Dubbel-This beer is based on Pierre's childhood memories of a Trappist ale (long since gone from the scene) brewed in or near his home town. While not as complex as a Chimay, this deep amber brew is rich and alcoholic tasting. Alcohol dominates the nose and palate, and is accompanied by fruity overtones. Generally, as with any trappiste style beer, you feel there are more flavors than you can quite put your finger on. Overall an excellent effort at the classic Belgian style.
Golden
-a light ale with a clean taste. Michael Jackson calls it "a creamy, flowery ale," and it is apparently made with a strain of yeast from the Bohemian Forest. While Golden has a lot for a beer lover to like, it also wont shock the palate of someone used to American Standard, which, I assume, is exactly the result Celis set out to achieve with this product.
Grand Cru
-A light golden colored ale with a creamy, somewhat persistent head (especially for a beer of this gravity). Floral nose (as is the case with so many of Celis' beers), with a creamy smooth taste and a fruity, if decidedly orangy finish. Overall an excellent beer.
Pale Bock
-not a true bock in gravity, but delightfully hopped and having a full taste. Copper colored with a pearly head, and excellent retention.Superior to locally brewed (Spoetzel brewery) Shiner Bock. Considered to have a slightly woody character by some, this beer is not cask conditioned to my knowledge. My reaction to this brew is "Way to go Pierre"
Raspberry Ale
-This fruit beer is based on Celis White
with imported Bavarian Raspberry juice added and an additional 10 day fermentation period is allowed.
The beer is filtered then bottled (also available in kegs). I recently sampled this beer
at the Gingerman in Austin. It has a deep red color, and an amazing Rasberry nose. Also, the Raspberry
flavor is very well expressed. I find it hard to believe that Celis achieves this effect with just
the juice. Normally (in my experience) it takes whole fruit to get a really nice nose and high flavor expression.
todd ehlers (ehlerst@ralph.txswu.edu) reports that Celis does indeed use imported juice with the pectins and sugars removed but with 1% natural escences and extracts
added back in. Apparently these essences and extracts are what gives the nose.
The beer was also very clear. Due to the filtration, the White's yeasty haziness is removed before bottling the "Raspberry" variant, and
really, the White base was barely detectable to my palate.
Apparently, Pierre wanted to make
a Peach Ale with Texas peaches, but marketing research was very negative. Too bad.
White
-excellent example of the style, slightly fruity with a clean taste. Golden in color, with a hazyness that is true to style. Extremely floral nose, which adds to the overall package very nicely. Also has a light dusting of yeast in the bottle which is stone dead due to the use of pasteurization (so don't bother culturing it). Stylistically, though, the presence of yeast in the finished product is called for. This beer is absolute proof that we owe Pierre Celis a debt of thanks for saving the Witte style from extinction for the rest of us to enjoy.
Brewery tours are available on a regular basis. Call Celis at 512-835-0884.
Their address is 2431 Forbes Drive Austin, Tx 78754.
You may have heard that Celis is brewing "Pale Rider" for Clint Eastwood in a profit-for-charity
setup much like Paul Newman's food empire. The beer is an unremarkable light ale in the American Standard vein, corn
and all.
Celis maintains an official web page here
