Brother Werewolf howls into the Old City with Halloween pop-up bar

Under the light of the full moon, an Old City bar is transforming for a limited time.

Until Oct. 31, Brother Wolf will change into Brother Werewolf, a pop-up Halloween-themed bar.

Bar manager AJ Tierney is the evil genius behind this makeover. She's worked for owners Aaron Thompson and Jessica King since their days running Sapphire on Gay Street, which transformed into Miracle on Gay Street around Christmastime.

She came to Thompson and King with the idea in February, and they decided to take a silver bullet shot in the dark. This will be the Old City bar's first independent pop-up concept.

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"I think a Christmas pop-up bar is a great idea, but I've always been like, 'Why don't they do a Halloween one?'" Tierney said. "Because I feel like that's more of a drinkers' holiday, and I think there's so much theatricality to the potential of décor."

Creepy cocktails and frightening furnishings

The entire space has been outfitted with new decorations to match the Halloween season in keeping with the bar's pre-established look.

There's cobwebs and ghosts hanging throughout, with spiders and tentacles popping up near booths and walls. The lights behind the bar make the bottled drinks look neon green, and the blacked-out windows shield vampires from the sun.

Along with two new neon signs, there's a projector that will show classic horror films. Tierney said the goal was to make the Halloween bar more feel like a "vintage, gothic romance, like the original 'Frankenstein.'"

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A new seasonal Halloween drink menu joins the standard drinks.

• The Headless Horseman - bourbon, green apple syrup, black walnut bitters

• Hocus Pocus - mezcal, blue curaçao, bianco vermouth and lemon juice

• Dracula's Kiss - tequila, montenegro, black cherry fig syrup, espresso and xocolatl mole bitters

• Silence of the Lambrusco - averna amaro, lambrusco, grapefruit juice, cardamom bitters and seltzer

• Zombie (frozen) - light rum, apple brandy, over-proof rum, velvet falernum, green apple syrup and orange, pineapple and lime juices

Along with the five cocktails, there are two shots: Trick (mystery vodka shot) and Treat (tequila, aperol and orange juice).

Bartenders will occasionally be dressed in costume, specifically on Oct. 30 and 31. Otherwise, bartenders have red accents added to their black uniforms.

"I'm not a haunted house person, because I don't want to be scared for fun," Tierney said. "That's not fun for me, but drinking's fun. This is the in-between. This is for the person that maybe doesn't want to go to the I-have-to-sign-a-waiver Halloween event."

Brother Wolf, Italian style aperitivo bar Brother Wolf opened in June 2021 at 108 W Jackson Ave. after the two's other bar Sapphire closed on Gay Street.

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Upcoming pop-ups and plans

Brother Werewolf is the bar's first solo pop-up concept. Thompson and King partner with Cocktail Kingdom for the Miracle concept, a Christmas themed pop-up bar.

The two have been picked to host Miracle in Knoxville since 2018 and they are the only group allowed to host it in the scruffy city. They currently only hold it in one location with the option of expanding.

Miracle is set to happen at Brother Wolf again this year, but Tierney would like to try new pop-up concepts that fit with Brother Wolf's vibe. She has "a million ideas" and it depends on how well Brother Werewolf does this October.

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"My goal is to do it again. We'll see if they let me do it. So please come and enjoy it," Tierney said.

Along with Brother Wolf, Thompson and King are working on Lilou, a French restaurant opening in Sapphire's former location. They had no comment at the time other than it's still under construction and moving smoothly.

With Brother Werewolf, Tierney hopes Knoxvillians will come in and enjoy a creepy cocktail or two. She'd like to not only do this concept again, but many more if this does well.

"As far as going forward, we're going to continue to try new things and invest in each other and so if you haven't swung by in a while, you should because we're going to keep changing it up and trying new things … rooted in our original vision, which is great craft cocktails and an authentic aperitivo experience," Tierney said.

Owned by Aaron Thompson and Jessica King, the Italian style aperitivo bar Brother Wolf opened in June 2021 at 108 W Jackson Ave. after the two's other bar Sapphire closed on Gay Street.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Brother Wolf howls in Knoxville's Old City with Halloween pop-up bar