Knoxville City Council Beer Board Meeting – May 5, 2026

The Knoxville City Council, sitting as the Beer Board, met on May 5, 2026, at 4:30 p.m. with all nine members present. The board approved multiple beer permit applications, received an alcohol-compliance enforcement report, postponed one applicant, and referred two businesses to hearing officers for failing to meet mandatory CAST class requirements.

Consent Calendar

• The minutes of the previous meeting were approved as distributed; no corrections were offered.
• Items 8C and 8D, both Crafty Bastard Brewery applications, were postponed at the applicants request to the May 26, 2026 meeting; no objection was raised.

Public Comments & Testimony

• No public comments were signed up for the agenda.

Reports of Officers

• Officer Presley reported alcohol-compliance checks conducted on the 22nd and 23rd. Of 30 businesses checked, nine sold alcohol to a minor. First offenses were reported for Tienda E Carts on Bruin Road, Lolita Market on Merchants, Hop In on Merchants, Two Brothers Holiday Market on Martin Luther King, Express Stop on Cherry Street, Woodsmith Market on Woodsmith, and Green Grocery on Marvel Pike. Fast Stop Market on Middlebrook Pike was a second offense, and Harbs Market on Burnside was a third offense.
• The law department report covered active suspension/revocation hearings. An agreed order and fine were completed for Union Jacks; Applebees completed a seven-day suspension and paid a fine after an agreed order; Dollar General (Sutherland Avenue) will serve a 30-day suspension and pay a fine after a default order; Dollar General (Amherst Road) has a pre-hearing conference scheduled for the day after the meeting, with the law department seeking a 30-day suspension and a $1,000 fine; Cumberland House and La Panita Mexican Bar and Grill entered agreed orders and paid fines after late remedial plans or payments; and Harbs Market, a third offense in two years, was referred to an automatic suspension/revocation hearing, with the law department seeking a 45-day suspension and a $2,000 fine.
• The beer fund has received $29,000 in fines so far this year and stands at approximately $278,000.

Beer Permit Applications

The following applications were approved:

• Muse Knoxville (Kelly Styles, 316 Montgomery Avenue) was approved outright after a complete file and no police record.
• Beard and Beer Market (Deborah Lewis, 4524 Old Kingston Pike) was approved pending final documentation, including certificate of occupancy and surrender of the existing permit.
• Corner Market was approved pending final documentation, including certificate of occupancy, Department of Agriculture approval, and surrender of the existing permit.
• Petros (Dale Wedmer, 631 East Emory Road) was approved pending final documentation, requiring certificate of occupancy.
• Rough Life Hideout (Brian Moffitt, 1935 Callahan Drive) was approved pending final documentation, requiring sales tax registration, certificate of occupancy, and health department approval; staff said the sales tax registration was already in hand.
• Sonnys Pizza (Michael McClain, 4313 Glasgow Road) was approved pending final documentation for both the on-premises permit and the manufacturers permit, requiring certificate of occupancy.
• An applicant transcribed as 'Up in Smoky' was approved pending final documentation, requiring certificate of occupancy, Department of Agriculture approval, and surrender of the existing permit.
• Multiple Copper Cellar Corporation locations represented by Brad Hedrick, president, were approved pending final documentation, each requiring certificate of occupancy and surrender of the existing permit. These included Calhouns, Copper Cellar/Cappuccino, Corner 16, Smoky Mountain Brewery, and other listed locations.
• Plugged In was not acted on because the applicant was absent; see below.

Discussion Items

• ShoeCon Grocery LLC d/b/a Save A Lot was on the agenda for failure to complete the mandatory CAST class. No representative appeared. Officer Presley said the owner had requested to surrender the permit but still had beer on site, including two shopping carts of beer, one under a tarp; he served the owner with notice of the meeting and explained the permit could not be surrendered while beer remained on site. The owner was given instructions to turn in the permit, but it had not been returned by the meeting. Council members discussed that surrendering the permit while beer remained would violate city code, and that the business had received opportunities to comply. A motion to send Save A Lot to a hearing officer was seconded and passed with no stated opposition.
• JLG Incorporated d/b/a The Melting Pot also remained out of compliance with CAST training. Staff said the owner last attended in 2022; Sandra West attended on July 20, 2023, but never completed the background check, so the training did not count. The manager who said at the prior meeting he would buy the business had not contacted the office or taken the class. No representative appeared. The board sent The Melting Pot to a hearing officer by voice vote with no stated opposition.
• Staff noted that Galaxy E Smoke had come into compliance by adding a manager as required.
• A council member observed that three-quarters of the previously noncompliant businesses had come into compliance and said the process was working.
• Plugged In, a beer permit applicant, was not present; it had been postponed before because of an incomplete background check. The board voted to postpone it to May 26, 2026, and directed that the applicant be notified that attendance is required.

Key Outcomes

• Minutes approved as distributed.
• Crafty Bastard Brewery applications (8C and 8D) postponed to May 26, 2026.
• Muse Knoxvilles beer permit approved.
• All other beer permit applications present were approved pending final documentation, except Plugged In, which was postponed.
• Save A Lot and The Melting Pot were referred to hearing officers for CAST-class noncompliance.
• Plugged In was postponed to the May 26, 2026 Beer Board meeting.