After Tomsin closed his brewery in 1957, white beer disappeared from Hoegaarden. Celis, who became a milkman after he married, took up beer making in 1965. The first year he started with a wash tub in the barn of his father. With a loan from his father he bought equipment that came from an abandoned brewery in Heusden-Zolder. His first batch of Hoegaarden beer was made on 19 March 1966 and he opened Brouwerij Celis (Celis Brewery).[1] In 1980 he opened Brouwerij de Kluis as he transferred the production to new buildings. In 1985, his brewery partially burned down, and because the buildings were not insured and he had put all the profits back into the brewery, he was forced to sell his company to Interbrew, now AB Inbev.[1][2][3] He then founded the Celis Brewery in Austin, Texas,[2] managed by his daughter Christine,[1] which he started supposedly with yeast he smuggled in his socks.[4] Because Celis Brewery couldn't follow demand, Miller Br. approached Celis Br. to create a partnership. Celis Br. was sold 100% to Miller in 2000 and closed in 2001. Miller sold equipment and name to Michigan Br., who went bankrupt in 2011. Pierre Celis never worked for Michigan Br. Christine Celis started the new Celis Brewery in Austin in 2017 where all the original beers are being brewed.
He died on April 9, 2011, at age 86 from cancer.[5]
