Célestin Denis Centlivre was born in Lutran, Haut-Rhin, France.  He was the son of a cooper, and he and his brothers learned the craft of barrelmaking under apprenticeships from their father.  The family emigrated to America on Christmas Eve of 1850 and settled in the suburbs of Canton, Ohio.  By 1855 they had moved west to Dubuque, Iowa, where Denis, as he was known, worked the brothers' farm.

That same year Denis's brothers Charles Louis and Francois Gaspard Centlivre opened a brewery in McGregor, Iowa.  In 1856 the brothers opened a branch called the French Brewery 45 miles to the west,  just outside of Decorah in Twin Springs.  (these two firms may in fact be the same)

In 1861 Denis married Caroline Macey in a union that would produce eight children.  Denis was 24 years old and his older brothers had apparently put him in charge of the brewery at Twin Springs.  1862 tax records show he sold 31 barrels of beer in December alone.

By the end of that year Charles L. and Francois had moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana and had put the French Brewery up for sale.  Rather than following his brothers to Indiana, Denis struck out on his own.  He found a new home 100 miles to the southeast in Platteville, Wisconsin.  Here he partnered with Joseph Muesey to establish the city brewery.  Centlivre remained associated with the Platteville Brewery until 1871, when debts forced him into forclosure.  The bank sold the brewery to John Kemmler & John P. Hein and Denis moved back to the family farm in Iowa.

In 1880 Denis was 43 years old and a farmer in Black Hawk county.  Within the next decade he had moved in to Sioux City and was making a living as a carpenter.  At some time in 1891 Célestin Denis Centlivre died.  He was about 54 years of age.