.

Hopefully Celis's legacy beers get a lot of recognition. I'm sure if they are good there will be at least some desire of people outside of Texas to trade for them.
But Celis is bringing a wit when there is already Hoegarden, Blanche de Bruxelles, Allagash, Blue Moon, and Shock Top.
I'd think the Celis White will have to show they are significantly better than the existing options to really gain nationwide notoriety .

The Grand Cru will I assume be competing more with the trappist breweries, Ommegang, and other belgian style breweries.

 

Yup, Celis White will indeed face some stiff competition. I could see them using a Marketing & Sales campaign to 're-capture' the Texas market (i.e., the drink local concept). I suppose with time we will see how successful they will be here.

How they will provide a discriminator for the non-Texas craft beer market I am uncertain.

Cheers!

 

In general Austin seems quite happy with balanced session beers. I think Austinites will enjoy the White if that market isn't oversaturated.
From my experiences in the DFW beer scene I think the White will struggle more up in North Texas. I don't see the craft beer people going for balanced beer anywhere around me... But people love Tripels and Quadrupels so if the Grand Cru is a stronger beer then it should be fine.

 

What about San Antonio?

Cheers!

 

I don't know any San Antonio breweries. I haven't visited that city since at least high school.

Likewise I only know a few of the Houston breweries because I avoid that city like the plague. I've hated it every time I've visited.

 

Oh, for sure I agree there are factors that are not parallel between the two cases, but on the other hand one of the major demographics driving the flavorful beer growth are the Millenials who are reported to generally care quite a bit about who makes their beer in deciding their choices. I'd actually see Allagash as their major competitor since Blanche de Bruxelles may not be as easily found (I seldom see it around here and we've got pretty good distribution of lots of stuff here in SE PA) and the other three are owned by the major mass market beer producers.

So I think there's a good possibility that once the Celis brewed beers are on the market in Texas the local and freshness advantages will kick in. (In my experience, Texans tend to be pretty proud of good quality Texas based products.)

So on the national marketplace I'd see Allageash as their major competitor so they'll probably be going head-to-heat in quite a few areas. The Hoegaarden, Blue Moon, and Shock Top will have distribution footprint size advantages and some folks will never give them up. I also doubt that Celis will be able to match the prices of Blue Moon and Shock Top, but Allagash seems to do pretty well despite them. Hoegaarden, like many Belgian brewed beers may be a bit on the pricey side. Also, Celis will have the authenticity/origin effect and they don't need to dominate the market place, just be a successful competitor.

 

Yes, I also think this will be the case.

 

One of the other challenges is that I can go to a beer store right now and buy a Celis White - but it's from a different brewery. People here often forget just how confusing the beer landscape can be for others... and in this case, the Celis history is so twisty that most people here wouldn't be able to make easy sense of it themselves. The marketing department for the new brewery has a lot of work to do.