Financially troubled Celis Brewery is scheduled to be auctioned off during two separate public auctions slated for July 2.
According to public sale notice in the Austin American Statesman last Friday, the building housing the Austin craft brewery at 10001 Metric Boulevard will be auctioned off during a public foreclosure sale at the Travis County Courthouse on the morning of July 2.
A second auction for “all” of Celis’ equipment is slated for later that day at law firm Streusand, Landon, Ozburn & Lemmon LLP in order to “satisfy a lien held by Amplify Credit Union.”
“The entire property will be sold together on an ‘as-is, where-is’ basis without warranties and to the highest bidder for cash, except that the lender may credit bid against the indebtedness secured by the lien,” the notice reads.
Among the items included in the equipment auction are a mash tun, lauter tun, wort kettle, whirlpool, and several tanks, among other things. Noticeably absent from the listing is Celis’ intellectual property.
Also last Friday, the state of Texas filed a tax lien against Celis Brewery’s parent company, FFBC Operations LLC (which also operates as Flemish Fox Brewery & Craftworks LP).
Christine Celis, who resurrected her late father Pierre Celis’ long-shuttered brewery in 2017, did not return requests for comment.
Messages left for representatives from Amplify Credit Union and Streusand, Landan, Ozburn & Lemmon LLP were also unreturned.
Additionally, Celis is facing a trio of liens filed earlier this year against the company for thousands of dollars in unpaid construction and electrical work.
In an “affidavit claiming lien” dated February 1, Hill Morrison of Hill Morrison Construction Services claims that Celis owes “at least $271,872.81” for the construction of a beer garden and remodeling work.
According to a second “affidavit claiming lien,” dated March 15, R&M Electric owner Rick Hendrick said his company is owed $8,211.85 for electrical work done at Celis in November 2018. Also on March 15, Elliott Electric Supply Inc., filed a “mechanic’s and materialman’s lien affidavit” seeking $5,058.80 from FFBC for materials provided to R&M for work done from October to December 2018.
As Brewbound reported in May, rumors of financial struggles, layoffs and a potential bankruptcy filing dogged Celis throughout the beginning of 2019. At the time, a new investor group was considering acquiring the distressed brewery. Sources told Brewbound then that 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.
Last year, Celis’ production increased 320 percent, to 11,339 barrels of beer.
According to a “modification and extension agreement” filed with the Travis County Clerk’s Office this past April, Flemish Fox Brewery & Craftworks reached an agreement with Amplify Credit Union to suspend payments on the principal $5.3 million note it first took out in March 2016, from February 1 through July 1, 2019. The company was to resume payment on August 1, with the total balance to be completely repaid by September 1, 2037.
Even with a foreclosure auction looming, Celis has yet to address the issue publicly. On Monday, the company took to Instagram to post a “save the date” for its second anniversary party on July 11.