It was July 2017 when Celis Brewery made its return to Austin. The brewery had been sold years prior to Miller Brewing Company, but owner Christine Celis fought successfully to bring it back into the family, and ultimately to its home town of Austin. But now, just two years later, Celis Brewery may be in financial dire straits.
According to an interview Celis gave recently to Forbes, the brewery may file for Chapter 11 in order to stave off a potential sale.
The Celis Brewery is currently under foreclosure, and the building and all of the equipment is slated to go up for auction at the Travis County Courthouse on July 2. By filing Chapter 11, Celis hopes to find bankruptcy protection, allowing the brewery to continue to operate as the debt issue is addressed.
According to the craft beer publication Brewbound, the Celis operation was in trouble soon after opening in 2017 after overspending on a 50,000-barrel brewery in northwest Austin, and relying on financial models that required high double-digit, year-over-year growth in order to service debt.
